Warning: Video = NSFW unless your boss is the kind of person who is okay with explicit lyrics…
Ennis tipped me off to ‘Indian Girl,’ a song by 24-year old Canadian rapper Peter Jackson (no, not the LOTR guy) featuring Patrick Christopher. From what I recall of my childhood trips to Canada, desis had all but taken over certain parts of the communities I visited. When we strolled down the streets of Toronto, I felt like I was more in Pakistan than Canada. So it’s hardly a surprise that a song like this would emerge from Canada.
It’s safe to say that I really, really dislike this song. Words like “fetishism” and “objectification” came to mind as soon as I saw it. The chorus, “Girl do that Indian dance/Dance for me now/Dance for me now” is nauseating enough, but “Ma got hair like Pocahotantas/Hands on the ass of an Indian goddess” induce further vomiting. As does ” shake, wiggle it , slither like a snake, mama.” In short this video reinforces every stereotype already out there about South Asian women. Servile? Check. Exotic? Check. Kama-Sutra-fantasy? Check. And yes, I know it’s not very different from any other misogynistic hip-hop song out there, but really? Really? And ode to brown fever?
Over on his site, Bobby Friction writes “I just wish I was a singer, so I could write ‘English Girl’ and make a video that consisted of me gettin my grind on (from behind) with a fit young blonde ting!” Perhaps, Bobby. But then there should be another one about yellow guys who like blacks girls or blue girls who like pink men or fuschia men who like green men. I’m all about people dating the rainbow, but somehow I don’t think this video contributed much to a thoughtful interracial dating dialogue, eh?



