New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Musician, Writer, and Advocate MILCK released her resilient new single, "
I Belong" today in recognition of AAPI Heritage Month via Vydia and in partnership with P&G. The song was written to honor the AAPI community and in the wake of the Atlanta shootings that took 6 Asian women's lives. That moment was a breaking point for MILCK where she realized that a revolution towards a more tolerant world was dependent on declaring: We are American enough NOW. We belong here. NOW. "
I Belong" declares that each of us not only inherently belongs here, but also to each other.
"My hope is for everyone to feel a sense of belonging, no matter what their heritage, because the more enoughness we each believe we have, the kinder and more welcoming we can be to everybody else," said MILCK.
The song will launch as part of the "See Us Unite for Change" special which will air globally on MTV and across Viacom channels this Friday, May 21. The "See Us Unite" Cultural Campaign is a first-of-its-kind special aimed to accelerate impact and expand support for the AAPI community. The See Us Unite campaign brings together business leaders and grassroots activists, students, entertainers and nonprofit executives to drive awareness of diverse Asian-American cultures. "
I Belong" will be part of the broadcast special hosted by Ken Jeong and featuring
Black Eyed Peas, Steven Yeun,
Olivia Munn, Sesame Street's Elmo, Jhene Aiko, Saweetie,
Sting featuring Far East Movement,
Daniel Dae Kim, Lisa Ling and many others.
The creative team behind "
I Belong" are all women from the AAPI community including producer Jeia Rouge, Mixer/Mastering Engineer
Elisa Pangsaeng and Photographer and Visual Artist Dyan Jong.
The song will launch with a social media filter/frame inline with the "
I Belong" chorus embedded into it. Users will see their image and will be invited to lip sync along to the song or simply use the filter over their own videos.
Proceeds from "
I Belong" will benefit the Somebody's Beloved Fund. The fund supports ten beloved beneficiaries and helps build community around racial healing, justice, solidarity, and joy. The Somebody's Beloved Fund generates resources through song proceeds from "Somebody's Beloved" and "
I Belong" brand partnerships, merchandise proceeds, and public donations. The work is done through an intersectional lens of Feminism, Black-Asian Solidarity, AAPI Support, LGBTQ Rights, Criminal
Justice Reform, and Mental Health. Since the Fund was created in October 2020, MILCK has donated over $85,000 directly to the beneficiaries and helped to facilitate the donation of nearly $100,000 of essential product and pantry items and PPE. Somebody's Beloved has evolved to include pages aimed to #stopaapihate, and #sparkasiansupport. For more information, please visit SomebodysBeloved.com.
MILCK has been an outspoken advocate on how to achieve racial equity in business and entertainment and the importance of Asian American representation. MILCK recently appeared on The
Kelly Clarkson Show to #sparkasiansupport, performed at Time Magazine's first annual "Voices of the Future" Women's Summit and was invited as a guest mentor to The Wrap's BECONFERENCE, to discuss the intersection of music and social justice.
Having "cemented her status as one of music's voices for the women's movement," LA-based artist and activist, MILCK continues to use her art as a means to work towards social justice. Her hit song "Quiet" sparked a revolution during the women's march and has been translated into multiple languages by choirs all over the world, been featured as part of NPR's American Anthem series and was Billboard's No. 1 protest song of 2017.MILCK's most recent song "Somebody's Beloved" came out last October during the
Black Lives Matter protests and chronicles the life-shattering effects of systemic racism in America. The song is complimented by a fundraising campaign helping seven different organizations building power around racial justice, feminism, LGBTQ rights, criminal justice reform and mental health. In January, MILCK was invited to participate in The Kellogg Foundation's
National Day of Racial Healing and performed a powerful duet of "Somebody's Beloved" with acclaimed poet
Amanda Gorman. MILCK's essay on bravery was just published in the book Hungry Hearts which came out via Penguin
Random House on February 9. Hungry Hearts is a collection of essays on courage, desire and belonging.
