Filipina Americans shine at Billboard's Women in Music awards

Three Filipina American entertainers were among the awardees of Billboard's Women in Music awards held Sunday in Inglewood, Calif.

The highlight award, Woman of the Year, went to 18-year old Olivia Rodrigo, a Filipina American singer/songwriter who burst into the pop music charts with several No. 1 hits and "Sour," her debut No. 1.

The star of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, started the year with a breakout hit, "drivers license," that stayed atop Billboard's charts for eight straight weeks, a record for a debut song.

As she accepted her award Sunday (Feb. 28), the Filipina Californian alluded to the difficulties of being a young woman in the music industry and gave credit to the women artists who paved the way for her. She ended with some words of inspiration for young girls.

“To all the young girls out there who are writing songs every day in their journals, on their bedroom floors — I am constantly moved by your vulnerability and your creativity and bravery,” said Olivia. “And I promise everyone here today is working to make this world and this industry a better place for you.”

Ciara took center stage as host of the celebration, which shined the spotlight on powerhouse women in the music industry. She set the tone of the event with a moment of silence to honor the people of Ukraine as they fight for their nation and democracy against Russia.

Women in Music is an organization with a mission to advance the awareness, equality, diversity, heritage, opportunities, and cultural aspects of women in the musical arts through education, support, empowerment, and recognition.

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H.E.R. and her mother after receiving the Impact Award.

Impact Award honoree H.E.R. aka Gabriella Wilson, gave a shoutout to her Filipino mother, Agnes Sarmiento Wilson, during her acceptance speech: “I want to thank my mom for teaching me to stay humble, be grounded, and be hardworking,” said the R&B singer/songwriter.

H.E.R. spoke about balancing being a commercial star and an activist in an interview with Billboard last month:

“It never occurred to me to be an activist until I got older and started to realize how much hatred there is in the world,” she said. 

“Obviously, in the beginning, it was a lot more about the music," said the 23-year old singer from Vallejo, Calif. "Organically, however, people are starting to hear and see me more, to experience who I am and not just the music. So with that comes my views on the world: how I felt in 2020 when everything was going on and is still going on. It’s a bigger fight, [so] it’s my responsibility to use what has an impact — my voice — to speak out on some of these things, like the relationship between Black Americans and Asian Americans. Not because someone told me to, but because it’s what I feel.”

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Rapper Saweetie with her mother backstage at the Women in Music awards.

As she accepted her Game Changer award, Saweetie talked about some of the turbulence her career had gone through and thanked her family and team for sticking with her. But ultimately, she proclaimed that she still preferred the “uncomfortable position” of stardom — because she “would rather be changing the weather than report it.”

Mothers of the artists seemed to be a theme for the evening.

Saweetie’s mother, Trinidad Valentin, called her daughter a “force to be reckoned with,” as she presented the award to her daughter with an emotional tribute about how “proud” she is of her daughter.

Valientin told the story that as a child, Saweetie had found a great interest in poetry after finding an old poem her mother had written. “Her poetry had turned into rhyming, and rhyming into rapping,” she explained.

She recalled a conversation the two had when Saweetie graduated, when she had asked what her daughter's Plan B was if rapping didn’t work out. She remembered Saweetie telling her, “Mom, there is no plan B.”

Valentin then went on to cheer her daughter on shouting, “Here’s to not having a Plan B, baby girl!”

Other Women in Music awardees during included: Summer Walker (Chartbreaker Award), Doja Cat (Powerhouse Award), Gabby Barrett (Rising Star Award) Phoebe Bridgers (Trailblazer Award), Karol G (Rule Breaker Award) and legendary artist, Bonnie Raitt (Icon Award).

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd. 

H.E.R. joins Saweetie and Olivia Rodrigo in Billboard's Women In Music awards

Three Filipino American music artists will spice up Billboard's Women in Music awards show this March. 

The music industry publication announced that H.E.R., aka Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, will receive the Impact award. She joins rapper Saweetie, aka Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, who will get the Game Changer award and Olivia Rodrigo, who was named Woman of the Year.

R&B singer and songwriter H.E.R., who grew up in Vallejo, Calif., was selected for the Impact award which is awarded to an artist who uses their musical platform to create positive change while advocating on behalf of women in — and beyond — the music industry.

