Journal 1 - DJing as a Filipino Thing

A01

            After reading this article, I learned a lot more about the hip-hop scene and the different ethnic groups who embraced this music genre as part of their culture. I do not listen to much hip-hop, so I was not aware that Filipinos and Puerto Ricans grew up with a hip-hop oriented environment, so it was surprising to discover that. Like DJ Q-Bert, I believed that music was for everyone so I have rarely associated a genre with just one culture, but now I see the importance of hip-hop and DJing to Filipinos (59). Hip-hop has surrounded them from childhood and DJing allows Filipinos to express themselves when they are overlooked by the public and media. Their dedication to the art explains their connection to the music and establishment of their culture, which reminds of me of people who initially struggle with self-identification when they are not ethnically from a certain region, but they have grown up in that environment and identify with that culture. For example, there are Chinese in Venezuela or Indians in Britain who do not comprise most of the population, but they have grown up in those countries’ cultures and adopt many of its values. However, their difference in ethnicities do not prevent them from embracing the culture as their own, which is similar to how Filipinos approach hip-hop. As mentioned in class, this shows that culture does not belong to just ONE individual group and as Tiongson writes, ‘culture’ is a complex topic that contains tension and ambiguities (63).