In recent years, the genre of hip-hop has gone global with the rise of Japanese rapper Kohh, Swedish rapper Young Lean, and Indian rap group Das Racist. Sadly, the former of the three acts named broke up with the groups only active member being Heems, who, as of late, has been catching some flack for his open use of the n-word. With that in mind, it can be concluded fairly easily that Indians, and moreover, the people of sub-Asia despite making up 18% of the Earth’s population, is extremely underrepresented when it comes to the rap game. That being said, today I wanted to introduce a new, promising rapper who hails from the streets of Queens, New York but just so happens to be Bengali. Born in Dhaka in Bangladesh, rapper Anik Khan immigrated to Queens with his family where he became invigorated with the culture of hip-hop, specifically its universal appeal. Finding hip-hop to be the voice of the streets of Queens, and moreover, urban civilizations across the globe, Khan began honing his unique style of hip-hop-tinged with worldly influences. Take for example Khan's most recent track “The Knowing.”
“The Knowing” features Khan rapping over an exotic sample loop with trappy drums piercing the soundscape. The track subject matter is about knowledge and being aware of the state of the world and what plagues it. The track, as Khan intends, has universal appeal referencing worldwide problems while also talking about problems unique to his home.
Clearly, Anik Khan is “The Knowing” so take a listen to his most recent track below and follow the Queens rapper on Soundcloud.
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Anik Khan
"The Knowing"
- 2015-05-30
