Awkwafina (born Nora Lum)
Chinese + Korean-American
Rapper + Comedian + TV personality + Actress
Interview: with Defining Cultures
Website: awkwafina.com
Soundcloud: awkwafina
Instagram: @awkwafina
The daughter, and only child, of a Chinese father and South Korean mother who both immigrated to the U.S., Awkwafina is an alternative hip-hop rapper that hails from Forest Hills, Queens in New York. After her mother died at the age of four, she grew very close to her grandmother. From this relationship, Awkwafina was able to draw confidence and inspiration from the family matriarch in order to become who she is today.
Awkwafina began playing the trumpet at 11, and would go on to study classical and jazz music at the famed Laguardia High School, where Nicki Minaj also graduated. But it wouldn’t be until she attended the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY) when she became more serious with music – turning it from a hobby to a professional career choice. She started off rapping under the name of ‘Awkwafina’ and writing songs using Garage Band, an Apple software that allows users to create music. And just a year after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2011, Awkwafina debuted her Garage Band-crafted comedy rap track titled ‘My Vag’ in 2012, which instantly went viral and shot her to digital stardom.
In February 2014, she released her solo album, yellow ranger. The EP included many of her previous singles released on YouTube, including: yellow ranger, Queef, NYC Bitche$ and Mayor Bloomberg (Giant Margarita). Within the same year, Awkwafina was added to the cast of MTV’s Girl Code, where she would become a co-host for the series’ spin-off talk show, Girl Code Live, in 2015. And in 2016, Awkwafina made her big screen debut in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron), and “…teamed up with another iconic Asian-American comedian, Margaret Cho, on Green Tea, a music video blasting Asian stereotypes and tropes.” Watch the hilarious duo below!
As Awkwafina helps to encourage diversity in Hollywood, we are proud of her next role in Ocean’s 8, the all-female sequel to Ocean’s 11. we can’t wait to watch her alongside Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett and Rihanna!
Interesting fact: immediately following high school, Awkwafina studied Mandarin at the Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, China from 2006-2008.
Sources: NBC News and Pop Crush