Slanty Eyed Mama
New York City, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
Managing to slam stereotypes and point out the prejudices and culture clashes confronting Asian-Americans every day.
Effortlessly walked the line between theater and stand up comedy...
This team’s Outrageous Political and racial humor is too good to be missed - Boston Globe
“hell bent on exploding asian stereotypes with the blunt force of their lyrical flow”
Blurring the lines between rock show and high art with a heady mix of spoken word, hip hop and butoh inspired modern dance, Slanty performances are a rapid fire assault on the senses - BUST Magazine
“A Bold, daring fun crazy voice that expresses our joy our rage our piece of the American Dream”
A year after graduation, Rigg and fellow Juilliard graduate decided to shed their "good Asian girls" image to take the trip-hop world by storm....
Performances by Slanty Eyed Mama are anything but subtle. Songs like "me Love You Long Time" and "Mulan" are rife with Asian stereotypes such as mail-order brides, massage parlors and women with porcelain skin...
Slanty eyed Mama will bring something special to the American landscape-- a bold daring fun, crazy voice that expresses our joy our rage our piece of the American dream in a way that is accessible to everyone, most of all recognizable to other Asians and Hapas... - East West Woman Magazine
Rock paradigms and challenge conventions..
Unconventionally impressive violin work
Uncompromising manifestos on the latent racism of mainstream American media
Intensely literate lyrics
--The Student Life Southern California (Pomona college)
Diverse, comedic…shoving ignorance back into the faces of the ignorant.
The Daily Collegian (UMASS)
Edgy multlayered political force
--Mount Holyoke College
“Inspired”
--The Miscellany News (Vassar College)
The other obvious reference point for Rigg is Margaret Cho, who´s done as much as anyone to bring to the surface the comic potential of our culture´s fantasies of female Asian sexuality. You can hear Cho´s influence, minus some of her narcissism, in Riggs´ song Me Love You Long Time, which she sings as part of her latest project, a a trip-hop exploration of contemporary Asian-American identity called Slanty Eyed Mama . There´s also more than a hint of the Beastie Boys in the song´s rap-rock interlude
--The Valley Advocate
One of those rare gems that is so smart, witty and hilarious that I could barely laugh because I was so busy marveling at the layering of language and political sophistication…
fearless
--Association for Theater in Higher Education Women and Theatre
Smart, thought provoking anti-racism, multi-cultural learning with side splitting fun
--Five colleges incorporated - multiple college papers
“The X-rated Slantys dig fearlessly into the identity issues facing Amerasians, smashing stereotypes and spotlighting the subtle and not-so-subtle prejudices they face.”
“smart, edgy”
“Machine Gun Delivery”
“Rigg used stereotypes against themselves to nuanced but devastating effect.”
- Washington Post
Imagine poetry in drag and symphony on a hip-hop bender, or stand-up comedy doing the freak with an electric violin, or a couple of Juilliard-trained chicks from New York rambling urban riffs in Anchorage...
Ranging from cinematic forays into our media-saturated, consumer-driven, pop-cultural, wreckage-strewn landscape to simple almost balladlike evocations of longing, each poem was a sonic sculpture that easily transcended its particulars...
As Hung's violin becomes an ax, guitar, mood and character, Rigg tells jokes, sings, does poetry and turns into people of all races, mixed races, ages and mind-sets; she delves head-on into motherhood, relationships, gender, race, racism, sex, identity and much more....
People don't think of Asians as rappers, comedians and rock stars, Rigg said, but Asian-Americans want a place at the table. "My work is about representing what I am: a person who consumes pop culture and wants to be a part of it."...
Rigg and Hung always use mature material but play around with new stuff too. Their collaboration helps steady the treacherous, exhilarating waters. They can play off each other, crackle when the other wanes and respond to a great moment in kind,
Hung's violin works that way for Rigg, who prefers freestyling with Hung over doing it alone. Music actually becomes a character, she said. It builds layers and dimensions....
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- Anchorage Daily News
Discography
"Asian Majora" 2010
"What Are You" 2005
"Slanty Eyed Mama" EP 2003
Photos
Bio
Two good asian girls gone Bad-Assed. Thoroughly modern, urban, sexy sounds from the very fresh, street infused Asian-American duo that always causes a stir...You have never seen anything quite like it--part hip hop, part rock, part electroclash, from two rock n roll asian chicks. Slanty Eyed Mama sees the world through the searing electric violin and beats of virtuoso Lyris Hung (who has played with Jay Z, Bono etc) and the iconoclastic rants from Kate Rigg, aka. Lady K-Sian who is an amerasian icon from the world of comedy and acting.
It's bold. It's wild. It's funny and cool. With a solid backbone of musicality and lyricism that is unparalleled in the spoken word/electronic world.
Exotic, fierce, Slanty Eyed Mama has gotten rave reviews from high profile gigs as artists in residence at the Smithsonian Institute, the Perth International Festival, LA Grand Performances, appearances on PBS, Sex-TV, LOGO, City TV, Girlfest hawaii, The MIchigan Women's Music Festival, countless colleges, many outdoor fests and anywhere audiences are seatching for something they never heard before.
Lyricist and singer Kate Rigg (Lady-K) and electric violinist Lyris Hung met while studying at the Juilliard School and began collaborating on creating a new Amerasian sound through trip hop, spoken word, rock and the inclusion of 'cyber butoh' ( japanese modern dancer Sato) at live performances.
Slanty Eyed Mama quickly gained a National following headlining the 2004 Asian Pacific Islander Fest in NYC, the 2005 PBS special Race is the Place, and National Conferences at Asian American Students of colleges across the country (ECAASU, NAASC). They are favorites at new music conferences(Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago) , alternative music fests and benefits (Pridefest, LA Grand Performances), women's music festivals (Michigan, Girlfest Hawaii etc) and alt-culture venues like the Chicago Museum of Modern Art and The Perth International Art Festival within a year of forming. The sound is a street infused mix of hip hop, electroclash, spoken word, and pop rock, influenced by artists like Laurie Anderson, David Byrne and The Roots.
Spearheading a movement to bring a new brand of pop culture to the main stream, Slanty Eyed Mama combines a hip urban sound with lyrics and rhymes that reflect America from Generasian-Next. Songs Like "Me Love You Long Time" and "Mulan" have received airplay internationally propelling this unsigned band to cult status amongst audiences hungry for a hip new sound.
Because of frontwoman Lady K's parallel career in stand up comedy and performance art (she has been on vh1, Comedy Central, Fox's Family Guy, LOGO, and regularly on the Dr. Phil show), this versatile act can tour with comedy acts. THeir fresh politicomic rants and satirical songs like "I don't wanna Go To Medical School" weave through into their more punk performance style. They are also fixtures at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and the Bowery Poetry Club in New York where they indulge in freestyles and acoustic renditions of songs and poems for the hiphop poetry crowd. Performance Art venues love their mixed sound media and frequent inclusion of japanese modern dancer Sato. Colleges frequently book them for a show and a talkback/workshop on Asian Americans in pop culture, women of color issues and politics, multiculturalism in the arts and media.
Slanty Eyed Mama have headlined: The Smithsonian institute, LA Grand Performances, Perth International Festival, Vancouver International Comedy Festival, Heritage of Pride Rally in Union Square Park, A/PI Heritage Fest in New York, The Philly Fringe, The Black and Blue Ball, Eurasian Nation's Launch Party, The National Performance Network's Symposium, The Women in Performance Conference, Michigan Women's Music Festival, and countless clubs and colleges.
See www.slantyeyedmama.com
and our facebook page
for more music and media.
Band Members
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