Barbara Kayee Lee’s parents couldn’t be more different from each other – on the one hand, there’s her late mother. The documentary filmmaker’s mother died with regrets, while her father got things done within their community. Both, understandably, inspired her to leave the family farm in British Columbia to create an Asian film fest. They also probably inspired her to use some of that experience in film to pursue her other passion – popular music. She knows she has an uphill climb because she’s in her forties and is Asian, and the latter is contentious. She claims that there are no Asian pop stars which is disrespectful to Olivia Rodrigo, but one Asian pop star feels scarce. As Lee tries to make her music, she also talks to fellow Asian musicians about the challenges they face.

Despite what I think of Lee’s talent as a musical artist, what she’s doing takes a whole lot of guts. In fairness, it’s easy to get guts when one surrounds themselves with people whose wavelengths are a little bit like hers. As I wrote above, she talks to a lot of Asians, three out of the six major Asian diaspora groups. But Sing My Song also shows Lee entering spaces with white allies like studios and workshops in Nashville. Again, in fairness, it’s probably easier to get release form signatures from people who are nice. But it’s still good to see her perform with her pitchy voice and have allies workshop her song. Good artistic communities build each other up, which is something I, despite my own experiences, need to keep in mind. 

Sing My Song highlights the importance of seeing oneself within one’s choice of industry, which, sure, is a valid sentiment. The documentary also talks about the FOMO effect of eventually finding out that a white passing person is Asian. How many more Asian rock stars would there be if, say, Eddie Van Halen talked about his Asian heritage more? I also understand the effect of feeling that everyone in the media is white which stopped my dreams, subconsciously. But this is also the most contentious point of the documentary because I listened to Asian pop and rock. Even if I immigrated from the global south, I knew that Sugababes existed as well as Olivia Rodrigo existing now. But even if I don’t agree with this documentary’s smaller arguments, it’s right in its wish for Asian representation.

Watch Sing My Song on AAM.tv.