Yale Group Releases Racy (or -ist?) “Single Asians” Video
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Mixed Company of Yale, who’ve been busting out “exceptional a cappella since 1981,” recently released a music video called “Single Asians.” This cheeky rendition of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” starts out with some nice references to how much Asian girls like to study for their pre-med classes and engages increasingly stereotypical imitations of Asian women. Aside from the geisha comment and the fairly shocking subtitled final verse, here’s the best phrase:
At the restaurant
I’ll taste your sauce
And you can slurp my sushi.
I like it raw,
So bring it on,
And me love you long time.
Readers have stuffed our inbox with pretty angry reactions about the video’s racist undertones and how it actually manages to be more misogynistic than Beyonce’s original version. One would think that the recent Dartmouth racist email extravaganza might have postponed any racy releases at least until next month. But given that all of the girls singing the song appear to be Asian, it’s no big deal, right?
We tried getting in touch with Mixed Company but they’re apparently cool with letting the video speak for itself. Read the song’s lyrics in full and post reactions after the jump.
Mixed Company of Yale
“Single Asians”
All the single Asians
All the single Asians
All the single Asians
All the single Asians
All the single Asians
Now put your hands up
Library and CDB
Test comin’ up next week.
You dropped a flask,
And now I’ve gotta ask
If you’re enough to be in a lab with me.
I need this grade.
I’ve never been late,
Because I live my life for med school.
I do bio-chem
On the weekends
You ain’t hardcore enough for me.
Cause if you like me
Then you shoulda got an A on it.
Cause if you like me
Then you shoulda got an A on it,
An A-minus
Ain’t the same as an A is it?
Cause if you like me
Then you shoulda got an A on it.
[lots of Oh's]
Let’s make some noise
For all the boys
Who have yellow fever.
I’ll be Lucy Liu
Or Sailor Moon
A geisha just for you.
At the restaurant
I’ll taste your sauce
And you can slurp my sushi.
I like it raw,
So bring it on,
And me love you long time.
[more Oh's...and now with an accent and subtitles]
We from Beijing,
We dry cleaning,
And practice Viorin.
We visit Yale,
We bring peace there,
And take picture at the Beinecke.
I make the rice,
(She make it nice)
Cause I’m in charge of Dim Sum!!!
I make Chai Tea.
I do Tai Chi.
And bring honor to our family.
[lyrics in another language...likely an Asian one]
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Read more: a cappella, music video, racism, video, Yale
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March 24th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
lol If you’re offended by this stuff than you’re just a douche. Lighten the fuck up- this is college. You’re about 30 years too early on the stuffiness.
Take the respectable pad toi outta your ass please.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
not offensive. and i just went to their website, they’re pretty legit.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Hysterical. And I find it really troubling if people take offense. If they weren’t Asian, then yes, this would be bad. Self-parody, however, is another story. Go Mixed Co!
March 24th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
in the interests of presenting an accurate depiction of the song, I’d like to point out some errors in the lyrics:
Now put your hands up
Library, *MCDB* [an abbreviation for Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology]
Test comin’ up next week.
You dropped a flask,
And now I’ve gotta ask
If you’re enough to be in a lab with me.
I need this grade.
I’ve never been *LAID*
Because I live my life for med school.
I do bio-chem
On the weekends
You ain’t hardcore enough for me.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
This is so funny!!! I love it. I can’t stop watching it. Keep me laughing, Mixed Co!
March 24th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
i think it’s racist that the author of this post *assumes* that the final chorus is “likely in some asian language”! what nonsense! is nothing SACRED?!
March 24th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
LOLZ
March 24th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I love it. Not offensive at all. I don’t see why this is a big deal.
March 24th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
As an Asian lady at Yale (though not single), I cringe to think that this meme might leak out to the rest of the world, forever associating me with these awkwardly-swinging, off-key, unsexed, Asians who can’t even do a decent job on their hair and makeup for the camera (even though most of them appear impeccably made up in person).
I think I’m actually more offended by the video’s lack of editing, the girls’ inability to keep a tune, and their shaky commitment to the dance moves than the “racist” premise of the video itself, plus the fact that they’ve exploited these racist stereotypes of Asian females (however badly) for their own personal, camwhoring gains.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
oh shit! girl got herself all up in a jealous fit!
