Abstract

This paper theorizes that hip-hop has become a key factor in the subcultural negotiation and construction of hybridized, black-inflected identities among South Asian young men in the U.K. Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis are examples of ethnic minority groups living in the Desi Diaspora (i.e., South Asian émigrés and their descendants who are physically detached from their ancestral homelands). “British Asian” rappers and their relatively youthful diasporic fans appear to be involved in a complex process of reconfiguring and synthesizing relevant idioms and vernaculars found not only in global hip-hop and their ancestral homeland, but also their “host” country’s local environment. Because of hip-hop’s primary ties to African-American culture, British Asian teens and young adults have been exposed vicariously to “black” concerns, argot, and values – including respect, coolness, and authenticity (“keeping it real”). This paper reveals that hip-hop and related identity markers of “blackness” and “masculinity” are especially appealing to British Asian young men, many of whom are enamored by the cultural positioning of African-American rappers as rebellious, powerful spokesmen for a beleaguered minority underclass. This paper analyzes a wide variety of qualitative sources, including the transcripts of previously published interviews with British Desi hip-hop artists and the lyrical content of selected rap songs recorded by Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs in the U.K.