Birth name Nora Lum Instruments Vocals Record label Yellow Ranger | Occupation(s) Rapper, actress Years active 2013–present Upcoming movie Ocean's Eight | |
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Origin Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, New York Genres Alternative hip hop, East Coast hip hop Movies Ocean's Eight, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Storks, Dude Profiles | ||
Not your average awkwafina
Nora Lum is an American rapper, comedian, television personality, television host and actress known by the stage name Awkwafina. She originates from the Forest Hills, Queens, area of New York City.
Contents
- Not your average awkwafina
- Early life and education
- Music
- Acting
- Writing
- Filmography
- Music videos
- References
Early life and education
Born to a first-generation Chinese American father and South Korean immigrant mother, Nora Lum grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City. Her mother died when she was four. As an only child, she described herself as being "often very lonely" and she was close to her grandmother. At age 11, she began reading the works of Charles Bukowski.
She attended LaGuardia High School where she played trumpet and was trained in classical and jazz music. She adopted the name Awkwafina, and began rapping and writing songs in GarageBand at age 17. From 2006 to 2008, Lum attended the Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, China, where she studied Mandarin. Lum majored in journalism at SUNY Albany.
Music
Her solo album, Yellow Ranger, was released on February 11, 2014. The EP includes a number of her previous singles released via YouTube, including the title track "Yellow Ranger" as well as "Queef", "NYC Bitche$", and "Mayor Bloomberg (Giant Margarita)".
Awkwafina was part of the lineup at Tenacious D's Festival Supreme on October 25.
Acting
She is profiled in the documentary Bad Rap, which was an official selection at the 2016 TriBeCa Film Festival. Produced by Salima Koroma and Jaeki Cho, the film puts the spotlight on her as well as upcoming fellow Asian American rappers such as Dumbfoundead, Rekstizzy, and Lyricks.
Her self-created short form web series "Tawk" was an Official Honoree at the 2016 Webby Awards and was nominated for a 2016 Streamy Award in the News and Culture category.
In 2014, Awkwafina was added to the cast of the third season of Girl Code. She also was co-host of the weekly late-night talk show Girl Code Live on MTV.
In 2016, she played a supporting role in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising and starred in the indie comedy Dude alongside Lucy Hale, Kathryn Prescott and Alexandra Shipp. She also appeared in the 2016 animated comedy Storks.
In August 2016, she was announced as part of the principal cast in the all-female spinoff to the Ocean's Trilogy, Ocean's Eight, an ensemble cast also starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna and Anne Hathaway.
Writing
In 2015, publisher Potter Style, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, released Awkwafina's NYC, Lum's travel guide to New York City.