2Pac Was A True Paki: A Brief Survey Of South Asian American Participation In Hip Hop

There is a proliferation of Desi Hip-Hoppers who are part of a new wave of South Asian Americans that are creating Hip-Hop music that is deeply influenced by their hybrid identity. My research question asks why these South Asian Americans are taking to Hip-Hop as an expressive medium. In the wake of the politicization of South Asian ethnic identity in post-9/11 America, how do South Asians find themselves within the shifting racial landscape of the US? Beginning with exclusionary immigration laws passed at the turn of the 20th century to surveillance policies enacted in 2001, South Asians’ racial and sociocultural identity has largely been constructed by American policies. Desi hip hoppers have been cast to the margins of society, so they take to Hip-Hop, a medium created to express feelings of exclusion. Through the process of social positioning, South Asian Americans craft representations of self in their participation in Hip Hop that reflect their identity. And in doing so, they command cultural citizenship to have the right of inclusion despite their difference. In this project, I will be examining their lyrics to delve into issues that they are grappling within their songs. From identity to global politics, South Asian hip hoppers are creating work that is dynamic and multifaceted; these raps are stories for these artists. I will tease apart the references, analogies, and prose of these raps in order to formulate how South Asians have constructed their own unique American identity in the United States and used culture as a site for representation.