Nep hop: Could Kathmandu become a hip hop capital?
Anil Adhikari — a.k.a Yama Buddha — and freelance journalist Ross Adkin on how Nepal's burgeoning hip hop and rap battle scenes are challenging the status quo.
Anil Adhikari — a.k.a Yama Buddha — joins guest host Talia Schlanger to discuss the burgeoning Nepali hip hop (or nep hop) scene. Youth in the small, largely poor South Asian nation are venting their frustrations through politically-charged lyrics and scathing rap battles.
*Click here or on the listen button above to hear the full segment (audio runs 19:57)
A crash course in nep hop
If you've never seen or heard a Nepali twist on hip hop, here are four music videos — selected by Yama Buddha — to get you acquainted.
1) Footpath Mero Ghar stars street kids in Nepal and features the Nepali instrument Sarangi, which resembles the violin.
2) Aaudai chu ma, a video shot in black and white, also features the Sarangi.
3) The subtitled video for Yo Prasanga tackles the issue of sex trafficking.
4) The English language video for KTM Grime, which samples Buddhist chants, is one of Yama's only alter ego videos.