Posted on: Friday, November 26, 2004

Cambodian rapper performs at UH

Advertiser Staff

Prach Ly, known as "Cambodia's first rap star," will give a free performance and answer questions in an appearance set for Tuesday at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa Architecture Auditorium.

A reception for the artist, better known in performing circles as praCh, starts at 6 p.m., followed at 7 p.m. by "The Art of praCh" performance and question-and-answer period.

The event is sponsored by Manoa Journal, in which praCh's lyrics were published during the summer. That edition, "In the Shadow of Angkor," is now in bookstores.

The rap and hip-hop artist, now living in Long Beach, Calif., combines traditional music from his native Cambodia with contemporary beats. He raps in Khmer and English about the Khmer Rouge, the struggle of Cambodian immigrants in the United States, and his family.

His first effort, "Dalama ... the end'n is just the beginnin'," was recorded in his parents' garage and distributed to friends as a CD in 2000. Without his knowledge, the CD made its way from Long Beach to Cambodia, and a pirated version omitting his name became the top-selling CD in the country.

He is the CEO of Mujestic Records and recently traveled across the country with "Spirit of Cambodia," a tour commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

He is working on a documentary for PBS and was also recently featured in a television program on the Japanese network NHK.

Co-sponsors of the event are UH College of Languages, Linguistics and Literatures and Department of English; the Khmer Language Program of the UH Department of Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature; the Cambodian Students Association; and the Manoa Foundation. Funding was provided by a UH Diversity and Equity Initiative Award.