Earlier, Billboard named 18-year old Olivia Rodrigo as its Woman of the Year. Rodrigo exploded on the music scene last year included “drivers license” (No. 1 for eight weeks beginning in January 2021) and “Good 4U” (No. 1 for one week in May 2021). Her debut album SOUR  was No. 1 for five weeks beginning in June 2021.

Filipino American Saweetie will be honored by Billboard

Saweetie's hit on the Billboard charts this year was "Best Friend." 

The three Filipino American artists who are being honored by Billboard this year are also nominated in the “Big Four” categories at the 2022 Grammy Awards which will be held in April.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Simu Liu, Saweetie on Saturday Night Live

From left, Kyle Mooney, Saweetie, Simu Liu and Cecily Strong.

There will be a definite AAPI flavor to Saturday Night Live tonight. Actor Simu Liu will be hosting the late night comedy skit show. He'll be joined by Filipino American rapper Saweetie as the musical guest.

Shang-Chi star Liu, who’s been vocal about the lack of representation for Asian actors in Hollywood, will represent just the seventh Asian or Asian American to host in the Nov. 20 show. 

Look for Liu and fellow barrier-buster SNL regular Bowen Yang to have something to say about Saturday Night Live’s, better-late-than-never progress towards diversity. 

Saweetie premiered the brand-new song “Icy Chain,” which she plans to perform on the late-night show for the first time Thursday. “Y’all better not miss my Icy Chain performance on SNL this Saturday!” she tweeted Friday.

SNL released a promo of a skit that plays off the real-life (former) relationship between Saweetie and cast member Kyle Mooney.  Talk about awkward.

Asian and Asian American artists await your votes for American Music Awards

Olivia Rodrigo has the most nominations in the American Music Awards

Six Asian American artists or groups have been nominated for the 2021 American Music Awards. The awards are different from other award shows because the winners are given to fan favorites.

Topping the nominations is Filipina American singer Olivia Rodrigo with seven nominations. She burst into the pop music scene with her surprise hit "Drivers License," which she wrote in her bedroom during the pandemic. The 18-year-old star of The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series got seven nods including in the categories: Artist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, and Favorite Female Pop Artist.

 "Drivers License" was nominated for Favorite Trending Song and Favorite Music Video. In addition, the 18-year-old's debut album, "Sour," was nominated in the Favorite Pop Album category.

The K-pop group BTS was nominated in three categories: Artist of The Year, Favorite Duo or Group and their song "Butter" is up for Favorite Pop Song. 

H.E.R., also known as Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, was nominated in three categories: Favorite Female R&B Artist and her first album "Back of Her Mind" was nominated for Best R&B Album, and her song "Damage" is in the Best R&B Song.

In the Favorite Song Category, H.E.R. will be competing against fellow Filipino American Bruno Mars who teamed up with Korean American Anderson.Paak for their song "Leave the Door Open."

The Mars and Paak, as Silk Sonic, also have been nominated in the Favorite Music Video award and Favorite Pop Duo (or Group).

Filipino American Saweetie was nominated in the Favorite Female Hip-Hop Artist.

Nominees are based on key fan interactions -- as reflected on the Billboard charts -- including streaming, album sales, song sales and radio airplay. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partner MRC Data, and cover the time period Sept. 25, 2020, through Sept. 23, 2021.

Voting for your favorites

AMA voting for all categories is now open until Nov. 16. 

There are two potential ways fans can cast votes for the Awards during the Voting Period – either by “TikTok Voting” or “Billboard Website Voting,” 

This year, for the first time, fans can vote for all AMA categories on TikTok by searching for AMAs in-app. Fans can vote once per category per day.

 The AMAs will be aired November 21, and broadcast live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) / 7:00 p.m. Central Time (“CT”):

Met Gala gowns worn by Saweetie, Hailee Steinfeld and Gemma Chan make fashion statements

Saweetie's gown stressed her dual racial heritage.

The theme for this year’s Met Gala was "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" and each attendee was expected to show up in attire representing an interpretation of that concept. Clearly,  rapper Saweetie aced the assignment.

There is no doubt about the message sent by the Filipino American performer and the gown she wore to the Met Gala last weekend.

