7 Asian American Female Artists to Look Out For in 2019

Gingee

Gingee is a multi-talented Filipina DJ, producer, kulingtang artist, and vocalist among her many artistic talents. Her work is a reflection of the sounds and cultures she has been exposed to growing up in Los Angeles. Gingee’s productions incorporate the sounds of percussion instruments such as the kulintang (gongs native to the Philippines), kettle drum, and cowbells with rap and poetry. Her 2015 EP “Tambol” made waves in the global music community and she recently created a 4-part yearlong EP series released on every solstice and equinox. She has performed at Coachella, South By Southwest, Malasimbo Festival, Grand Performances, Stern Grove, Magic Garage (an art and music festival she founded) and has been featured on KPFK, Red Bull Radio, BBC Radio, KXLU, LA Weekly, and KCET with releases on Party Time Society, Cassette Blog, Generation Bass, That Kind Of Music / Sony Red, and Moomba+.

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Annie Nishida

Annie is a fourth-generation Japanese-American, emo music aficionado, and a self-described “product of the MySpace-era.” She creates coming-of-age themed feature-length screenplays, television comedy, plays, and prose. Nishida graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a BFA in Writing for Screen and Television, has been recognized by the Austin Film Festival, nominated for the Humanitas Prize’s Angell Comedy Fellowship, and worked on a pilot with Bill Prady, creator of The Big Bang Theory. Additionally has pitched projects to 20th Century Fox Television and Adult Swim, written two stage plays performed at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, and regularly tables at community open mics. She is honored to also be a contributor of words at www.raincoatmag.com, a space “created, maintained, and curated by womyn, for all.”

Fun fact: I had the pleasure of meeting Nishida in person at the Claremont ZINE fest where I bought her ZINE, “Yellow Fever is Too Real” as a gift for a friend.

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Jennifer Hsu

Hsu is a music producer and vocalist who also DJs for events. She is currently a Computer Music PhD student whose research focuses on designing and programming audio effects and synthesizers. Additionally, she teaches an undergraduate course in music production at UCSD. Both music production and the Computer Music field are traditionally male-dominated, and she hopes to set an example for other women, letting them know that it’s OK to experiment in both of these areas.  Recently, she just put out two songs that she produced, wrote, and sang over: “Only for a Night” and “We Can Feel Fine.”  She is also a part of Tribe 20:4, a San Diego-based collective of producers, vocalists, and DJs. Together, they recently released two songs as well: “Quit Tripping” and “No Longer True.”

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Lina Yu

Yu is a half-Korean, half-Chinese illustrator based in LA. She grew up in Diamond Bar, California, a sleepy suburb in East LA county. Her parents owned a very successful Chinese restaurant growing up, which also meant that I was hanging out in the back room of the restaurant and bothering the wait staff more than I was home. She started drawing ever since she could remember. Inspired by the anime and video games Yu was consuming as a kid, she was always drawing. By the time she became a freshman in high school, Yu already knew she wanted to pursue art as a career. Her dad, being a chef and calligraphist, and my mom, who has always had a love for fashion and literature, were very supportive. 

She applied to Art Center College of Design and ever since then, her journey through the world of art has become a constant in her life. Currently, she works full time at a Creative Studio and curates art for galleries and art fairs in my spare time.

You can find her on IG @lina_yuand her portfolio at www.linayu.info.

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Kathleen Kim Redway

Kathleen Kim Redway is a multiracial Korean writer & filmmaker from Ohio and currently based in Los Angeles. After spending most of her life acting, photographing, and writing, she found the perfect medium to combine all of her interests: filmmaking. She used to reject the idea of using her identity as the basis of her work, but now she finds that her strongest & most unique perspective that she can offer is her identity including (but not limited to) her race and gender. She just wrapped post-production on her thesis film, American Woman. Currently, she is developing multiple projects including Return My Youth To Me: a chapbook that deals with intergenerational trauma and intersects personal allegory with testimonies from Korean comfort women, and We Moved at Night: a proof of concept short film, and an untitled narrative project focusing on Medusa.

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JLY – “Jackie”

JLY otherwise known as Jackie is a pop singer-songwriter based in LA. She graduated from UCLA doing Electrical Engineering but quit her first job out of college to pursue my musical dream. Her most recent singles are “Yellow Fever” and “Ecstasy.” Other than vocals, JLY also plays the ukulele. Her debut EP dropped June 26th. She will be going on tour this July to promote her first EP, Fresh Face. It’s a 4-song acoustic EP all about self-love and empowerment.

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JIXXII

JIXXII is a 23-year-old Korean painter and singer. Specifically, she paints, draws, produces music and writes songs among her many talents. She was born in Koreatown, LA but raised all over southern California. Art is in her blood — JIXXII has been drawing/painting her whole life, as her mom is an artist. Loving music came naturally as well, as she has been playing piano since she was little. At 15, the same love morphed into producing beats in her bedroom, writing songs, and putting out my own music independently. Her main focus is to bridge the gap between all art forms and to give people an experience they’ve never had. She hopes to inspire people to not limit themselves and stay in a box. Currently, she has been throwing shows in LA for a year now, fusing the gap between art and music. You can also find her teaching Vibe & Paint workshops in the LA area monthly, a 420 friendly painting workshop that feels more like a party. Right now, she is mainly focused on finishing her debut album (alongside other projects).