Jett Kwong releases a stunning new track oozing with strikingly haunting vocals, atop delicately layered guzheng and string work. Entitled “Cream”, this track is a wistful narration of time passed and lusting after someone, but a rose-colored version of a person and of the past itself. It’s also about the exoticism of Asia and Asian people and the realization that many of us have a habit of romanticizing history.
“This to me is a legacy of colonialism, and that lens is particularly interesting when I apply them to my own family’s stories of surviving war, flourishing in post WWII Hong Kong, and immigrating to the US. Cream evokes the balmy imagery of my grandparents strolling down the road in 1940's Hong Kong in their beautiful, tailored clothes – in stark contrast to the reality of their inequality in a British colony and their everyday struggles to survive and ultimately immigrate“, Jett reveals.
Born in Denver Colorado, songstress Jett Kwong began singing at just five years old. Since then, Jett has taught and performed around the world, captivating crowds at venues from Shanghai to Berlin. Now based in Los Angeles, she continues to beguile audiences with her unique voice and Chinese guzheng music.
Her profound musical themes touch on family, her identity as a mixed heritage woman and the complexities of colonial history. Influenced by a multitude of sounds from different eras, her songs deliver a piece of the past with a spirit of the future.
Empowered by issues surrounding women’s rights, social and political reform and questions around justice, Jett hopes to contribute to conversations in order to build change.
