Utter the phrase "Asian woman" in a game of word association and itﾕs likely you'll conjure a cluster of cultural stereotypes. Petite. Quiet. Subservient. Geisha. Combined, these words paint a portrait of a pigeonholed enclave. A highly fetishized subculture with little latitude for those who strive to be more than mild-mannered sex kittens.

But it's this sort of restrictive typecasting that incites some Asian females to rise up and fight. Through art, they prove to the world that they are much more complex and intelligent than the society that lumps them all together.

I was reminded of this after listening to N-16's Sweet Diamond Summit. Itﾕs a musical concoction that switch-hits from thrashing guitars to Beatle-esque jangles to dreamy ballads as Ayako Inokuchi tackles boys, life, pop culture, and even her own thoughts in straight-forward, impactful lyrics.

Simple statements like "I feel boring. Such is life/I want to get away from this life/But I don't want to lose sight of myself." indicate yearning for more than a dreary, prescribed existence. Inokuchi expresses her own thoughts and feelings well enough to suck you in, even when sheﾕs relaying random details; like her taste in TV shows.

"I like watching comedy shows/I don't like watching trendy shows/I like watching music shows/Funny! Funny!"

Sweet Diamond Summit is a musical diary, a personal yet universal account of what it means to be a girlﾉmore specifically, what it means to be an Asian girl. Petite? Maybe. Quiet? Hardly. Subservient? Hell no. And if you disagree after listening to this you need to get a new CD player.

Jenny Seay