» Presentation in Honolulu of "The Art of praCh"

Long Beach rap artist Prach Ly (better known as praCh) brings his music and unique message to UH Manoa's Architecture Auditorium, Tuesday, November 30, in "The Art of praCh." A welcome reception starts at 6 p.m., and praCh's 7 p.m. performance will be followed by a question-and-answer period. [Poster]

Called "Cambodia's first rap star" by Asiaweek, praCh is a Cambodian-American hip-hop artist who raps in both Khmer and English and mixes contemporary hip-hop beats with traditional Cambodian forms of music. His songs are about the Khmer Rouge, the struggle of Cambodian immigrants in the United States, and his family.

His first album, Dalama.the end'n is just the beginnin', was recorded in his parents' garage and distributed to friends as a CD in 2000. Without his knowledge, the CD made its way from his home in Long Beach to Cambodia, and a pirated version omitting his name became the number-one album in the country. His second album, Dalama.the lost chapter, was released in 2003. He is also the CEO of Mujestic Records and recently traveled across the country with "Spirit of Cambodia," a tour commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

"There's no one like him," says Frank Stewart, editor of event sponsor Manoa Journal. "He brings together the first-generation immigrants and the young people who are trying to find their way in the troubled neighborhoods of southern California."

praCh has been featured in Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Post, among other publications. He is working on a documentary for PBS and was also recently featured in a television program on NHK (Japan Broadcasting Company). This summer, his lyrics were published in In the Shadow of Angkor, the issue of Manoa Journal now in bookstores.

In an interview with Shadow guest editor Sharon May, praCh says, "Some people ask me what gives me the right to rap about the war because I wasn't born during the time of the killing fields. I didn't go through that. But I have it in my blood." He adds, "If there's anything that can help the older generation, it's giving them justice. Twenty-five years have gone by. When will justice be served? If we keep quiet about it, what they went through will be for nothing."

Free and open to the public, this event is sponsored by Manoa Journal, the UHM College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literatures, the UHM Department of English, the Khmer Language Program of the UHM Department of Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature, the Cambodian Students Association, and the Manoa Foundation. Funding was provided by a Diversity and Equity Initiative Award from UHM.

For those who miss the performance or want to hear more, praCh will also be making an appearance at the First Thursdays poetry slam on December 2. At both performances, his CDs, as well as those of other artists recording under the Mujestic label, will be available for purchase.