By Caroline Li
Northwest Asian Weekly

The spotlight will be on Asian hip-hop this weekend as the University of Washington's Ethnic Cultural Center plays host to the first Asian Hip Hop Summit in Seattle. Local artists that go by the names of El Dia and Nam, as well as UW students Hep D MC and GOWE, will be among the performers of this emerging niche in the music industry.

The event will be hosted by Nasty-Nes, a local Filipino American hip-hop icon who gained fame in the 1990s as the man behind Sir Mix-A-Lot.

The Asian Hip Hop Summit will be held Aug. 25. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. It will culminate in an MC battle at 11 p.m. Admission is $8.

Annual Asian hip-hop festivals have already been established in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Vancouver, B.C. Given Seattle's significant Asian population and growing hip-hop scene, the decision to hold the summit here came naturally, said artist Gordon Tsai, aka GOWE. "It's about time," he said.
Tsai, who is finishing up his junior year at the UW, grew up on Beacon Hill. He thinks of himself as a "conscious rapper," rather than a gangster rapper, but there's room for both in the Asian hip-hop scene, he believes. "Throughout media, Asians have always been portrayed as nerds that don't have any issues. Our generation is letting the world know that Asians go through the same issues that other Americans do," Tsai said.

The lyrics of Tsai and other Asian American rappers may be the first true form of expression from this generation of American-born Asians, said Kublai Kwon, founder of the Asian Hip Hop Summit. "Only through rap has the Asian youth even begun to articulate what it means to be Asian in America," he said. His goal for the summit is to help develop the talents of young Asian rappers and to build respect for Asians in the mainstream hip-hop community.

Their numbers are definitely on the rise. Many artists credit Jin Au-Yeung (formally known as Jin The MC, or just Jin), an underground freestylist who broke onto the scene as a battle MC, for breaking down the walls for Asians in hip-hop.

In 2001, Prach Ly became the first Khmer rap star when an album he recorded with a karaoke machine in his parents' garage in Long Beach, Calif., got pirated onto Cambodian radio waves. "My music basically introduced the whole country to rap music," he laughed. Since his unplanned introduction, a reputable list of Cambodian American hip-hop artists have gained fame locally, including the Tacoma group Second Language.

And this year, the socially conscious local duo Blue Scholars struck a national distribution deal with Rawkus Records for its latest album, "Bayani."

Yet in this ever-evolving industry of hip-hop, where there seems to be enough room for everyone, Asian artists can barely compare when it comes to the "bling" ? the revenues generated by their work. Fame and fortune have yet to trickle down to Asian American rappers.

Being both Asian and American, this new generation of rap artists walks a fine line toward fame. One day they might be criticized for not fitting the stereotype of Asians; the next day they might be applauded for offering a different voice. Jin underwent that whole ordeal in 2002, when he signed with a major label. Afterwards, he returned to the underground, independent hip-hop scene. Some say it was because he failed to appeal to the mainstream.

But one artist's fall doesn't mean the end for everyone. The movement continues to build. Ly remembers the very first Asian Hip Hop Summit, held April 2002 in Los Angeles' Koreatown in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the L.A. riots. It was a showcase of Asian hip-hop talent as well as a way to bridge cultural gaps and erase old grudges.

"It was a special day, and we all knew it," Ly recalled. "The turnout wasn't all that grand, but we knew it was a steppingstone. There are a lot of gifted and talented Asian artists out there waiting for the time and place to showcase their skills."

These days, when word gets out about events like the Asian Hip Hop Summit, "we now come in large numbers," said Ly.

For more information about the Asian Hip Hop Summit, visit www.asiaticempire.org.

Caroline Li can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.