boston progress radio

Chuckie Akenz is a Vietnamese Canadian rapper who was raised in the Jane and Finch neighborhood of Toronto, one of the most notorious and crime ridden areas within the city. Chuckie Akenz has developed quite the following through the Internet and the Toronto hip hop scene. He also garnered national attention when CBC (the equivalent of ABC in terms of size and exposure) decided to dedicate an entire show to life as a rapper coming from Jane and Finch.

While Chuckie Akenz has his fans, he’s also become one of the most ridiculed Asian rappers on the Internet. In 2005, Akenz released the music video, “You Got Beef.”

You Got Beef – Chuckie Akenz

In the video, a young Asian boy is playing basketball by himself when he is approached and taunted by two black teenagers. At some point, the young Asian boy calls Chuckie Akenz, who happens to be with a number of his friends. They’re predominately dressed in black, looking “hard,” and driving Japanese import cars. When they reach the basketball court, all of them pull out weapons and attack the two black teenagers. Throughout the song, Chuckie Akenz uses the word n*gga.

The chorus of the song goes:

You got beef, we got heat/
We’ll never stop, we don’t care/
There won’t be, no more peace/
It’s all about Vietnamese/

A lot of the criticism against his music video (samples can be found below the YouTube video) include comments that he’s not really tough or gangsta, that it’s inappropriate for him to use the term n*gga, and that the overall situation presented in the video is unreal. The comments come from people across the racial spectrum—including Asians.

While I understand the criticism of the video for its promotion of violence and its poor production quality, I disagree with criticism that it presents an unreal situation for Asian urban communities in the Western World. In fact, I believe his video is a very accurate portrayal of Asian urban communities in the Western World and the culture that develops in urban conflict. The problem is that people who don’t grow up with Asian people in the ‘hood are ignorant to this reality. For example, take two particular things I think really confused people about Akenz’ video: Asian N*ggas and Blond Highlights.

1. Asian N*ggas

Political correctness aside, please. Young Asians in urban areas of the United States and Canada do not make a conscious effort to use n*gga to assert something they are not; it is simply part of the vernacular they grew up with. It’s likely that the local black youth that grew up with them distinguish their use of n*gga differently from non-black youth who pick it up through secondary sources such as popular culture and make a conscious effort to urbanize themselves. There are Asians in the ‘hood who don’t get along with black people who use n*gga as a term of endearment, too. I’m not saying that it makes sense, or trying to make an argument that it is either right or wrong, but what I’m saying is that it is a reality that they were born and raised in; it’s authentic. Fakin’ Da Funk is good portrayal of the misunderstandings that arise when an Asian American who was raised within a predominately black culture in one particular neighborhood moves to another black neighborhood.

2. Gangbangers with Blond Highlights

To outsiders, young Asian men who are well-groomed and sport long bangs with blond highlights is perhaps the last thing they’d imagine as masculine, tough, and ghetto. But it’s real. Asian people in the ‘hood will dress like “pretty boys” while carrying a machete in one pant leg and illegal firearms in the back of their Honda Civic (oh, the stories I hear from the streets of South Philadelphia…). They make mixtapes with Nas and Celine Dion on the same CD. They’ll get in more violent confrontations than most of the “gangsta” rappers on MTV—and afterward, they will go shop at Banana Republic. They roll deep in the streets and they will roll deep into Banana Republic. I kid you not.

While it’s sad to hear non-Asians criticize Akenz’ music video and their reluctance to accept this reality, it was especially sad to hear it from fellow Asians, most of whom I feel grew up disassociated from Asian communities in the ‘hood. I guess this is why I’m writing this article on BPRLive. Asian communities in the ‘hood are super paradoxical and like the Asian American community in general, represent an array of voices and cultural qualities. There are the pretty boys who carry around machetes and call each other n*gga. But there are also Asians in the ‘hood who hate living in the ‘hood and everything about it (including the other racial communities surrounding them and rap music) because it has meant violence, poverty, and anti-Asian racism. I’m wanting to tell everyone in the world that Chuckie Akenz is authentic, but I especially want to tell fellow Asians who are trying to connect with the urban side of things within Asian America/Canada/Australia/England/France. Asian youth in the ‘hood will never fit in one box and that’s the coolest thing about them.

Chuckie, if you’re reading this brother, keep doing your thing. Keep telling the story the way it really is.

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Tags: Identity, Video.