Joy Ruckus Club, known as the largest Asian music festival in the world, has released the “I Hate Being Hated” group song which seeks to bring awareness to anti-Asian hate.
Produced by Philadelphia-based Ben Other, “I Hate Being Hated” is a 14-minute epic track featuring 14 vocalists who have performed at past Joy Ruckus Club festivals. The artists on “I Hate Being Hated” are Heesun Lee (Staten Island, NY), May Cheung (Vancouver, BC), Pattie Lin (Los Angeles), Ashya (Los Angeles), Geoff Ong (Auckland, New Zealand), Koryo (College Station, TX), Sawhee (San Francisco), V8Muzik (Stockton, CA), Tealousy (Bay Area, CA), Saenabi (Peoria, IL), Hunter Dane (San Bruno, CA), Poet Initiative (London, England), C-Tru (Los Angeles), and Chow Mane (San Jose, CA). Together, they hope to educate as much as entertain listeners by shedding light on the growing global Anti-Asian sentiment.
“Feelings of hopelessness, fear of a stranger who looks at my face and sees only danger, not a human, a disease,” sings Saenabi, detailing the prejudice endured by Asians in today’s society in the wake of the pandemic.
With a spoken word verse, Chow Mane puts the current wave of anti-Asian hate in historical context: “Bombed our countries, raped the women, and murdered our babies, you remember My Lai or No Gun Ri, when the US army used to kill our chinks, today the same sh*t, more sinister, less overt.”
Geoff Ong’s verse shows that even as far away as New Zealand, Asians are experiencing the same things: “How does it feel to be a hated race, sometimes I’m like at least they said it to my face.”
Not all is despair as Ashya sings of keeping one’s head high in spite of the hate, “So love yourself, there’s no one like you, one of a kind.”
Prior to its official release, the song was debuted at the Joy Ruckus Club Presents I Hate Being Hated virtual fundraising event for Stand With Asian Americans, mixing statements by influencers and Asian American community organizations with the aim to stop Asian hate through education and entertainment.
An accompanying remix of “I Hate Being Hated” has also been released, on a beat by Los Angeles producer 1K composed purely of traditional Asian instruments and rhythms. The original and remix are both available to be listened to on all digital platforms.