March 24th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
boring. move on.
they’re cute and didn’t ask to be put on ivygate. next story, please?
March 24th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Mixed Company always does controvercial videos – almost every year. Anyone remember the one about homosexuals? I think the singing here is very good. Can anyone explain the last verse?
March 24th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
^^^
Mixed Co’s Mean Gays
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEc7Hsm0S04
March 24th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
^ agreed
March 24th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
The fun fact in the aasa newsletter about less Asians being below poverty line was slightly more offensive, because that was ill-informed. Here, you have four Asian girls who don’t necessarily fit the stereotype doing a parody.
March 24th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
the best part is that the two koreans toward the end are international. the one on the left is from the philippines and the one on the right was raised in korea for half of her life.
loves it!
March 24th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Vocals were surprisingly good. I think it would have been more palatable if they had shipped in MIT girls for the video, though. Much hotter, at least in my college days (in the Eighties).
March 24th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I’m both turned on and offended at the same time. I want an apology…and a date.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
just fyi the last lines are in korean (translations of the actual lyrics)
March 24th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
the last lines are in korean and are a translation of beyonce’s lyrics, “if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it”
March 24th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
I assumed not so much that it was a parody of Asians, but more that it was making fun of people who think Asians are like that. My Asian friends always get annoyed when people assume that they’re into math and science, or that they’re Chinese when they’re not.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
not so much racist as trying too hard.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Clever, but a little karaoke, as Simon would say…and did I mention self indulgent…but not total rubbish. Is this really what Yale coeds look like, I mean Asian Yale coeds? No, seriously, I really enjoyed it and glad that someone sent me the link.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
not that funny, how desperate people can be for attention
March 24th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
What do international students from Korea know about racism?
March 24th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Desperate for attention? They didn’t even give a comment…
March 24th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Whatever happened to “why so serious?”. Really people? Its a parody video, and its funny. Some people might find it offensive, but I’m pretty sure most people just think its harmless. (I’m Asian and I’m in no way offended and find it dumb that people find it offensive.) If you find this at all offensive, go to Youtube. You’ll be appalled at the some of the videos that are allowed on there! For shame! Oh wait. Its a little something called freedom and we have it here.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
I actually find offense with the author’s last line. You sound a bit racist yourself Mr. Adam Estes.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
FINALLY SOMEONE BRAVE ENOUGH TO CALL OUT THOSE DARN ASIANS
March 24th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
maybe they should’ve paid more attention to the dance part. but the content itself? it’s obviously a joke and they are just making fun of the stereotypes. like they don’t know what they are implying.
i don’t understand what the big deal is.
March 25th, 2009 at 1:06 am
I didn’t get insulted by this when I saw it, mainly because it’s so ridiculous. But I can see where some of the lyrics can hit sensitive spots…
However, I did cringe a bit at the less-than-mediocre dancing
March 25th, 2009 at 1:30 am
content: not offensive
lack of dancing ability: offensive
March 25th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Just as offensive as Tommy Brothers, i.e. not at all offensive. Both recycled Asian stereotypes in poor attempts to be humorous. One got flayed because he was a white male, while the others are seen as cute because they are not white males. Funny how that works out, huh?
March 25th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Tommy Brothers’ “joke” was like calling Barack Obama a nigger who should be out in the field picking cotton. It is clearly racist and offensive.
The video above is like a group of Latin girls ridiculing the white guys’ obsession with their butts. It is in poor taste, but is only borderline offensive/not really and not at all racist. If the white guys were doing the same video, it would actually be offensive and racist. Guess what, depending on who’s saying it, the same thing can be offensive/not offensive, racist/not racist, and criminal/not criminal. This is true with many things in life.
If you can’t still tell the difference, it just means that you are very obtuse.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I’m going to ignore most of these comments, but I’d really be a little more comfortable with this if these weren’t the only four asian girls in the group.
March 25th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Easy flow chart for identifying (written) asian languages:
Does it look asian? Yes-continue on, No-find a different flow chart.
