8Asians | An Asian American collaborative blog

From raves to underground dance spaces, AAPI DJs are crafting communities while putting their spin on club culture. (Photo by Stephen “phambino” Pham; Courtesy of Peaking Duck Group)

As bedroom DJ Nick Cheong, better known as @nickcheo, lingered outside Los Angeles Koreatown club Catch One, excited fans asked him to take their BeReal and even for one of his American Spirits. He took each request in stride, but after a few more fleeting interruptions to the interview and a sprinkle of pleasantries later, he got to chatting about himself, particularly how his Chinese identity intersected with his identity as a performer. “With music, no. In the way I do my events, yeah,” Cheong mulled. “Like Chinatown — I love doing Chinatown events.” 

The Ohioan highlighted two of his most recent escapades in New York City. This past August, he played in a bus traveling from Flushing, an Asian cultural hotspot, to lower Manhattan, where he exponentially multiplied his audience into a Chinatown block party. Before that, less than a mile away, he performed in the backyard of a barbershop and simultaneously had his hair bleached. If anything, his appearance at the “Asian festival,” as Cheong deemed Peaking Duck’s event, definitely had a sprinkle of this personal flair. 

Bright lights and brighter headaches

Strobe lights painted attendees in colorful halos, swirling into the cohesive mix of sweat and swaying bodies. Bass pounded so intensely that you could feel your teeth chatter and rumble through your fingertips. Although I was incredibly overstimulated — not feeling fly like a G6 — the event did feel quite tight-knit, and there was something poetic about its pan-Asian lineup. Cheong and fellow TikTok darling DJ Mandy headlined, showing off a genuine talent for balancing trendy songs with timeless classics. While Mandy concocted an absurdly good blend of the Pink Panther Theme and the swelling, synthy introduction of I Love It by Icona Pop, @nickcheo transitioned “Drugs” by The Dare into the punchy rock introduction of Chop Suey by System of A Down.

Although the initial intention of their events was not to uplift and support the AAPI community, Wallace Fang, co-founder of Peaking Duck, remarked he was undeniably proud of their accomplishments. “We started off small, a ‘from the ground up type of thing,’” said Fang. “But the main goal is to go mainstream: take over Insomniac.”

It’s a rather ambitious goal: Insomniac is a well-established entertainment group known for promoting popular EDM events like Electronic Daisy Carnival and Countdown.peaking  However, Peaking Duck has already attracted a prominent, overlapping demographic — Asian American ravers. I promise I’m not overgeneralizing. Some of the openers that night were incredibly self-aware of the trend, particularly pair Timmy Lei, also known as Majin, and Alex Fan, who goes by Prophanity. Raving inspired the interest in DJing, but they have only kept it up with the continued encouragement of people around them, especially within Greek life.

(Photo by Stephen “phambino” Pham; Courtesy of Peaking Duck Group)

Lei attends the University of California, San Diego, and Fan is at San Diego State University. He said that his involvement with his AAPI fraternity was a way for him to build deeper connections with his Vietnamese heritage, hoping to find what he considered to be “a home.” “I was looking for that sense of community,” Fan said. “They pushed me to be the person who I am today, and that’s how I got elevated to DJing.”

As stereotypical as this intersection may seem, there’s some historical precedent for it — Asian Greek societies were established to combat systemic and biased exclusion, becoming places for a then-small ethnic minority to bond. They were acts of cultural resilience, circumventing historically discriminatory legislation and opposing stereotypes like the modern “model minority myth.” 

Similarly, for many Asian Americans, raves satisfy a search for cultural belonging, especially through PLUR — Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect — which is core to the EDM festival scene. In Catch One, the supportive atmosphere was potent.  

“A lot of API artists are underrepresented,” said Peaking Duck co-founder Henry Zhang. “It’s become a mission of ours to be able to push these artists that we’ve really connected with and love to perform for the communities that want to see them.”

(Photo by Stephen “phambino” Pham; Courtesy of Peaking Duck Group)

Although small, the crowd for opener DJ andrwfrnk was passionate, with audience members shaking their heads and jumping to his bass house and dubstep set.  “These people don’t even know me and I had 50-60 people up front rocking out like they’ve known me all my life,” he recalled. “I wish I could hug everybody in there.”

The openers gushed with gratitude not only for their crowds but also for the headliners. “I really appreciate the big-name Asian artists,” Lei said, referencing @nickcheo and DJ Mandy. “It’s like making the niche, expanding the crowds. Because of them, there’s more people.”

However, as much as he acknowledges the importance of his heritage, and appreciates the support from the AAPI community, Cheong does not want to be limited by his identity. 

I think me being Asian is super cool, but I don’t want to be put into that box. Then a lot of people cringe at it.

When DJs produce their own culture, they interpret and create based on their perceptions and experiences. The unexpected harmony that @nickcheo achieves when mixing two incongruent genres, like hip-hop and hyperpop, is what sets him apart. His diverse performances appeal to a larger audience and reinforce his widespread popularity and influence — he doesn’t need to worry about being put into that box because he’s already stepped outside of it. 

Currently, he has his eyes set on visiting and possibly even a tour of all fifty states. Besides his home state, he’s already traveled to New York, California, and Illinois, putting him well on his way. When asked about his future goals, Cheong further discussed breaking away from expectations and establishing a new norm. “I want to change the way that parties are done,” he said. “I want to do it in a very unique way; my own way.”

Although @nickcheo’s talent should not be limited to how he looks or his heritage, it’s quite breathtaking to watch a person with features like his push the beginnings of a cultural shift and curate this community — as cringe as the sentiment might be, it’s just as true. “Shout out Ohio,” he signed off, ever loyal to his roots. “Shout out Asians.”