Hip hop quartet breaks stereotype

The stereotype: Asian-Americans in the hip hop game in L.A.’s Koreatown sport jarhead buzzcuts, oversized jumpers, baggy jeans and white trainers, all the while scowling and trying their best thug-life repartee.

There’s an almost theatrical nature to such shameless imitations of popular black culture. So much so, that Asian-American hip-hop acts that adopt such theatrics have become fodder for countless jokes.

But for chart-topping electro-hiphop quartet Far East Movement, they’re anything but the stereotype.

A look at their debut album jacket shows all four decked out in retro-’80s gear with shiny blazers, white-framed sunglasses, skinny jeans and kitsch Reservoir Dogs-style narrow ties, making them look more like the Far East doppelgangers of Kraftwerk than a rap act.

But they’re quite proud of their Asian roots.

“It’s an honor that our community feels what we’re doing and they acknowledge it and that they’re proud of it,” Nish told The Korea Herald via email.