Bambu's Gaza Track

January 14, 2009

MC Bambu (formerly of Native Guns), has a new track called "When Will the Time Come?" about the violence in Gaza. You can listen to it here. It's pretty powerful. Sometimes it takes artists/musicians to bring the point home, and this song is a good example. It's actually a track Bambu wrote for a mixtape for Tad Nakamura's latest documentary, A Song For Ourselves, about the life of Chris Iijima. The late Iijima was an activist and musician, a member in the Asian American band, A Grain of Sand. The documentary premieres next month in Los Angeles.

Bambu's song "When Will the Time Come?" samples from A Grain of Sand's "Jonathan Jackson." Pretty cool. The song is produced by Will Bracey. DJ Phatrick is arranging Iijima's music along with Blue Scholars, Bambu, Kiwi, and Native Guns songs interwoven with sound bites from the movie.

Speaking of Bambu, here's his latest video, "Crooks and Rooks," which premiered on okayplayer.com last month. Zoneil Maharaj, our music editor, tells me that this is a pretty big deal. "Up until now, Bam received most love and press from the API community. I don't think it's a stretch to say he's moving from being 'a dope Asian American rapper' to just a dope emcee period without compromising who he is," according to Zoneil.  

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Momo Chang

Senior Contributing Editor

Momo Chang is the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media, and freelances for magazines, online publications, and weeklies. Her writings focus on Asian American communities, communities of color, and youth culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Her stories range from uncovering working conditions in nail salons, to stories about “invisible minorities” like Tongan youth and Iu Mien farmers. She has freelances The New York Times, WIRED, and East Bay Express, among other publications.