VOA标准英语2013--Hip Hop Meets Southeast Asia Poetry in US Midwest

 

Hip¹ Hop² Meets Southeast Asia Poetry in US Midwest

What happens when hip-hop meets an ancient Southeast Asian poetry tradition in the American Midwest? Answer: an unusual collaboration³ between a young rapper and his grandmother.

 

The American immigrant story usually follows some basic contours. The first generation holds on tight to their old world traditions. Their children try as hard as they possibly can to become “American.” Then in the third generation, the grandchildren often turn back to learn from their grandparents’ culture.

At an outdoor farmer’s market in St. Paul, Minnesota, an elderly woman chants in the dialect of the Hmong people of Laos.  She’s wearing a bright purple turban, a black dress with colorful appliques, a bright, shiny necklace and wrap-around sunglasses.  Next to her is a young man, dressed in black with a baseball cap and jacket.

The young man is her grandson, Tu Saiko Lee - a rapper and poet in a band called Delicious Venom⁴.  The woman is his 70-year-old grandmother, Youa Chang, a practitioner⁵ of the ancient Hmong poetry tradition of kwv txhiaj.

The Hmong are a tribal⁶ people from Laos who supported the United States during America's wars in Southeast Asia.  When the wars ended, large numbers of them fled to the United States, where many settled in Minnesota.  For Tu Siako, this unusual paring with his grandmother began to take shape after a visit he made to Southeast Asia to explore his roots.

“I had the opportunity to go back to Thailand - I was born in a refugee camp in Ng Tai there," he said. "It was an amazing experience for me, discovering the arts through poetry, spoken Word.”  

The trip drove him to explore the many varied⁷ methods the Hmong use to express themselves artistically⁸.  

“I knew that I really connected to kwv txhiaj in particular, which is Hmong poetry chanting,” he said.

And it’s little wonder why.  His grandmother had been a kwv txhiaj poet back in Laos.  

“When I was growing up I didn’t connect to it.  It seemed like something that the elders did only," he said. "But I was definitely connected to hip-hop.  But when I got a little bit older, I realized there was a connection from what I did to what she does.”  

Kwv txhiaj was giving his grandmother a voice - using poetry to chronicle her experience.  It was the same thing he was doing through hip-hop.  

“I felt like it was important to fuse those two art forms together and showcase it," he said. "Show it to the younger generation to show that I can honor what the elders are doing.”

At the same time, he says, performing alongside his grandmother sends an important message to the older generation.  

“Her teaming with me shows -- like -- elders that, Hey, maybe hip-hop isn’t the negative stereotypes⁹ that they might think it is,” he said.

1 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

2 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

3 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

4 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

5 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

6 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

7 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

8 artistically   

adv.艺术性地

参考例句：

• The book is beautifully printed and artistically bound. 这本书印刷精美，装帧高雅。
• The room is artistically decorated. 房间布置得很美观。

9 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》