ABOUT THE PROJECT
Chinatown Records Sonic Histories is a sonic oral history program and radio station activating an ever-growing community archive of 35+ music collections inherited from Manhattan Chinatown families & beyond. This project will launch Chinatown Records Radio and our Sonic Histories fellowship and mixtape with Chinatown youth, seniors, & neighbors to train up the next generation of DJ historians of all ages to bring the archive’s music, memories, & sonic histories to life with us.
Chinatown Records 華埠錄音 is a homegrown community archive of over 35 inherited family music collections, home-based in NYC’s Manhattan Chinatown. Starting with yiuyiu 瑶瑶 and her family, Chinatown Records keeps growing from each family entrusting us with their beloved collection to Chinatown’s burgeoning roster of DJ historians. Through Chinatown Block Parties, sonic history mixtapes, workshops, and radio, we bring Chinatown’s records out of the archive and back into our lives. Weaving together this collective collection of sonic histories, Chinatown Records is an ever-growing record of the people we love, who bring all this music to life with us.
Meet the Artist
yiuyiu 瑶瑶 (she/her), also known as Rochelle Hoi-Yiu Kwan, is a DJ historian & educator home-based in NYC’s Manhattan Chinatown. Taking on her childhood name, yiuyiu cares for and activates the Chinatown Records 華埠錄音 archive of inherited record/CD/tape collections from the neighborhood and beyond. As a community-taught DJ historian, she has the most fun going back-to-back (b2b) with family, friends, & next generation DJ historians of all ages to bring the music & memories out to the streets of Chinatown, our living rooms, and the airwaves – back to our loved ones and home(land)s, no matter how long or far we’ve been away.