Do you feel people have an unfair racial bias against Jrock or other "Asian music"?

[YuyoDrift 1540]

Not sure if I'd go and call it racial bias, but simply ignorance. It's a combination of the language barrier & your lack of musical experience to music outside your country of origin.

 

If you cannot understand what they're saying, depending on your mindset, you will form some explanation/opinion to make up for your lack of understanding. That can range from simply stating that the music cannot be understood and that is why you don't like it, to flat out mocking/disrespecting the band because you are insecure about how you feel listening to it and give yourself this excuse that it's no better than what is here in your country.

 

I always judge the performance of the lead singer and how well the rest of the music accentuates their vocals, regardless of language and genre. That's basically it for me. It was how I was introduced to Japanese in the first place, and how I've picked up music from other parts of the world since then.

 

I have been mocked for listening to Japanese music, with the occasional "What the fuck are they saying? Hashi kurashi Fushashi (mocking their language)!" and "They sound like fags". I've simply come to terms with the fact that most listeners are not wise enough/mature enough to enjoy music from all over the world, due to some underlying problem within themselves. It's sad but "with age comes wisdom".

[itsukoii 1300]

from my experiences, it seems like kind of a racial bias thing tbh. i've shown friends who normally listen to western metal etc. Japanese metal/deathcore/VK, and they didn't mind it (possibly even liked it) before i told them it was Japanese or the band was from Japan, but they did give me some weird looks and call me a weeb after i told them lmfao. either way, in those genres, you can't understand the lyrics because of the screaming no matter the language the band is singing in, so that's why from my experiences there has been judgement based on the races.

 

even when i show them Japanese bands that sing in English. :/

 

it's really sad honestly. but maybe i just need new friends LMAO

Edited May 6, 2016 by itsukoii

[mahoujin 395]

Aside from the popular language barrier, it's hard to introduce "normies" to visual kei because of... visual kei. Having to explain visual kei to someone who is completely shocked and put off by it is a chore to me. I haven't really been in that position as an adult, but when I was in school, I definitely was. At least for me, it usually does come along with a lot of people pulling their eyes slanted and mocking the language, or jokes like "So I guess you like small penises????". It's usually straight men who get really uncomfortable after seeing what a visual kei band looks like and fire back with stuff like that, so I guess I have seen some of the ugly racism that other members in this thread have been lucky enough to avoid. 

[evilcoconut 109]

I used to get really annoyed at bad, stupid or cheesy lyrics in songs so once I found music not in English, I never looked back lol.  Even though I do understand some Japanese, Korean and Chinese, it's not enough to put together a complex meaning in the space of a song and v.easy to not even think about.  I just prefer music to be sounds I don't have to think about, Idk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Panda_bear 43]

I don't think the language barrier is the issue here, it's the level of maturity, willingness to be open minded and how passionate one is about music. I don't think the average casual listener who only listens to mainstream music will give Japanese music or any foreign music an unbiased honest chance. Even if they don't listen to mainstream music, they still have to have certain qualities in order to appreciate and take a liking to foreign music. 

 

I have actually been quite lucky that I know a lot of people who are really into music and have gotten them into Japanese music because I exposed them to it. Part of it is because they were already hardcore music fans to begin, musician themselves or had a diverse music taste. Usually a mix of those 3 things. 

 

Music transcends barriers, including language, but you already have to have some level of maturity. The "I can't enjoy the music because I understand what they are saying" is a sign  of those who weren't ready for it.  When I first got into Japanese music,  I admit it was really strange and weird listening to a foreign language, but I kept doing so because the music was amazing to me, and eventually not only did I get used to the Japanese language but I found things I really loved about it. 

 

Now I can usually tell if a person I know will get into jmusic or not way before I even introduce it to them.  I usually know their music taste, what they listen to, how passionate they are about it, and if they already listen to some foreign music.  I also think there's a certain way you have to go about when trying to expose your friends or family to jmusic. It's got to be in a smart and calculated way. For example, I definitely wouldn't throw on some nocturnal bloodlust for a friend of mine who I know listens to a lot of pop, maybe some perfume instead. Likewise  I wouldn't show pictures of a totes "brutalz", but super girly vk looking band to a friend of mine who i know listens to a lot of western bands, instead I'd just play them their music.  Always let the music win them over first. You might even end up helping them mature a little by the end of the process. 

 

All of that being said, I'm sure there are people out there who dismiss Japanese music because of xenophobia  or some weird racial thing, but I'd say that's a very very small minority and a large portion of people who express similar sentiments do so because they adhere to really immature notions to begin with and can't understand it, rather than coming from a place of  true hate which I feel is more in line with real racists.  Same thing with the dismissal of Vk because of it being "gay" or something. Talk about ignorance and sexual insecurity. 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2016 by Panda_bear

[Atreides 454]

On 5/1/2016 at 5:47 PM, Traxan said:

I definitely think there is anti-Japanese sentiment. I see it most with the anti-Babymetal crowd. After the initial round of "they aren't metal" claims will often come the racist comments. I swear some people act like Pearl Harbor was last week, not 75 years ago.

 

Well, besides the racist comments... Baby Metal is pretty awful in my opinion.