They Say Asians Can't Rap
They say Asians can't rap, but don't tell that to Los Angeles-based Vietnamese Rapper, Michael Nhat (pronounced Nawt).
Antithetic to the way audiences are accustomed to receiving songwriting and hip-hop music, Michael Nhat has been creating a stir in the Los Angeles area with live performances, local and nationwide press, several music videos, experimental short films, and four self-produced full-length albums. Born in Vietnam, surviving an airplane crash that his biological mother did not, and raised in Iowa, Nhat started free-styling and rapping at age 14 and immersed himself in the black community until age 20.
In 2008, Michael started volunteering at downtown LA’s all- age venue The Smell. “I became involved in a community I relished, with music that I actually listened to and people I felt comfortable with. I didn’t have to fear being bullied because of my skinny pants or being called a faggot. It was a lot more open-minded and refreshing”. After a short few months at The Smell, news about the Asian-American rapper spread and Nhat started getting booked weekly.
From the prestigious Vermont House to Pehrspace, every foremost LA venue in the underground DIY backdrop booked him. Before the year was over, a humble independent label How to be a Microwave negotiated his first official record on twelve inch wax. In October 2009, those arrangements actualized commencing nationwide media attention and a bounded cult following. “Catchy lo-fi looping keyboards, Nhat’s minimal beats propel his brutal, barking cadence towards something that is alternately poppy” – LA Record.
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