“I’m wearing Christian Cowan and I have two flags dedicatedly draped on my body,” she told ESSENCE correspondent Gia Peppers.

“One is them is the Black American heritage flag and one of them is a Filipino flag because I’m a Blackapino girl and that’s what makes me an American,” she continued. The flags on accentuated both sides of the performer’s body and formed two trains that draped down the museum’s iconic steps.

Hailee Seinfeld's "white" appearance raised some eyebrows.

On the other hand, Hailee Steinfeld's fashion statement rendered her completely unrecognizable. Except for her brown eyes, any hint of her Filipino heritage has been completely erased.

The actor and singer went with blonde wig and matching bleached eyebrows . She also wore matte makeup that was one tone, without much color on her lips or cheeks.

Steinfeld wore a dress by Dutch couture designer Iris van Herpen with an environmental theme. The Instagram page for van Herpen's line explains that the dress Steinfeld chose, the Magnetosphere dress, is made out of recycled plastic trash tossed into the ocean. "The Magnetosphere dress is created with Parley Ocean Plastic®️, sourced from upcycled marine debris in collaboration with Parley for the Oceans," reads an Instagram post from July.

The question is: Was going whiteface her intended message? Was her appearance a political statement about representation in Hollywood? Iff so, it would be a case of redundancy. Steinfeld, whose grandfather was Filipino, has never played a person of color in any of her movies. She hasn't attempted to shed any light on her appearance in any of her social media.

Gemma Chan, left, was inspired by pioneer actress Anna May Wong.

Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians, The Eternals) used the high fashion event to pay tribute to Anna May Wong, the first Asian American Hollywood star.

Chan's dress had a dragon pattern on her Prabal Gurung minidress resembled a gown Wong wore in the 1934 film Limehouse Blues. An oversized, green bow that flowed into a train tied the dress together.

In an Instagram post featuring an image of Wong, Chan asked, "Who gets to be an American?"

Saweetie's McDonald's meal gives new meaning to "halo-halo"

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Saweetie creates a new dish using ingredients from her McDonald's meal.

Filipino American rap artist Saweetie's McDonald's meal is a big meal. The idea, the rap star recommends, is to mix it up to create a new dish.

It's kind of like halo-halo, (literally translated: "mix-mix") the Filipino dessert made up of several ingredients like ube ice cream, sweet beans, jello, heart of palm, flan, evaporated milk and crushed ice, then topped with something crunchy like nuts or Rice Krispeys.  To eat it properly, one has to mix all the ingredients together.

RELATED: Saweetie on the cover of 'Cosmopolitan'

The Saweetie Meal, features a Big Mac®, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets®, medium World Famous Fries®, a medium Sprite®, Tangy BBQ Sauce and "Saweetie 'N Sour" sauce – the same Sweet 'N Sour sauce you know and love, re-named in honor of the new meal.

"Hopefully, everyone enjoys the concoction because the point of the meal is to remix it in different ways, whether it’s making a crazy burger or combining the fries [with] the nugget box and creating some type of rendition of nachos, so I’m just really excited to see everyone enjoy their meals," the Filipino American artist told Asian Journal.

The Saweetie meal is the latest promo McDonald's using celebrities. The BTS meal with the superstar K-pop group, was featured during Asian American ,Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month last May.

The culinary offering lasts until Sept. 5. It can be ordered through the McDonald’s App, at participating McDonald’s or through McDelivery. McDonald’s. If you order with the app, you are eligible for more prizes including a trip to Las Vegas to watch a  Saweetie concert.

Saweetie has gained quite a reputation for mixing up foods and posting the concoctions on her social media pages. Anyone for ranch dressing on spaghettie withtomato sauce? How about putting Cheetos atop your pizza? Anyone for Ramen chicken seasoning on oysters?

So her McDonald's meal doesn't so strange now, does it?

The fast food chain and McDonald expanded their collaboration Monday (Aug. 23). Saweetie fans can now pair their curated McDonald’s dining experience with pieces from a newly unveiled merch collection.

The pieces will be available for a limited time, with prices starting at $18. Featured are hoodies, a crewneck, a pair of t-shirt designs, a fanny pack, joggers, shorts, a trucker hat, and more.

