This week's picks for Song of the Day were chosen by the Asian Pacific American staff of KEXP, spotlighting APA artists as part of our Pushing Boundaries celebration. Today's Song of the Day is “Natural Ones” by Wastewomxn, from the 2020 self-released album Wastewomxn.
A self-described "queer transatlantic Afro-Asia band," Wastewomxn was formed by Adedamola Bajomo (London), Tobi Adebajo (Essex), and Kyoko Takenaka (Los Angeles). On their self-titled debut album, they craft soulful songs, infusing R&B, punk, gospel, and hip-hop. In an interview with Color Bloq, Takenaka explains the cultural collaboration:
I think both cultures share this return to ancient knowings and practices of healing especially, and that's where we bond directly a lot. Whether that's different healing modalities or rituals that we are incorporating into our work, or through the expression of movement and art. If we were always centering English, then we wouldn’t have that. To tie it to queerness — this concept of “unbinary alien” — I think that's something we embrace as diasporic cultures in saying we have been othered in western society [while simultaneously asking,] what does it look like when we actually value those roots and ancient knowings and then connect directly. During this pandemic, I think a lot of people are seeing that american and western is truly not the way and already failing, so people around the world are going back to their roots in different ways saying 'hey what do we already know about survival and interdependence and [what] can we bring that to the table.'
Today's Song of the Day was chosen by Wei Wei Xiao, Community Engagement Coordinator. “'Natural Ones’ extraterrestrial energy captures the diasporic feelings of cultural alienation and yearning for rootedness," she shares. “Lyrically, the song interweaves Japanese, English and Yoruba to tell stories about what it means to forget, remember, and reclaim your roots.”
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