Situating Sikh Diasporic Dubs: A Case Study Featuring Humble the Poet and Sikh Knowledge

The turban and beard has been a focus of Sikh identity in the diaspora and since 2010 has resurged across North American within popular culture and social media. Based on virtual and visual research conducted on social media, qualitative interviews and lyrical analysis, this case study explores the concept of vernacular cosmopolitanism and Canadian hip hop in relationship to Punjabi-Sikh identities, articulated and performed by artists Humble the Poet and Sikh Knowledge. This case study addresses a lacuna of scholarship available on Punjabi-Sikh identity and hip hop by providing an analysis of album Turban Sex and book/album campaign for UnLEARN: Butterflies and Lions. I will explore how both artists respectively affirm and destabilize identity politics of popular representations of Punjabi-Sikh ethnicity and heritage. Looking beyond turbans and beards and labels of "ethno hip hop" or "desi rap", this research aims to interrogate the limits of multiculturalism and antiracism.