Critical Reading Journal: "DJing is a Filipino Thing"

Hip hop is generally considered an African American sensation but has now developed into a

sensation that includes the involvement of other ethnic groups, like Filipinos. I was interested in how

Filipinos used hip hop to express how the involvement of hip hop in their childhood affected their

lives whereas African Americans used hip hop to express the history of their ethnic group. Now a

days it is very easy for someone to be called a copycat when they enjoy the same activities as others.

I do not believe that Filipinos are copying African Americans in their passion for hip hop. The author

denotes that each ethnic group uses hip hop in different expressions whether it be expressing personal

experiences, history, or pure enjoyment for the recreation.

For Filipinos, hip hop is an important method of representation in a country where they can be

clumped together with Asian Americans which leads to inadequate representation of this ethnic

group. I have previously learned the reason that Pacific Islanders should not be clumped under the

title "Asian American" is because Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans do no share the same

history and struggles and this causes Pacific Islanders to have insufficient representation of the

problems they face.

In an excerpt of this chapter, some of the interviewed Filipino DJs expressed that hip hop is

becoming whitewashed and true hip hop is becoming misrepresented with aspects of drugs, sex, and

money. I believe that hip hop can potentially be becoming whitewashed to assert white dominance

because there is a hierarchy in our society that is continuously asserted where whites are at the top,

African Americans are suppressed to the bottom, and everyone else is under the whites but above the

blacks. I also believe though that whites can have a passion for hip hop in the same way as Filipinos

do where they grow up with hip hop and develop an inner attachment to the activity. With the

misrepresentation of hip hop with sex, drugs, and money, this does have a large impact on the hip hop

industry. People with a true passion for hip hop may be turned away if they do not want to involve

sex, drugs, and money in their art. I find this upsetting and hop that people can continue to appreciate

hip hop for its true representation of each individual artists' lives and the important history behind the

art.