2018 has been the year of Awkwafina (real name Nora Lum). Coming hot off the success of Ocean’s 8 and Crazy Rich Asians, the 29-year-old double threat (rapper AND actress) should definitely be at the top of your ‘cool’ list.
And get ready because she isn’t done with 2018 yet! On Saturday, October 6th, at 11:30 p.m. ET,she’s taking over NBC to host Saturday Night Live!
What makes this especially monumental? Awkwafina will mark the first Asian American woman to host Saturday Night Live in nearly two decades. The last Asian American women to take this role was Lucy Liu in 2000.
Born in Queens, New York, to a Chinese-American father and South Korean immigrant mother (who passed when she was four), she first garnered fame for a parody rap video to Mickey Avalon’s “My Dick”, her version was titled “My Vag” and released in 2012 which has over 3 million views on YouTube to date and helped launch her into fame.
Since then, she’s gone on to release two albums, become a personality for the television program Girl Code, and star in countless films.
via Instagram
Awkwafina is at the front of the new wave of Asian representation in American media (other pilots of this movement include Lana Condor from To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and Sandrah Oh from Killing Eve).
And quite frankly she is exactly what we need right now in 2018. Unapologetic for who she is and proud of her identity (she has stated she refuses to take any roles that require ‘Asian’ accents), Awkwafina offers a refreshing view of what diversity in popular media can be. As if you even needed more reason to love her, she is also an active voice for the ‘Me Too’ movement and the push for more female directors and creators in Hollywood. She even majored in journalism and women’s studies at the State University of New York at Albany.
What is most attractive about her to most people is how real she is. She boasts of making music that isn’t meant for mainstream audiences and takes liberty of poking fun at her Asian identity (such as in the song “Green Tea”). She takes the power of owning who she is so that no one else can change her image.
It’s a message we all can take to heart, I know I certainly have. To me, Awkwafina is someone who represents the idea that taking the parts of us that make us unique, make us individuals, and putting them on full display is the ultimate power move to help grant you success and happiness.
Even examining her stage name ‘Awkwafina.’ In a previous interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, she’s stated the name, which originally started as a way to make her manager and friends laugh, has become her new identity, the version of herself that is able to go out and perform and inspire us all.
2018 has arguably been her biggest year to date, it recently came out that Crazy Rich Asians is the top grossing rom-com in a decade, and coupled with her numerous television appearances, a new album and brand endorsements such as Gap, the rapper has proved herself a prominent threat in the entertainment world.
But don’t worry she’s not done yet! As mentioned before, she’s hosting Saturday Night Live October 6th, and after that she has two more films lined up: Angry Birds 2 and Paradise Lost (both yet to have set release dates).
While most of 2018 feels to be filled with scandal, lies and general fakeness, Awkwafina offers a shining beacon of hope through all the mess. It is my hope that you choose to go check her out right now and that you fall in love with her the way thousands already have.
You can find out more about Awkwafina and her upcoming projects through her website, social media, and numerous interviews throughout the web. This is one rising star you won’t be able to miss.