My every birthday wish was, 'I want to someday be on TV.' Awkwafina More Quotes by Awkwafina More Quotes From Awkwafina It's definitely a privilege to be able to do what you love to do; it's not something that everyone gets to do, so I feel really good about that. Awkwafina do-what-you-love good you love I remember watching Margaret Cho with my grandmother on TV. She was my hero, not only because she was funny, but because she showed me that it's okay to be yourself, that it's okay to be a brash yellow girl and to be a strong and brave woman. Awkwafina me girl hero funny You can't really label me as a musician, a comedian, or a rapper - you know, it's different. Awkwafina know me you different I feel that its important for me to be out there and to represent the face. At the same time, for me as an individual, I think the Asian-American face can be crowded with the American identity. Awkwafina face me identity time I think there are barriers, but I think for me specifically, my barrier is being rejected from the kind of hip-hop elitists that think I'm not appropriating it, but just not serious about it. They think I'm a Lonely Island, Weird Al, you know - like a parody rapper. So that alienates me from a lot of things. Awkwafina think me you serious They're not going to have a homeless person on a poster representing New York. Awkwafina person new homeless new-york Rap was started by black people and, thus, is at the foundation of black culture. So people cannot always wrap their minds around someone like me being inspired by it. But if you listen to the things we're saying, they're authentically us. Awkwafina me you culture people I think it's important for people to understand that as a woman, I can only rap about the parts I have. Awkwafina woman understand think people I have lived in this city my whole life and have seen the way gentrification has changed it. I'm not necessarily against transplants, as 75 percent of my good friends, roommate, and boyfriend are not native New Yorkers. Awkwafina city good friends life My mom passed away when I was 4 years old, and she came from a very conservative Korean background. I feel like my life would've been incredibly different had she still been alive. Awkwafina my-life feel mom life I was working a corporate job, but I really wanted to do music. Awkwafina working job music wanted It's not nice to say it - I know female musicians, but not so many rappers. I can't think of one I idolize, which is sad, but I'm hoping that will change. Awkwafina think sad nice change I'm not trying to unite Asian people with my music. Awkwafina unite music trying people Other female rappers are overly sexual, have no wit, and their lyrics are so generic. I want to change the game to make rap that shows I'm not a normal female rapper - it's not about how rich I am, how much sex I have, or how many boyfriends I have. That's just not me. Awkwafina i-am game me change I used to chop up C-Span soundbites or interviews with politicians like John Kerry or Bill Clinton into a radio-esque show hosted by Awkwafina and her producer, Mookie. I would pitch down my vocals to have male guests and would send them to a small circle of friends after they were done. Awkwafina circle down small friends I legitimately wanted to know if Mayor Bloomberg was going to ban large margaritas that I cry over while on a date alone at Dallas BBQ as a part of his controversial soda ban. Awkwafina alone over know cry I like to make songs that are based on concepts. Awkwafina songs make like concepts I started with me as Awkwafina reciting 'Othello' monologues, and I'd send those to my friends. It started like that, and then it went into more music-y stuff. Awkwafina more like me friends I started by producing, and the rapping came second to that, because I wanted to fill out the beat. Awkwafina beat started out because I studied my craft at the same place as Nicki Minaj. Awkwafina nicki-minaj craft same place
