Considered the biggest Asian music festival worldwide, Joy Ruckus Club paid tribute to Asian-Americans through its powerful collaborative song, "I Hate Being Hated," on June 13th, in line with the Anti-Asian Hate campaign. A manifold of talented Asian-American artists from different parts of the world lent their voices to the track, such as Heesun Lee (Staten Island, NY), Geoff Ong (Auckland, New Zealand), Sawhee (San Francisco), and Saenabi (Peoria, IL) who we recently had the honor to interview.
Saenabi sat down with KpopStarz and shared when asked what she feels about participating in the eye-opening project, "The idea was simple enough for 'I Hate Being Hated'; we got a track and then a prompt to write about anti-Asian racism. At first, when I said I'd do it, I thought it would be straightforward."
The Illinois-based singer added she wrote her verse for "I Hate Being Hated" and recorded it "after the Atlanta shootings and that changed this project into something that kind of forced me to put words to all my emotions. It made me have to deal and look at the mess of what I was feeling and try to process it."
Nevertheless, Saenabi told us she was grateful to have been part of the project as she was overwhelmed and had something to work on.
"It helped make sense of what happened," she said.
When asked about her personal interpretation of "I Hate Being Hated," she revealed it's a reminder of how she processes through making something.
"I don't instinctively reach to make something when disaster happens; usually, I'll just talk with friends or try to journal. But by merging the chaos of my thoughts with my creativity, there's a deeper and better sense of resolve on a topic," Saenabi shared.
The songstress, who's a K-pop fan as evident in her multiple K-pop song renditions over her Instagram and who dreams to collaborate with luminaries BTS RM and Suga, "LILAC" singer IU, SEVENTEEN Woozi, and more, concluded her interview with uplifting words to the members of the Asian community who had experienced racial discrimination.
"If you need to cry, scream, punch a pillow in response to everything, please do it! Process however you need to. These emotions and fears are a lot, but I promise it's better if you stare at them and deal with them rather than acting like they aren't there," Saenabi said, adding, "And you are wonderful and powerful and complex and far beyond any insult people might sling your way to try to simplify you into a handful of words."
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Exclusive Interview: Saenabi Discusses 'I Hate Being Hated' Project, K-Pop Artists She Wants to Collab With, and More
Initially, the song "I Hate Being Hated" debuted at the previous Jor Ruckus Club fundraising event, featuring acts Maliibu Miitch, Ian Chang, among others, and was held with the Asian Pacific Fund Initiative called the "Stand With Asian Americans."
The track also came with a remix-which features a bolder, braver feel with its oriental elements-courtesy of producer 1K from LA. The original and the remix version are both available for streaming on Spotify. Check them out below!
Original version:
Remix version:
