AAPIHM 2020

The month of May marks Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the US & CA. However, creative achievements of the API community are often overshadowed, underestimated, and undersold especially in popular media. On top of that, the rise and spread of COVID-19 has caused unjust targeting of racism and xenophobia towards the AAPI community.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Month is about amplifying the rising voices who are redefining culture. Now, more than ever, do these voices need to be heard. Spotify’s first public-facing AAPIHM campaign "Our Roots. Our Sound." aimed to shift the narrative and uplifted the API community by showcasing API voices, faces, culture, and heritage.

On the Spotify platform, the first ever AAPIHM hub was launched featuring exclusive API content. The custom playlist “Sound of Our Roots” highlighted API artists of the past who revolutionized sound for the future.

On social, we worked with 18 artists such as Steve Aoki, NIKI, Rich Brian, Tokimonsta and more to create liners sharing how they’re celebrating their API roots. On Instagram, fans could even show off their API pride with a vibrant, exclusive filter with three colorways.

From media giants like Billboard to focused community platforms like AsAmNews, numerous media outlets joined in on magnifying API voices garnering our campaign with over 1 billion social impressions.

This project was done with the team at Spotify. Thanks to the core creative team: Edward Yeung, Jill Menor, Karen Chang, Jonathan Chu. Shout out to the broader team: Marian Dicus, Ronny Ho, Kate Lee, Sidra Ahmad, Christopher Hill, Dayna Tran, Lucy Davidson, Douglas Richard, David Ecker, Tamika Young, Gabriel Chemin, Heidy Huerta, Samuel Malave and many more.

Concept Website: The Night Market