Does it have circles in it? Yes-it’s Korean. No-continue on.
Are there a LOT of lines per character? Yes-it’s traditional chinese or Japanese. No-it’s simplified chinese.
….you get the picture.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
That’s not entirely accurate because the Japanese writing system also contains simplified characters, known as hiragana and katakana, which can be mixed with straight Chinese characters (kanji). Kanji is often a small fraction of the characters used in a sentence.
Everything taken into account, on average, Chinese > Japanese > Korean in the number of strokes per character.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
to yalie 2010: the KKK is has a website and they’re pretty legit, too–do they have your support?
i’m not sure where to begin with these comments, but would like to make an example of them–these are the kinds of comments, from the kind of people, that this video will perpetuate. people who think that asian american women are submissive, dragon ladies who will fulfill all of their craziest fantasies. people who buy into the model minority myth that the biggest problems of asian americans is getting into med school. never mind the asian americans living in projects or suffering from mental disorders. lucy liu, zhang zi yi, gong li, soon yee–it’s all the same, it all sounds the same, right? each as replaceable as the other.
in reference to the girls who made this video, i hope they aren’t confused the next time someone heckles them on the street with “ni hao”s, “konichiwa”s, and “annyong”s. and if they meet guys who think that they are nothing more than pretty geisha dolls and then ask themselves, “why can’t anyone see me as anything more than an exotic escapade?”–they can watch their video to remind them.
this video did a good job perpetuating stereotypes about asian americans in general and asian american women (girls?) in particular. i agree with yale senior that this is a pathetic case of exploiting racist stereotypes for their own fifteen seconds of fame.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
to Anonymous happy gray square,
Doesn’t your definition of offensiveness prove that it is a fickle and impulsive thing which doesn’t deserve the influence we lend it?
March 25th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
in other words, if the offensiveness of a statement depends on the speaker then it proves that it is not the content of the statement (in contradistinction to every remark in the previous thread) but rather the perceived intent of the speaker, which one can only speculate upon, exaggerate in their mind until the event becomes so incongruent that immediate retribution is required. Yes, this is how mobs are formed, and you will no doubt be a part of one some day.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:39 am
DO NOT WANT
March 26th, 2009 at 11:18 am
A statement can be offensive because of content and/or intent. These are not mutually exclusive.
A statement such as the one that Tommy Brothers made is offensive because of its content per se, and it would have been offensive if it had been made by an Asian person.
The Yale video above is borderline offensive based on its content and is not offensive based on its intent. It would have been offensive based on intent if it had been made by white males.
If you still don’t see how a statement can be offensive based on intent, consider this. If your brother-in-law tells your sister that he wants to make love to her, it would be considered romantic and not offensive. On the other hand, if you made the same statement to your sister, it would be considered offensive in most cultures.
March 26th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I think the accents at the end are in poor taste, but I’m not going to be sending angry emails about it. The song is supposed to be a parody–both of Beyonce’s original, and of the stereotypes surrounding Asian people (and Asian women in particular).
March 27th, 2009 at 10:28 am
I’m all for ironic, making-fun-of-stereotypes-and-those-who-use/believe-them humor… But this just isn’t that funny. I think the problem is with the execution. I think what they were trying to do was good… But they were just trying too damn hard without good enough results. In short, it’s not quite over-the-top enough to place it in the “we’re clearly making fun of Asian stereotypes, not reinforcing them” category. People aren’t laughing at the stereotypes because they’re too busy either laughing at the performance or being uncomfortable with the subject matter. I think people are probably pissed because hits close to home without being relatable enough to be funny.
March 27th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I’m all for racial equality and I’m against jokes that demean any particular group of people, but sometimes it should be understood that tongue-and-cheek jokes like this do not have malevolent intent. In fact, to be offended by this video is not a proper reaction because it is just empowering “racist” tension. Sure, there are stereotypes upheld in this video but face it: stereotypes start because of some statistical basis. Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure that we are all aware that there are more people than just these three types of Asian molds out there. To find this so racist and offensive would be to say otherwise.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
@yale senior – agreed.
March 28th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
in response to ” some asian language” being a racist statement:
This may be Culturalist, but I dont think its racist.
