Rin on the Rox: Hail Storms and Tropical Renditions

On the heels of this weekend's Tropical Renditions: Musics in Filipino America symposium organized by our very own CBB, and on this blustery day in L.A. with pebble-sized hail thumping our AC window units, it is only appropriate that we be blown away by the "Pinaysian" magic of Rin on the Rox (courtesy of our sisters at Disgrasian). [Right: ROTR with Ellen DeGeneres] Here's a clip featuring ROTR singing Neyo's "Miss Independent" with a repost from Disgrasian (which is one of our must reads, for its twisted wit and warmth):



Name: Rin on the Rox (aka Erin and Roxanne)

Occupation: Pinaysian singing sensasians
Known for: Covering contemporary Pop and R&B heavyweights like Beyoncé, Ne-Yo, and Rihanna, racking up over 2 million views on YouTube, recording in a bathroom for better acoustics, becoming a household name when they appeared on Ellen last week.

We have to admit that we love Rin on the Rox in part because they remind us of us. Not because of how they look (they're way younger and cuter). And certainly not because of how they sing (we wish). But because they're two giggly best friends just doin' their thing.

[From www.disgrasian.com]

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CBB and KT have always joked of putting together a cover band called "Wilson Philipina" (you can imagine what that might entail), but the lovely duo of Rin on the Rox--two self-described "Bay Area girls who work in a Chinese Restaurant"--have already made the dream come to life. Even more heartwarming is that they've documented on video the "intimate reenactments" the ALOTR has collectively been attempting to theorize in recent years at ASA and MLA papers: those sometimes solitary gestures of singing in your hairbrush, learning dance moves from Solid Gold, singing in the shower--or in this case, singing in the acoustic wonderland of a bathroom built for two--that aspire to something transformative, rather than simply "mimetic." From the gutter to the stars. From the toilet to the Grammys.

So thanks, ROTR, for sharing your intimate reenactments with us and the world, and for offering yet another "tropical rendition" among the musics of Filipino America. And thanks to all the presenters and performers at Tropical Renditions this weekend at UC Riverside:
Lakandiwa de Leon (co-producer of Beats, Rhymes, and Resistance); Bernard Ellorin (UC San Diego); Theo Gonzalves (University of Hawaii, Manoa); Kuttin Kandi (legendary DJ, 5th Platoon & Anomolies) Maria Katindig-Dykes (veteran jazz vocalist); Ron Quesada (Kulintronica); Mary Talusan (Tufts University); Karen Tongson (University of Southern California); and Oliver Wang (California State University, Long Beach)












[Pictured Clockwise from L-R: DJ Kuttin Kandi, Maria Katindig-Dykes & Ron Quesada]