The "New Cute" - Music as Defiance

Chai is a genre-defying Japanese band that fuses pop, R&B, rock, hip-hop, and funk. This eclectic band talks about breaking free from Japan’s repressive attitudes toward women. The mission of this band is to dismantle common notions of what is means to be “cute” and call themselves “Neo-Kawaii”, or “New Cute”. This concept of Chai represents a move towards the embrace and celebration of human imperfection. Many of their songs send messages that normalize body hair, varying body types, and other aspects of what it means to be human that society may not see as “cute”.  In this case, music is a form of media that defies societal beauty standards and gives representation to many marginalized groups, such as those not fitting into the modern idea of attractiveness. Like many other musical acts before them, Chai is a band that uses their platform to address issues that many of their musical counterparts choose to stay silent on. The media, as well as the music industry, should take after this band and their message of defiance.

https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/meet-chai-the-eclectic-japanese-rock-band-redefining-what-it-means-to-be-cute/?mbid=social_twitter