Desi Rap: Hip Hop and South Asian America

by Ajay Nair DevOps Architect, Murali Balaji Temple University, Utkarsh Ambudkar, DJ Rekha, Deepti Hajela

Overview

Desi Rap explores the connection between South Asian Americans and hip-hop as both a sociopolitical/cultural movement and performative identity. This groundbreaking collection of essays is the first book of its kind to interrogate ideas about ownership of culture while asserting the distinctness of South Asian American identity that has come through the use of and influence by hip-hop as a cultural art form.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739127223
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	10/17/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ajay Nair is Associate Vice Provost at the University of Pennsylvania. Murali Balaji is a lecturer and doctoral fellow at the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Introduction Part 2 Part I Chapter 3 Chapter 1. My Hip Hop Life Chapter 4 Chapter 2. Polyvalent Voices: Ethnic and Racialized Desi Hip Hop Chapter 5 Chapter 3. Hip Hop Agitprop Chapter 6 Chapter 4. B-Boys and Bass Girls: Sex, Style, and Mobility in Indian American Youth Culture Chapter 7 Chapter 5. How Hip Hop Helped an Indian Girl Find Her Way Home Chapter 8 Chapter 6. Making Brown Like Dat: South Asians and Hip-Hop Chapter 9 Chapter 7. Outcaste Part 10 Part II Chapter 11 Chapter 8. Spoken Word Chapter 12 Chapter 9. The Disjointed Artist Chapter 13 Chapter 10. Beats, Rhythm, Life Chapter 14 Chapter 11. Sounds from a Town I Love Chapter 15 Chapter 12. Words from the Battlefront Chapter 16 Chapter 13. An Ear to the Streets and a Vibe in the Basement Chapter 17 Afterword

Editorial Reviews

Finally, a book that speaks to the full complexity of immigrant and Asian American lives through the Desi youth who are taking on the 'isms' and creating American culture through hip-hop solidarity. A must-read story about the future of America that is here today.

Helen Zia

South Asian Americans have created a unique, remix identity and culture at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, and nation as revealed in Desi Rap, a collection of smart, engaging essays by some of the finest scholars and artists of the genre. Moreover, South Asian American hip-hop culture, the authors show, was conceived in resistance to oppression and mobilized a brown liberation movement.

Gary Y. Okihiro

Finally, a book that speaks to the full complexity of immigrant and Asian American lives through the Desi youth who are taking on the 'isms' and creating American culture through hip-hop solidarity. A must-read story about the future of America that is here today.--Helen Zia, author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People

South Asian Americans have created a unique, remix identity and culture at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, and nation as revealed in Desi Rap, a collection of smart, engaging essays by some of the finest scholars and artists of the genre. Moreover, South Asian American hip-hop culture, the authors show, was conceived in resistance to oppression and mobilized a brown liberation movement.--Gary Y. Okihiro

From the Publisher