Music carries memory. Music creates culture. But, for immigrants, music can become these portable pieces of home for them. When they're not able to go home or be home, how can they continue to remember it? How can they continue to stay connected to home? It's not just sound, but a form of preservation. Even as they move, their home still remains alive.

Through my interviews I've noticed a few things. When initially immigrating there seems to be this desire to always want to "fit-in," leading to a reduction, or in some cases, a prevention of interaction or access to Korean media and music. Seemingly a belief that staying connecting to this will actually not allow them to conform to their communities in America. Instead, listening to and consuming the most popular music and media in an attempt to hide their Korean-ness. Both narrators actually mentioned some level of almost shame when they first came - for being different and trying to hide it. However, an interesting phenomenon that I noted was with the rise of Korean media and music expanding (K-Pop, film, etc.), this shame started to lessen and even turn into a source of pride. I believe that it has to do with the issue that in the past, Asian Americans often struggled with underrepresentation or misrepresentation in Western media. However, with the success, specifically with Korean entertainment, it has given them a source of pride, allowing them to embrace their culture and heritage more openly. Grace Kao, a sociologist from Yale University began watching K-pop videos early in the pandemic as a diversion, and is now exploring the societal impact of it. She says, "I think during COVID, BTS made Asian faces more visible. They were on the cover of Time magazine, every major publication... But it also brought up questions of xenophobia... But any time BTS were attacked, because their fandom is so big and so passionate, their fans would jump on anyone who did anything to them. Then journalists would cover it, and suddenly there were all these stories about how you shouldn’t be racist against Asians." There is an underlying importance of Asian music in not just representing Asian Americans, but creating this source of pride and passion for them that allow them to rise above any sort of racism. In this sense, this preservation of Asian music and culture is vital for the future of all Asian Americans.