Ethnographic study of South Asian American hip hop artists that looks at the cultural and political implications of these artists' use of black popular culture to create and express racial alliances.

Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Claiming Space, Making Race 1
1. Alternative Ethnics: Rotten Coconuts and Ethnic Hip Hop 37
2. Making Race: Desi Racial Identities, South Asian and Black Relations, and Racialized Hip Hop 88
3. Flipping the Gender Script: Gender and Sexuality in South Asian and Hip Hop America 138
4. The Appeal of Hip Hop, Ownership, and the Politics of Location 190
5. Sampling South Asians: Dual Flows of Appropriation and the Possibilities of Authenticity 234
Conclusion: Turning Thoughts into Action through the Politics of Identification 283
Notes 301
References 315
Index 335

Nitasha Tamar Sharma is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Asian American Studies at Northwestern University.