88rising Founding and Early Vision
📌 88 Rising, founded in 2015 by Shawn Mashiro and Jason Ma, began as a hybrid management, record label, video production, and marketing company.
🌟 The initial goal was to provide a platform for Asian and Asian-American artists to excel in music genres where they lacked representation.
🎵 The collective initially operated as "Cash Only," finding early artists like Dumbfounded online before gaining momentum with Keith Ape's remix of "It G Ma."

Breakthrough Artists: Rich Brian and Joji
🔥 Rich Brian gained viral attention with his song "Dat Stick," despite early controversies involving explicit language, which the label addressed via a "Rappers React" video.
🎤 Joji (formerly Filthy Frank) was pulled from content creation burnout by Shawn Mashiro, pivoting his focus to music, leading to the successful debut EP *In Tongues*.
🏆 Joji achieved significant success, securing one platinum album, two gold albums, and numerous platinum and gold singles, including hits like "Slow Dancing in the Dark."

Peak Success and Brand Identity
🌐 By late 2017, 88 Rising artists (including Rich Brian, Joji, and Higher Brothers) sold out tours, and the label executive-produced the soundtrack for the Marvel movie *Shanti*, featuring artist NIKI.
🛡️ The label achieved strong brand loyalty, symbolized by fans getting 88 Rising tattoos, setting it apart from typical labels or news outlets.
🎉 The Head in the Clouds Festival became a cultural beacon, celebrating Asian representation in pop culture, with staff noting it filled a void where Asian culture wasn't perceived as "cool."

Controversies and Shifting Focus
📉 Critiques arose as 88 Rising expanded beyond its original focus, signing non-Asian artists like August08 and leaning into K-pop collaborations, leading some core fans to feel the label had "sold out."
🤔 Internal community concerns included skepticism about assimilation versus marginalization, with some early investors initially worried about the label's narrow focus.
📵 Significant internal instability included Rich Brian taking a six-year break and Joji leaving the label for a new one, reducing the prominence of the core trio that built the brand.

Major Incidents and Recent Status
⚫ The Yellow Square incident in 2021, an attempt to support the "Stop Asian Hate" movement, backfired after comparisons to the Blackout Tuesday movement, resulting in deleted posts and an apology.
🔮 Fans suspect the pivot to K-pop was an unsuccessful strategy to gain Western K-pop audiences, leading to the feeling that rap/Black culture was merely a "stepping stone" for the label.
🔮 Although the label remains active with festivals and new music releases (like Rich Brian’s recent album *Where's My Head?*), the mainstream dominance once anticipated has not materialized.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ 88 Rising’s foundational strength lay in its cohesive brand identity and success in elevating Asian and Asian-American artists in genres like rap.
➡️ Initial controversies, such as Rich Brian's early lyrics, were managed by the label through strategic counter-narratives like the "Rappers React" videos.
➡️ The label's perceived failure to maintain its original vision through diversification into K-pop and non-Asian acts alienated segments of its core, original audience.
➡️ The recent departures of major artists like Joji confirm internal struggles, suggesting the unified brand structure is fracturing into a collection of individual artists.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Nov 17, 2025, 08:00 UTC