Alternative rock band Day Above Groundis taking heat this week with the release of its video for the song “Asian Girlz,” which shamelessly blasts past poor taste and rockets straights to racism.
The explicit video, which was published Monday on YouTube, features Asian model Levy Tran sensually dancing to lyrics such as, “I love your sticky rice, buttf—ing all night” and “it’s the Year of the Dragon, ninja p— I’m stabbin’.” The singer also calls her a “bitch.”
The song also includes lyrics about “slanted eyes” and Asian mothers looking pretty with “the best nails in the city,” an apparent reference to the prevalence of Asian-American nail technicians in the U.S. The band winds down the song by chanting the refrain from “Jingle Bells” and laughing.
The L.A. Times reported that the video has sparked outrage in Los Angeles, so much so that a protest may be in the works.
The video has racked up hundreds of angry comments on YouTube.
One person wrote that “its amazing how sh—y this song would be even if you took away the racism.” Another weighed in saying, “This is without a doubt the worst thing I have seen in my life. And I have seen a lot of s—.”
The band released this statement in response to the backlash:
“This song is us, Day Above Ground, making fun of ourselves (and many, many other guys) obsession with the always lovely, Asian Woman. It pushes this concept to an absurd level, but at the same time is endearing & submissive.. WE ARE NOT RACIST, HAHA! I mean, look at our band, it’s multicultural!! The guy in the bow-tie, our cutie bass player, was born in Indonesia, and he steals the show!! Please don’t take this tongue-in-cheek tribute to some of the most gorgeous women on the planet too seriously!! You’ll ruin the fun of it all!! Thanks for watching, sincerely!!”
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