As a Chinese Mexican and queer musician in Arizona, Cameron Jeong uses music as medicine to blend cultures, genres, and identities in an attempt to help others feel seen.
Cameron Jeong always knew she wanted to be a performing artist.
From an early age, she found comfort in sound and movement. “I definitely felt very comfortable on stage, performing and channeling creativity through music.”
Based in Arizona, the Chinese-Mexican musician combines Western influence, Eastern scales and Latin rhythm. But her art is also an act of visibility for herself and for others who don’t fit into boxes.
Being in a queer relationship empowered Jeong to freely express herself, particularly through music.
“I try to be more inclusive,” Jeong said, referring to her usage of gender-neutral pronouns in her songs. “My fluidity is kind of married into my music and being genre-less.” Her song “Chrysalis” uses they/them pronouns, a small but deliberate way of making the queer community more visible.
Her fascination with the healing power of music grew out of personal struggle. Diagnosed as bipolar and living with a hormone imbalance, Jeong found that performing was the best outlet for her to connect with others.
That realization led her to study the transformative power of music, even working on projects that explore music as a form of “daily medicine.”
“It was crazy how some people really connected with me through the way that I would dance or the way that I would sing,” Jeong said. “I felt really seen.”
Visibility remains one of her biggest motivators in her career. “I was so in touch with my Mexican side and not as in tune with my Asian roots,” Jeong said. She said her current musical efforts reflect her deliberate efforts to “stop thinking in a box” and embrace her identity as a queer Hispanic and Asian artist.
As a member of WAV Collective, an independent Asian American music collective in Arizona, she’s creating the visibility she didn’t see while growing up on the Mexican border.
“It’s been an incredible blessing,” she said. “It's also really important right now in the political climate when there's so much division to really build that community and enhance our voices in a peaceful manner.”
Ultimately, Jeong wants her music to help people connect with themselves and each other.
“I’m just hoping that my music lets people’s boundaries and borders down,” Jeong said.
Annika Miyata (she/her)
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