Bay Area: The Birthplace of Desi Hip Hop
What is Desi Hip Hop?
Before we answer this question, lets go back to the year 2000 when a young Pakistani-American called Roger David moved to Oakland where his cousin introduced him to a young hip hop producer called Sha One (Seth Agress). Roger was a fan of south Asian poetry and at that time did not really have an interest in rapping or hip hop music. The story goes that Roger started rapping a few lines he had written in Punjabi over a beat Sha-One had created which ultimately culminated into the first Desi hip hop album released in 2002 titled “Vich Pardesan De” (In the Foreign Land). Roger eventually chose the stage name “Bohemia” because of the meaning of the word. He describes the meaning of “Bohemia” as someone who is unconventional and takes the road less travelled.
“It’s hip hop music man.. It is not something I knew I was doing. It just happened and I think it is because of being in California at that time…
People just started calling in ‘Punjabi Rap’, ‘Desi Rap’.. ‘Desi hip hop’..”
- Interview with VLADTV
“When I started no one was rapping in Hindi or Punjabi. In desi culture, we had people singing and then there was rapping which was at the time predominantly in English. So, I was in the middle of nowhere when I started rapping in Punjabi.
When I accepted this music style, I decided to give it a name. I decided to call it ‘Desi Hip Hop’… To have longevity in the industry, it is important for people to follow you.
..I could have not named it as a genre. Instead, I could have just called it ‘my music’. I decided to call it ‘Desi Hip Hop’ so people know that it is a genre of music. I supported the new generation of rapper that came after me by launching them through my label.I did this because I wanted the new generation of artists to follow my steps and make it a genre. It was not a coincidence and it was all by design.”
- Excerpts from interview with FM 107 Qatar(Translated from Urdu)
Bohemia describes California as the land of innovation and Desi Hip Hop was indeed an innovation. To take a genre of music and incorporate another language into it may seem trivial but what is hard to do is to make it fit into south Asian culture. Hip Hop is a culture in itself that reflects a way of living and highlights the resilience and the perseverance of black and latino communities to make something out of seemingly nothing. Looking back at 2002, to take something born out of hip hop culture and make it fit into a very conservative south asian culture is a balancing act that no one could have done better than Bohemia himself. Hip hop music had a lot of swear words and highlighted a way of living which was the norm for many people here in the USA but south asian communities did not resonate with such music. If you are a south Asian reading this, you would likely not play anything remotely rap with your parents or grandparents in the car. Bohemia knew this and his lyrics did not have profanity but instead focused on story telling about his own life. His artistry is what has now inspired more than 2 decades of south asian hip hop artists. A lot of them followed the blueprint set out by him and even pushed the envelope further because that is what art is meant to do. To grow and to evolve.
As we celebrate 50 years of Hip hop this month, I am amazed at how hip hop has inspired people all over the world. Anybody who has been a part of this culture for long enough will tell you that no one person can own hip hop or any part of it. You can only be a part of it and contribute to it. As a bboy and hip hop head, Bohemia has played a huge role in helping me find my identity and tell my own story through desi hip hop. Although music has no language (a break beat is a break beat after all), his innovative lyrics and music production reflected how I grew up while respecting the values that my ancestors taught us to hold on to. It is indeed a very fine balance.
Almost two decades after its inception, the rappers of desi hip hop are continually pushing the conservative boundaries of our culture. Breaking is in the Paris Olympics 2024 and India is preparing to send a team of its own. The renown bboy competition called RedBull BC one was hosted in Mumbai in 2019. Oh and who here remembers the dance team from India called “Kings United” that won competitions such as World of Dance and the World Hip hop Dance Championship? (Although both of those shows/ competitions are choreography focused competitions). I am sure there are many more accomplishments that are not related to the dance and music element of this culture. Desi hip hop is only going to evolve further and Bohemia would be happy to see how his blueprint for it is coming to life.
On September 6th, 2021, I got a call from a producer saying that a Punjabi rapper wanted a choreographer for one of his music videos to be shot in the Bay Area. I had no idea who the artist was till later but I accepted the project because I had the bandwidth at the time. Later I could not control my excitement when I found out that it was Bohemia and Noveen Morris with a new single called “Kurti". Since then, I had the pleasure of performing with him live in DC and the Bay Area. Then in 2022, I choreographed the music video for “Tumhara Pyar” from Bohemia’s 2022 album called “I Am I.C.O.N”.
A Show We Performed Together In The Bay Area
(Picture: Bohemia and I)
In the process, I met his wonderful family who treated me with nothing but love. It felt like I was just meeting my older sisters and my parents. We shared how life was growing up in the middle east and how life is now different with our kids. I now see the where Roger gets his kindness and caring attitude from. When I say that there is no better man to have started this movement, I really mean it and history is now proof.
Why do I care about writing this article? I am a dance instructor, educator and life long student of hip hop based in the Bay Area. I have been teaching for a long time now and over the years have made a consious attempt to make sure that the information I convey to my students is as accurate as possible. I am like a link between my students and the people who were actually there when this beautiful culture was created (because I was not there). There is no other place where this has been documented the way I see it fit into this huge puzzle of hip hop. In my mind, Desi hip hop is not only a sub-genre of hip hop music, it is also a part of the culture of hip hop. Just like hip hop, it is a reflection of south asian grit, perseverance and the hustle to make something out of nothing. What could be more hip hop than that?