22 Dec 2008 | Special indie spotlight: Tila Tequila
There's several things I despise about Asian females in general. First of all, their quietness. Their submissiveness. Then there's that annoying inability to grow a personality, or else their penchant for adhering to pop-crazed Asia's ideal of a gentle, unobtrusive sweetheart. Finally, let's not forget their bleeping academic fetish and borderline pathetic obsession with school rankings (or, at least, that's what experience has taught me here in the U.S.). *cough cough*
So, I think you know where this is headed.
Tila Tequila
Hometown: Singapore (grew up in Houston, Texas)
Genre: Hip-hop, rap
Years active: 2001–present
Links: Myspace (most popular artist on the site) - Official site - Wikipedia
Trust me, this is as sexy as this blog's ever gonna get.
Tila Tequila (legal name: Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen) was born in Singapore to French-Vietnamese parents. She moved to Houston, Texas at the age of one, living the difficult immigrant lifestyle that some of us are accustomed to. But unlike some "Asians" in our midst, Tila is uninhibited. A former Playboy model, reality TV star, self-proclaimed "Miss Myspace," and now an aspiring hip-hop/rap artist, she's the opposite of the abhorred Asian stereotype — bold, aggressive, somewhat licentious, and overtly bisexual. And not to mention a piece of unbelievable eye candy… if you know what I mean.
Although the kind of suggestive antics on display in Tila's world are not my usual cup of tea (ahem), I do honestly admire her for several reasons. First, her repudiation of that loathsome Asian image. Second, her lovely music videos. And third, her thoroughly badass punk attitude, as manifested in lyrics such as "I'll fuck you up!" and "'Cause I'm the crazy bitch, I ain't got no shame." And some of her music itself is the kind of hip-hop that should be produced — undiluted and glorious. Not that hip-pop rubbish they spit out elsewhere.
If you still don't know why I admire this gorgeous bisexual, check out her music video to "I Love U." See if the title matches your expectations. And yes, I do delight in seeing her with that whip. And the guy on the ground, being the submissive one for once.
Recommended tracks (via Myspace): "Stripper Friends," "Paralyze" (a more mellow pop tune)
Music videos: "I Love U" (*** FREAKIN' AWESOME ***), "Stripper Friends" (a bit salacious; definitely not for the mild-mannered)
Rating: 7/10
In other news, I upgraded to WordPress 2.7 yesterday. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the new redesign. Sure, it's snappier and, uh, more Web 2.0-ish… but did we really have to sacrifice the color? The pizazz? And half of my functional plugins?
In other other news, I'm also working very hard on my next installment of the underground/indie reviews. Even though my readership is perpetually close to zero. Don't know why I even bother.
And oh yeah… happy holidays, everyone! Two weeks of nonstop napping! ^____^
Tags: hip-hop, Tila Tequila, WordPress
Amy says:
Most Asians that I've met aren't as demure as you claim. The stereotypical Asian female that you describe is portrayed much more often in the media (and probably more often in Western media than Eastern), and even then, not obsessively. Besides, husbands these days are totally henpecked. :)
I won't dispute that Asian girls idolize rankings (almost as much as they do pretty boy bands :P), but attention to education is a general Asian thing, and I doubt that even you could escape it.
Wordpress 2.7 looks cool. Wish I had the time to play with it.
Oh, I always look forward to your new entries! Even though we disagree on some things, I still enjoy your witty prose and your opinions enormously. ^^
I hope you have a nice holiday! Seems like you'll get plenty of rest. XP
11:18 am | Monday, December 22, 2008
Jenny-fa says:
Actually, Amy, if you haven't upgraded already and use a lot of plugins, I would recommend holding it off for a while, or at least until more plugin developers catch up. Like I said, practically half of my plugins are now broken.
Anyway, that's uncharacteristically sadistic of you to suggest that I want to "escape" from academia-mania (if that's even a word)… what I want to do is overcome it, since there's so many better things to do than obsessing over GPAs. For instance, I have a friend who keeps asking me questions like "Should I ask [insert name] about his GPA? 'Cause I need to know how to improve my ranking…" At any rate, when a student's mentality progresses to this stage, don't you think it's pathetic? And a little sad?
I'm gratified to hear that at least one person enjoys my writing. I was pretty discouraged about my meager readership for a while. T__T~ ^___^
Happy holidays to you, too. And update your blog already.
12:20 am | Tuesday, December 23, 2008
S-chan says:
Eh. How much do you know, exactly, about Asian females? Being immersed in [location withheld] isn't exactly the best way to sample a gargantuan population. Honestly, Tila's badass attitude isn't that striking, mostly because it's nothing new; you have to keep in mind that the Western media usually portrays Asians as retards, pretty faces with empty heads, stereotyped chinks, and/or tokens for racial balance.
Tila may be a ***** who exploits other people's emotions (A Shot at Love was most likely completely staged… both seasons), but she does have a really cute giggle/laugh. In any case, I still find it funny that you criticize stereotypes while throwing them around with careless abandon, alluding to people whom you refuse to comprehend. Most Asians I know have plenty of personality, too, at the very least more than average.
1:52 am | Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Jenny-fa says:
S-chan, what did I tell you? Your comment was flagged as spam. I'm implementing a new anti-spam measure, so please use your legitimate name/e-mail address next time.
Your response greatly amused me. So full of self-righteousness and sententiousness. And faux sophistication that ultimately demonstrates an utter lack of objectivity and understanding (and a habit of bandying about words merely for its perceived psychological effect). There are exceptions to every generalization about people 99% of the time. Don't you think I know that? At any rate, I thought I made it clear that it was only a generalization.
That depends on what you mean by personality. If you mean lack thereof, then yes, most Asians have plenty of it. Why do you think they're portrayed that way in the media? Every group is at least partially responsible for their own stereotype in society. And I would say Asians deserve much more of the blame than, say, Latinos and blacks, largely because of their relative socioeconomic superiority in most parts of the country.
Anyway, stereotyping, while unfortunate, is no longer relevant to me, and people who still consider it relevant are themselves guilty of propagating fixed perceptions.
3:44 pm | Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Hiro says:
My personality is epitome of unasianness.
But the only asians that are "really" asian are the asians in America.
Seriously.
If you go to Japan, the country is rampant in all the craziness that's here, other than the facts that drug is harder to get, and weapons are illegal.
It's the stereotypes that we get because of our "race"'s obsession with succeeding in this American world.
Otherwise, you can't survive.
I unfortunately, though my schoolwork does not suggest it, have no such competition. My parents moved so that I don't have to go to the most competitive school in the county (I didn't want to go to the really bad one we were living in the district of). Competition is not my thing, and Asian competition is the worst kind.
It's terrible how parents subject their children to such things, though there are A LOT of self-righteous parents who think they are doing the best for their children by over-bearing them with schoolwork for the "success" that is sure to follow.
But in this economy, I don't think the "success" is coming anytime soon. Unfortunately.
Anyways- that girl kind of scares me. ;w; Too ****. Too un-Asian. Stop making me feel bad! *runs away*
8:42 pm | Thursday, December 25, 2008
Jenny-fa says:
"My personality is epitome of unasianness."
Dude, that's why I like you, Hiro! ^_______^
2:58 pm | Friday, December 26, 2008