Xiên chào, welcome to Đặc Biệt Rap Pod, a miniseries about music, food, and travel. Dad Bod Rap Pod hosts Demone Carter, David Ma and Nate LeBlanc recently traveled to Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. We received a grant to participate in a cultural exchange program, and since we are a hip-hop podcast, we decided to seek out the DJ and b-boy culture in District 1, Saigon. And here is what we found.
Part 1- Subcultural Exchange
We were lucky enough to be able to make this trip and create this 3-episode miniseries thanks to a grant from the City of San Jose’s Office Of Cultural Affairs. We flew halfway around the world in search of hip-hop in an unlikely location and to learn more about the corss-cultural conversation between our hometown of San Jose and the creative center of Vietnam, Saigon.
We are thrilled to note that breakbeat DJing and B-Boying are alive and well in Southeast Asia, and in this episode we will introduce you to DJ Style D, an extremely influential DJ, record collector, and venue owner who is helping keep the elements of hip-hop at the forefront of the city’s culture one record at a time.
While we were abroad, we were able to book a DJ gig with Style D at a really cool restaurant along the river and to bring our brand of curated funk, soul and hip-hop musical taste to a completely new audience.
We also participated in a few more relatively minor acts of cultural exchange, including an odd experience trying to buy records which gave us some insight into the gargantuan effort that hip-hop producer Onra put into crafting his masterpiece, Chinoiseries. We also briefly discuss Sublime Frequencies’ reissue of incredibly rare 45s by Phuong Tam, a talented and courageous rock n’ roll singer who began her career in Saigon and now resides in San Jose.
Huge thanks are due to the City of San Jose OCA, as well as our Patreon subscribers for their continued support. Shout out to all of the scooter drivers, kindly grandmothers, sullen teens, and clueless tourists who helped make this trip special.
DBRP host Demone Carter spearheaded this entire trip, David Ma curated our experiences and translated things as they were occurring, and Nate LeBlanc produced this miniseries.
DBRP is one of the many great hip-hop related podcasts on the Stony Island Audio network.
Please tune in next week for Part 2 of Đặc Biệt Rap Pod, with a focus on Saigon’s justifiably legendary street food. Cảm un!
