Face Value
In late-2020 jason chu brought up to me the idea of doing an hip-hop album that would also be a crash course in Asian American history. He brought on rapper/singer Alan Z to partner with him on the music. My job was to take on the task of connecting the music to Asian America’s political heritage in a creative way. When the album released in 2021, the Stop Asian Hate movement was reaching an inflection point so it was crucial that our message was able to rise to the occasion and fulfill the goal to elevate and illuminate the history of Asian American protest.
We drew inspiration from archive political poster graphics created by radical artists in the 80s and used that as a springboard for a bold collage aesthetic that guided all visual content surrounding Face Value. I designed and wrote a number of educational info-posts covering historical figures from Asian America.
I contributed to the multimedia portion of the Face Value project as well, executive producing two DJ mixes by YiuYiu and DJ Toy highlighting the sounds of Asian America’s past and present. I also acted as A&R on the music side, securing R&B singer Htet, and producers West1ne, Macrohard, and Mio Soul, all of them contributing to over half of the album.
We also live-streamed a release event hosted by activists Sam Hyun and Christine Juang that featured a large roster of collaborators from the album. Along the way I was assisted with additional design work by Sun Luu and Grace Park.
Creative Direction by me, additional Graphic Design (Social Content) by Alex Luu and Grace Park, additional Graphic Design (Album Artwork) by Michelle Hanabusa, Livestream Production by Wynton Wong