His new album, Harps & Angels, isn't out until Aug. 5, but he knows he's going to take some hits for the song “Korean Parents," a portrait of race relations as played out in public education.
Newman's gotten heat in the past for his use of the N-word ("Rednecks") and has engendered protests from the height-disadvantaged ("Short People"), but has rarely flinched for what he has sung. This time, it may be different.
I don't know if I'm going to be in a position to defend this one, so I'll apologize now. There's nothing actually offensive in it," he said, “except maybe the music, which is stereotypically Asian. But I know some people will be upset.
-The 64-year-old Oscar-winning film composer said over lunch in Santa Monica this week to talk about his first studio album in nearly a decade.
