this cursed year is almost over, finally. here’s a round-up of some of the music made by artists of the Asian diaspora in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2020 (ie July 1 through Dec 31). some of them aren’t of the diaspora per se, but they do either have some connection to it or have a large foothold in it. one could argue that some of the lines I’m drawing as to who is or isn’t on this list are arbitrary, and I wouldn’t necessarily dispute that.

last time I did a music recap of Q1 & Q2 of 2020, I used a rubric of 0-5 stars. this time, I’m too depressed to put in the effort, so I’ve just put a mooncake (🥮) by the ones I liked or a plus sign (➕) by ones I liked parts of, and I’ve left the rest blank. 

SINGLES

Yaeji – “When in Summer, I Forget About the Winter” (bonus track on WHAT WE DREW Extended Edition) 🥮

Park Hye Jin & Nosaj Thing – “CLOUDS” ➕

Yaeji remix of Dua Lipa “Club Future Nostalgia” – I like the remix, but I’m so tired of the original song, I couldn’t really assess this on its own merits.

Yuna – “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching”

VaVa – “Let’s Go” ft Zhou Yan

EPs

Luli Lee – Let Me Dive Into This Moment ➕

Qasim Naqvi – Beta

ALBUMS

BTS – BE 🥮

BLACKPINK – THE ALBUM 🥮

Joji – Nectar 🥮/➕

CIFIKA – HANA ➕

Lawrence Lek – AIDOL ➕

OOHYO – silence 

beabadoobee – Fake It Flowers

Joe Wong – Nite Creatures

Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott – Songs of Comfort and Hope → Haven’t listened to it in its entirety, but it’s familiar songs arranged for cello and piano, and what I have listened to so far is very nice.

Lang Lang – Bach: Goldberg Variations → lol I didn’t listen to this one at all; I have no assessment.

what else? lmk in the Comments if ya like.