S2E32: Hip-Hop Writer Joy Ng

Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Joy Ng is a born-and-raised San Franciscan. In Part 1, Joy talks about her childhood, in Chinatown, North Beach, and a couple other neighborhoods. She ends with her time at SF State, where she changed her major and got involved in community organizing. A large influence in that shift was Curtis Choy's documentary, The Fall of the I-Hotel. Here's the trailer for that film:

The Fall of the I-Hotel from Manilatown Media on Vimeo.

​FoundSF has more info on the story of the International Hotel eviction and demolition.

At SF State, Joy’s senior thesis covered the history of hip-hop as resistance and using the art form to make something out of nothing. Since graduating, she has run a website of critical essays with the tagline, "Hip Hop x Asian America."

In Part 2, Joy discusses the cultural context that gave rise to hip-hop, the history of the genre, local artist Ruby Ibarra, and her deep dives into Asian-American identity, empowerment, history, and how they intersect with music.

We recorded this podcast in June 2019 at the Bayanihan Community Center.