Reminiscing

January 13, 2008

I recently read a nice post at Boston Progress Radio about the R&B group, Kai. Do you remember Kai? Kai, as in "kaibigan" ("friendship" in Tagalog). The group, composed of four Filipinos and a Chinese dude, was popular back in the day.

Giles Li writes about an encounter with them when they were still a group, as part of BPR's "Appreciation" feature. It's nice to reminisce about stuff from the past. And though I never met them, thinking about "Say You'll Stay" (it's amazing, I remember most of the lyrics!) brings back memories.

It's a good song and those were good times. Kai and other groups back then paved the way for younger generations of Asian American singers, by just being out there. Now, when I go to myspace and youtube, I get dizzy from seeing how many more Asian American singers and groups are out there compared to the past. It's great see and hear these new faces and voices, but thinking about the older generation makes me feel proud (maybe because I'm getting older too) of them, and wonder what they're up to nowadays.

I also remember the group Pinay, who were also popular around the same time. What happened to all of them?

Do you all remember Kai? What are some other groups like them that make you wonder, hmm, where are they now? Maybe we'll do something on older API bands and a "where are they now" feature for the blog or magazine.

Contributor: 

Momo Chang

Senior Contributing Editor

Momo Chang is the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media, and freelances for magazines, online publications, and weeklies. Her writings focus on Asian American communities, communities of color, and youth culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Her stories range from uncovering working conditions in nail salons, to stories about “invisible minorities” like Tongan youth and Iu Mien farmers. She has freelances The New York Times, WIRED, and East Bay Express, among other publications.

Comments

Comments

A "where are they now" feature on API musicians would be dope. If you do it please consider including Angelina and The Mountain Brothers in the piece (I know Chops is still producing but whatever happened to Peril-L and Styles??)
Did someone say Mountain Brothers?http://www.bprlive.org/2007/07/03/appreciation-mountain-brothers/Giles Li loves them too.
pinay reunited & recently performed @ a benefit concert in berkeley