Jason Ve, VP of Business Development & Strategy @ 88rising
Jason is the VP of Business Development and Strategy at 88Rising. 88Rising is a leading record label and media company for Asian artists with over 15 billion streams, 2 billion YouTube views, and a #1 Billboard album. Jason has also spent time at UBS and Google prior to 88Rising.
In this episode, we spoke with Jason about:
Embracing the confluence of his Asian-American and LGBTQ+ identity
How an American Idol audition led him to discover his path in music and entertainment
Diversifying what it means to be an Asian American artist
We know you’ll enjoy this episode as much as we did recording it. You can listen to him below, Spotify, or wherever else you get to your podcasts. As usual, we’ve gone through the episode and pulled out the quotes that we found the most meaningful, and shared them below. We hope you enjoy it.
With gratitude,
Angie & Jay
Opening up about his LGBTQ+ identity
“I definitely feel like the conversation today around the LGBTQ+ community has improved so much from where it was. My first professional experience was at UBS [a large Investment Bank], where I definitely didn’t feel like myself in many situations. For a lack of a better word, it was a very macho culture.
I remember before meetings with my Managing Director, I would use my Blackberry to look up football scores so I would have something to talk about with him to fit in. There weren't a lot of LGBTQ+ people that I knew back then, and there wasn’t too much diversity generally.
From a leadership perspective there were no LGBTQ+ leaders and no Asian leaders. There were certainly Asians around in terms of the analyst class and my peers, but not at the top. For me, that was particularly difficult to see. Can I actually get to that place? How much longer do I have to look up the scores of these teams I don't really care about?
That eventually led me to leave Wall Street. I think at some point you have to analyze the environment you’re in and find a place that would be better for you and your situation.”
On creating more Asian American representation in the entertainment industry
“When you have an opportunity like this, you can either move forward your agenda [in a pre-existing industry] or build your own house that can change the industry. I think for [88rising] we just needed to build our own house. This industry resists change. Just think about the CD era and how long that lasted. We were all forced to buy these albums for $14.99 with just 5 songs you’d like...
I think taking that into perspective of what was working for the industry and what was not can relate to the conversation with diversity. It wasn’t a priority. We didn't see a lot of Asian artists. Because of that resistance to change, it never became a priority.
That's why 88rising started 5 years ago. The artists we brought on were all rejected by the [traditional] record labels for two main reasons. The first was because they were Asian. The second was because they were not K-Pop. The whole idea of 88rising, and why I’m proud of the mission, is to really diversify our definition of what it means to be an Asian artist and to also showcase that these artists can have a place in the industry.”
How his parents reacted to Jason auditioning for American Idol
“I have a close relationship with my parents. We talk quite often. I thought they would enjoy the American Idol conversation because we watched it growing up. In our home, it was a staple.
Instead, my mom’s response was “oh that’s a joke, right? You obviously love what you do in Investment Banking, don't you?” The reality was I didn’t love what I did at the time. Although, I think the questions my parents asked me were helpful. In some ways they were right. The world was falling apart at the time. It was 2007 and we were in a recession. Maybe it was a safer bet to just keep doing what I was doing, earn income, and zip my lips.
[This conversation with my parents] was like driving your car to a stop sign where you pause for a moment and you think about everything your parents are saying. But then after thinking about their criticisms, I still wanted to do it. That pause for reflection before making this decision was important. It helped me tune into my inner voice.“
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