Most of the song seems to be about stereotypes and cultural generalizations, no?
March 28th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
‘people who buy into the model minority myth that the biggest problems of asian americans is getting into med school.’
As an asian, my biggest problem is not getting into med school…it is getting into law school.
March 29th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
my understanding is that they are spoofing, not asians, but asian stereotypes. It is funny not because “all asians are like that” but because there are a lot of different (and contradictory) stereotypes about asians.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:26 am
OK, maybe not ready for professional prime time, but give them credit, it’s funny and visually distracting enough and made its point. There’s always the unavoidable paradox when a group wants to poke fun at its stereotypes. The awkward thing here is that Asians probably benefit more than suffer from the stereotypes parodied in this one. No doubt there would be a whole different set of comments if they had taken on the less savory Asian stereotypes, but I don’t expect to see the Asian ladies of Mixed Company doing that one any time soon.
March 30th, 2009 at 3:27 am
For everyone out there who’s claiming this video “IS NOT RACIST! IT’S OK BC THEY’RE AZN LOL!” doesn’t realize why this is a problem. Aside from propagating these stereotypes, there’s one pretty novel concept that seems to be overlooked:
NOT ALL ASIANS ARE THE SAME
This might be a new idea for some, but people from different countries in Asia actually have separate and unique cultures and customs! WOW!
If someone from England parodied a German with, “I AM FROM GERMANY! SIEG HEIL! DRINK BEER, EAT SAUSAGE AND BURN JEWS!” or someone from Argentina made fun of a Mexican by saying “ALL I DO IS EAT TACOS AND SLEEP ON THE CLOCK DURING MY JOB AS A HIGH SCHOOL JANITOR!” then people would be all over it saying how racist it is. The problem is that everyone views Asians as a unit when they have very unique histories and cultures.
As soon as a Korean makes fun of a Chinese person with comments of dim sum or dragons etc, it suddenly becomes “THEY LOOK THE SAME SO IT’S FUNNY INSTEAD OF RACIST!” No, it’s ignorance; and ignorance is what breeds these stereotypes in the first place.
tl;dr There are different cultures in Asia, so not all Asians are the same. This is still racism.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:24 am
Boring, boring, boring. They look spastic in their lame attempt to dance.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:30 am
This video is also a clear case of Korean supremacy at work. Notice the pointed digs at Japanese and Chinese girls– but what, Korean girls don’t get the same treatment? This isn’t just a case of Asian-on-Asian racism, it’s Korea-and-Korean-wannabes-vs-the-rest-of-East-Asia racism.
While you’re at it, Mixed Co., why don’t you channel the Korean History Channel (a brilliantly hilarious parody of Asian stereotypes) and throw some lines about the dirty Vietnamese in there? Southeast and South Asians don’t get any love?
March 31st, 2009 at 12:34 am
irony ftw: steph chan’s facebook profile now says “thinks the ignorant haters can suck it. That’s right.”
March 31st, 2009 at 12:37 pm
i find it a bit strange/creeper that suddenly it’s okay to start posting people’s facebook status updates on ivy gate…
April 1st, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Apparently these girls are still too young to realize how offensive this video can appear to some of their own people. 100% demeaning and 0% funny — I would expect a little more from people who are accepted into Yale…But then again maybe I’m uptight and you all are right: in college let gross Asian stereotypes be perpetuated. Dress up like geishas, accommodate those with Asian fetishes, let everyone know you make rice and are severe stress cases about getting a good mark. I’m sure it will, as these fine single Asians put, “bring honor to the family.”
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I reposted it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kc8lY3pq44
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:51 am
It’s an obvious message. These are three stereotypes they face–nerds, sex objects, and fobs. They are none of these and they are talented Yale students, so wtf, let’s dance. Treat them with respect; treat the sterotypes with respect. Put a ring on it, if you like it. Korean language ending is nice, it says we are who we are, and we are fine with that. Be sincere. Korean vs. Japanese Dinosaur Grudge Match was not referenced, from what I could tell. Hope Viets are in Mixed Company in future years, for their perspective, humor, and music. Justkiddingfilms is bomb, btw.