THE BROWN UNDERGROUND - 1 Photos and Text by Navdeep Singh Dhillon
Socially conscious hip-hop from the days of Public Enemy and N.W.A. seems to have all but vanished, replaced with the glamour of being a “G” – complete with tales of sexual conquests, gold plated grills, non-stop parties, drugs, alcohol, and of course more “bling bling.” But there’s a revival bubbling up across North America – and it has its roots firmly grounded in South Asian America. From L.A. to Toronto to D.C., young men of the Sikh faith have taken up the mantel of hip-hop, writing powerful tracks about oppression, racism, and politics.
Their music is informed by Sikh philosophies such as miri-piri, a religious tenet that advocates political and social activism to benefit society alongside individual spirituality. “I think it’s impossible to be a Sikh and not be an activist,” says D.C. based rapper Tanmit Singh, known as Saint Soulja. “Our entire faith is based around the concept of being activists.”
Still, some of these artists shy away from using the term “activist” to describe what they do. “I look at my music as a personal project,” says Toronto-based Kanwer Singh, who goes by Humble the Poet. “I talk about things that I find interesting and it happens that most of the things I find interesting are socially related, but I don’t consider myself an activist.”
Even so most would agree that hip-hop itself can make an activist out of anyone. “I attend a minimum of three protests a year without even trying,” says rapper Kanwar Anit Singh Saini, a Montreal-based emcee who calls himself Sikh Knowledge. “That's nothing compared to a full time activist, but that's something significant for someone who just lives a regular life.” And yet – despite their commitment to their faith and the issues they face within their community – the majority of these artists take exception to being boxed in with the label “Sikh rapper.”
They don’t call themselves Sikh rappers for the same reason Eminem doesn’t call himself a white rapper and Steven Spielberg doesn’t identify himself as a Jewish director. Artists who happen to be Asian or “ethnic” shouldn’t need to convey more meaning and history than “non-ethnic” artists. “I think it's a bullshit term,” says Saini. “I’m a human being – that's my baseline. Then I’m Sikh and a rapper and whatever.”