“Now ya’ll know I stay dipped in the latest fashion, so it was only right I drop some icy merch to celebrate my McDonald’s collab,” Saweetie said in a press release. “There are so many oversized pieces that I love, like my favorites: the Saweetie ’N Sour Hoodie and Fry Tees.”

See more from the collection below. A special site has also been launched, serving as the lone space for collecting pieces from the collection. Find that here.

Saweeite, was born Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, with a Filipino Chinese mother and a Black father who is also a pastor. Growing up in the Bay Area, she was exposed to a diverse community and their different cuisines.

“The Bay Area is such a melting pot. You have Asian food and off rip, you have Filipino food, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese food. And then you have Spanish food. And then of course you have soul food.”

With her mom and lola's cooking and encouragement, it is not surprise for her love of Filipino food. “I grew up eating tons of Filipino food. I love sinigang, I love adobo, pancit, lumpia,” she lists off. “Even Filipino breakfast. Filipino breakfast is like a sunny side up egg with spam, Vienna sausage, some white rice. Maybe a slice of mango with some mango juice. That shit is so good.”

“Filipino food makes me happy,” Saweetie sighs contentedly. “If it’s good, I’ll just savor in the moment. And if it’s really good, I start dancing. I just can’t help myself!"

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is not an ad for McDonald's nor am I receiving compensation of any sort for this article.

Celebrities, activists team up for campaign fighting anti-Asian hate hosted by Ken Jeong

Ilene Aiko, left, and Filipino American rapper Saweetie will perform for "See Us Unite."

A multi-platform cultural campaign designed to accelerate impact and expand support for the AAPI community. See Us Unite, is the being launched by the newly formed The Asian American Foundation. 

This campaign will launch May 21 nationwide on social and outdoor media featuring leading Asian American public figures, such as Daniel Dae Kim, Naomi Osaka, Lisa Ling, Jeremy Lin, Fareed Zakaria, Michelle Kwan and many others.

Through music and comedy performances, short film packages and speakers, “See Us Unite for Change” aims to inspire and educate viewers about the AAPI community’s impact on the United States and how to support on-the-ground efforts building solidarity against hate," said Sheila Lirio Marcelo, executive producer of the See Us Unite campaign, TAFF board member and founder of Care.com. 

"Over the past year, we've witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of discrimination, violence and hate towards the AAPI community,"  said Marcelo

"But anti-Asian hate has had a long history in this country, and to truly shift perceptions on a larger scale, we must come together to take a stand against discrimination, slander and violence in all of its forms, utilizing every platform and tool that we have access to. Ultimately, our culture is our greatest asset in our effort to change hearts and minds."

Hosted by Ken Jeong, the event will feature performances by artists including Jhene Aiko, Saweetie, Sting and more as well as appearances by Daniel Dae Kim and Lisa Ling, among many others. 

The event will also explore the history and contributions of Asian Americans and will feature testimonials from leading Asian American public figures, as well as individuals working to enact change on the ground, including Amanda Ngoc Nguyen, Ai-Jen Poo, Prof. Karthick Ramakrishnan and John C. Yang. 

Funds raised from the campaign will be directed towards education and awareness-raising efforts, as well as initiatives that build understanding and solidarity among diverse communities. 

Powerful grassroots-led efforts have emerged in response to the rise in anti-Asian violence and discrimination. To accelerate impact on the ground, the See Us Unite campaign is partnering with the Asian Pacific Fund to drive funding towards organizations including Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Stop AAPI Hate, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), The Asian American Education Project (AAEdu), Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP), the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), and other AAPI organizations. 

The Asian American Foundation and a coalition of partners including the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, The Henry Luce Foundation and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, are behind the effort.

As part of the campaign MTV Entertainment will broadcast "See Us Unite for Change - The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) in service of the AAPI Community" at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT across its portfolio of brands (MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel, Pop TV, VH1, CMT, TV Land and Logo) as well as BET and Nickelodeon, and stream exclusively on Facebook Watch.

"The rise in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is the latest in America's long legacy of racial injustice. Racism is pervasive and it thrives on ignorance. To end it, we have to first acknowledge it," said Ford Foundation President Darren Walker. "See Us Unite confronts that history and puts a spotlight on experiences that need to be seen and heard, because visibility matters."

