This Asian Girl Anthem Is For 'Brash Yellow Girls' Everywhere

Margaret Cho and Awkwafina brew up some truth in 'Green Tea.'

The incisive ode to Asian girls you’ve been waiting for is here.

Rapper Awkwafina and comedian Margaret Cho dropped the video "Green Tea" on the last day of May, which was Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The song destroys the many offensive stereotypes projected on to Asian women and instills some ethnic pride.

The video is a tongue-in-cheek sendup of Asian stereotypes and unfortunate figureheads from the "sexy schoolgirl" to the "dragon lady" to Long Duk Dong and, well, Soon-Yi Previn. (If it's not evident, this vid is NSFW.)

The video premiered on the blog Angry Asian Man.

Queens-born rapper Awkwafina told the blog that "Green Tea" is an anthem for young women of color "to embrace their quirkiness, their sexuality, their inner-child and their creativity with passion." She said she hoped other "brash yellow girls" would find inspiration in the hysterical video.

Cho and Awkwafina are sort of an intergenerational pair, coming from different waves of Asian-American entertainers. Cho, 47, was a groundbreaking standup comic whose short-lived sitcom, All-American Girl, was one of the first-ever televised portrayals of an East Asian family. And Awkwafina, 27, is still one of the only Asian women in rap. Each was effusive about the other.

"Awkwafina is the future!" raved Margaret Cho, on Angry Asian Man.

"I love Margaret," said Awkwafina, "and I hope some young girl -- but not too young -- watches this video and it inspires them somehow."

Krithika Varagur

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