Desi Rap: Hip Hop and South Asian America: Hip Hop and South Asian America

“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

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.