Asian American singers represent: Olivia Rodrigo, Bruno Mars, Anderson Paak, Saweetie, H.E.R. topping the charts

Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars teamed up to form Silk Sonic.

After holding the Billboard's No. 1 spot for eight weeks in the beginning of 2021, Olivia Rodrigo's super-hit "Driver's License" slipped from the top in the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

Teenager Rodrigo, who burst onto the pop music scene like gangbusters in January of this year, gave up the top spot to fellow Filipino American artist Bruno Mars who teamed up with Korean American Anderson Paak to perform "Leave the Door Open," which rose from No. 3 to No 1. for the week ending April 12.

The Asian American duo known as Silk Sonic first performed their collaboration during the Grammy Awards show earlier this year. It was the eighth time a Mars hit was atop the Billboard Hot 100 and Paak's first time ruling the top spot.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. 

This week, the Asian Americans' hits remained hot despite dropping a bit while  remaining in the Top Ten after theTop 100 rankings for the past week were released today (April 20).

"Driver's License" holds steady at No. 9, while Rodrigo proves she may be a musical force for years to come. Her follow-up single "Deja Vu" debuted at No. 8 on the chart for the week of April 17 but dropped to No. 15 for the past week.

"Ahhhh dl and deja vu on there!!!! screaming and crying!!!! thank u so much!!!!!!" she tweeted in excitement.

With "Drivers License" and "Deja Vu" being the 18-year old's first two singles promoted to radio, streaming services and other platforms, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series breakout star is the first artist to send her first two proper singles straight onto the Hot 100 in the top 10, according to Billboard, the music industry's trade publication.

Songwriter and singer Olivia Rodrigo has two songs on the Billboard charts.

This week, both of her self-written songs also double up on the top 10 of the Billboard Global 200 chart, with "Deja Vu" and "Drivers License" respectively sitting at No. 8 and No. 9.

Meanwhile, Filipino American rapper Saweetie's single "Best Friend" featuring Doja Cat, which has been holding steady in the Top 100 for 14 weeks, came in at No. 17, down from last week's No. 14.

R&B artist H.E.R. aka Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, a Filipino American from the San Francisco Bay Area, has her song "Damage" coming in at No. 68, after 18 weeks on the Billboard's Hot 100.

Also, next Sunday, H.E.R. will perform, "Fight For You," which she wrote with Tiara Thomas for the movie Judas and the Black Messiah, because the song has been nominated in the Best Song category at the 93rd Academy Awards.

Cosmo cover: FilAm rapper Saweetie, aka 'Ate Icy' is here to dominate

Filipino American rapper Saweetie, known by her Filipino fans as "Ate Icy," made the April cover of Cosmopolitan for her exclusive interview where she talks about her career, bullying, PTSD and more. 

Saweetie, aka Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, is the best counter to the stereotype of Asian women being meek and subservient. 

As the title to the Cosmo article suggests, "Saweetie Isn't Here to Impress You. She's Here to F***king Dominate!" the artist, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, is no shrinking violet.

The article introduces Saweetie to a readership that might not have heard of her despite being named "Favorite New Artist" for the Peoples' Choice Awards.

But as the interview in Cosmopolitan says: 

"Her songs have hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify. She earned a 2020 People’s Choice Awards nomination for Favorite New Artist; she’s had a guest spot on the Freeform show Grown-ish. And then there’s her proudest moment, making the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. It was a huge deal for Saweetie, who earned a business communications degree from the University of Southern California—with a 3.6 GPA, it should be noted—and who considers herself a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur. 'I screamed,' she says about when she found out she’d made the list. 'It just let me know that I’m on my way to where I wanted to be.' ”

The Forbes listing was important to her because of earlier interview. In the magazine, she talks about a 2018 interview where the host insinuated that because of her stunning appearance, she could get by with her basic freestyle (rapping).  Saweetie says she suffered from PTSD from that incident and other incidents she endured because of the premise that she was getting by on her looks.

Because of that accusation of "pretty privilege," she worked hard to improve her art, taking vocal lessons, focusing on the studio work and launching a nonprofit, Icy Baby Foundation, to help single mothers.  

If you're late to join the Saweetie bandwagon, welcome. 

Saweetie is interviewed by Kim Lee ("Bling Empire") over lunch at a Filipino restaurant.