FilAms blast offensive music video ‘Asian Girlz’
A music video…and an apology
There’s no way Day Above Ground’s “Asian Girlz” will cause a stir on YouTube. The music is insipid, the visuals a stream of cliché images, and the lyrics…?
See, that’s where the DAG band’s music video has begun to attract controversy, and unfortunately thousands of clicks and views. “Asian Girlz” is littered with offensive words that perpetuate sexist and racist stereotypes and which even their video dancer has apologized for “setting Asian women back 50 years.”
There is now an online petition asking YouTube to remove the video. Here’s a link to sign up.
Another online petition was filed by the Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-feudalization & Marginalization or AFI3RM.
The lyrics are a hodgepodge of phrases such as “slanty eyes,” “yellow thighs,” “sticky rice,” “ninja pussy,” etc. In the video is an Asian woman – identified as Levy Tran, who has apologized for the video’s content – undressing while her heavily tattooed body seduces provocatively.
The lyrics and images are “blatantly racist, hurtful and disrespectful to the Asian/Asian Pacific American community,” said performance artist Kilusan Bautista, as he called on people to sign the online petition. He urged DAG to apologize to the community “as a conscious statement that supports racial sensitivity.”
Novelist and women’s rights advocate Ninotchka Rosca left a message on the online petition that said, “Seriously, guys like those of the band Day Above Ground should stop deluding themselves re: Asian girls. Not one would even look at them.”
A statement echoed by caBastard: “Judging by your profile picture, I wish you could get back to your mother’s womb and never be born. God, you’re ugly.”
DAG with three band members is only a year old but has self-released two titles and one LP, the group said in its website. “Day Above Ground is on a mission. With a solid foundation based on traditional roots of the past, paired with the relevance of now and a clear vision of the future, this is only the beginning of their already impressive journey.”
The band said they are “constantly pushing the envelope through songwriting.” In defense of “Asian Girlz,” they issued a statement on YouTube calling the video “satirical, provocative, absurd, and even a silly work of art. The lyrics, story, and visuals are so completely over-the-top and ridiculous that we thought it’d be impossible to miss the point.”
To which Sing Citra Limano commented, daring the band to do “Black Girlz.”
“Yeah and tell them you’re just doing this for fun, no racism intended. Don’t be so ignorant, there are so many other songs to sing. Idiotic band. You know you screwed up.”
Day Above Ground with Levy Tran
