Filipinx and Marshallese Hip Hop: Manifesting a Decolonized Future

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Art has long served as a key component of cultural expression across a myriad of regions. However, as increased globalization continues to facilitate the destructive colonization of entire populations, the practice of artmaking has emerged not only as a method of cultural preservation, but also a tactic of activism and resistance. One such medium of artistic advocacy is hip hop, which has been increasingly mobilized by youth populations not only in African American communities, but in numerous Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities as well. Hip hop provides a radical space for these undeniably diverse, yet undoubtedly interconnected experiences of marginalization and resistance to intersect; moreover, it establishes a platform for these youth populations to engage in conversation with one another, while also contributing to global efforts of challenging systemic injustice. Thus, this article explores the hip hop genre as an invaluable mechanism for the youth-led decolonization of both the Philippines and the Marshall Islands, as well as a uniquely effective way to foster solidarity amongst marginalized groups both within and beyond Asian and Pacific Islander diasporas. 

Although the construct of “youth” first emerged during the colonization of Indigenous populations, it also designates a specific age demographic as a population remarkably capable of facilitating cultural change. Not only was “youth” an arbitrary social category imposed on Native populations across the Pacific Islands, but youth populations were also specifically targeted for cultural conversion. While white missionaries in Hawai’i and Sāmoa were known to infantilize Indigenous groups as a whole, they specifically worked to push heteronormative and patriarchal ideologies onto the children. Taking advantage of supposedly “malleable” minds that had not yet gained a full understanding of their cultures, European missionaries identified youth to be drivers of culture and exploited them accordingly. In addition to creating significant generational divides, this strategy highlights the reality of religious conversion acting as an explicit enforcer of heteronormative and patriarchal institutions. Thus, beyond the more “obvious” impacts of colonialism as a form of direct cultural suppression, the colonization of Indigenous youth populations in the Pacific can also be identified as the root cause of many of the gender inequalities that Pacific Islander communities continue to confront today. Yet, this phenomenon is particularly ironic in that, now, AAPI youth are increasingly using their influential positions in society to directly resist these same patriarchal, colonial structures. 

The political mobilization of youth populations is not only necessary for the decolonization of Pacific Islander communities, but it is arguably the most effective mechanism for social change. This is significant because, despite being initially exploited as avenues for cultural suppression, youth — particularly AAPI youth — now find themselves in the unique position of having what may be the most direct level of access to a shifting social climate. Thus, this development contextualizes the remarkable efficacy of contemporary youth movements in both the Philippines and the Marshall Islands. In a direct subversion of the historically oppressive relationship between white missionaries and Indigenous children, Filipinx and Marshallese youth are increasingly recognizing their agency and unique ability to decolonize their respective environments. Specifically, these activists make the radical decision to represent their communities, reassert their cultures, and reclaim their identities through artistic and accessible mediums such as hip hop.

Hip hop serves as a valuable platform for islander youth to not only make their individual voices heard, but to also contribute to a global awareness surrounding their collective experiences of marginalization. The use of hip hop as a radical form of self-representation is particularly significant in Filipinx and Marshallese communities, who, in spite of their long-standing colonial relationships with so-called “global powers,” are still generally absent from the contemporary global consciousness. In an article titled “Queer, trans artists discuss undocumented experiences,” the rapper Soultree comments on this shared exclusion, remarking, “As an Asian person, I felt erasure in the larger immigration narrative. I was born in the Philippines but raised in the Marshall Islands … There’s very few islander or islander nations that are acknowledged within the larger conversation.” Soultree highlights how, even when discussing raised awareness around issues such as immigration, AAPI populations — specifically Filipinx and Marshallese populations — remain largely unrecognized. Yet, instead of allowing this exclusion to dictate the trajectory of their communities’ respective futures, Filipinx and Marshallese youth make the radical decision to both respond to and rectify this ongoing erasure through music. In an article titled “This Rapper Is on a Mission to Empower Filipino Women,” rapper Ruby Ibarra (who recently performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk series as the winner of the 2025 Tiny Desk Context) states, “Hip hop has always been the voice of the marginalized, of the people who are voiceless. It’s always been the music of the youth. So I think … that the youth are actually putting their foot down and are being at the forefront of these debates and these discussions.” She argues that hip hop serves as a rare platform for youth to directly engage with political issues, particularly with regards to the wide range of AAPI experiences that receive very little U.S. media coverage. Yet, by practicing advocacy in a manner that actively generates its own media content, these rappers not only create an increased awareness surrounding issues that their communities face such as colonialism, sexism, colorism, and xenophobia, but they also foster a greater international understanding of islander cultures and heritage.

In her song titled “Us,” Ibarra demonstrates how Filipinx hip hop exists as both a direct result of and a powerful response to American imperialism. Because hip hop was initially introduced to the Philippines by American radio channels during a period of United States military occupation, it is particularly significant that Ibarra chooses this same medium to resist its colonial legacy. By operating within preexisting structures of imperialism with the goal of dismantling it, she effectively uses hip hop as a platform to simultaneously preserve and liberate Filipinx cultures, histories, and peoples. While Ibarra uses this track to actively contribute to ongoing AAPI advocacy movements, she also pays homage to a history of Filipinx resistance by repeatedly using the phrase “Isang bagsak!” “Isang bagsak” is a Tagalog phrase, which refers to the unity clap that Filipinx farmworkers would use to conclude each meeting during the Delano grape strike. With this allusion, Ibarra demonstrates how hip hop can function not only as a way of addressing contemporary issues and fostering youth culture, but also as a way of cultural and historical preservation. However, using this phrase of historical empowerment also serves to strengthen her attempts to mobilize her community towards resisting ongoing issues of United States imperialism. She raps, “All we want is our freedom/And the right to live on our motherland.” This directly addresses themes of political disenfranchisement by calling for the liberation of her people, as well as their land. Moreover, by characterizing the land as “female” when referring to it as “our motherland,” Ibarra further confronts this legacy of colonialism by resisting the colonial imposition of patriarchy on Indigenous communities in the Pacific. This practice of reclaiming music as a tool to directly confront colonialism in the Philippines is a particularly powerful one; moreover, it can be similarly explored in the complex relationship that Marshallese rappers have with a highly “Christianized” musical tradition in the Marshall Islands. 

Similar to the work of many Filipinx artists, Marshallese rappers are reclaiming and decolonizing the minor key through contemporary hip hop music. When European missionaries landed in the Marshall Islands and attempted to convert the Native population to Christianity, one of the primary cultural institutions that they attacked was Marshallese music. In the article “Making Waves: Marshallese Youth Culture, ‘Minor Songs,’ and Major Challenges,” author Jessica Schwartz explains that Marshallese songs were often written in the minor key; yet, because the Church believed that a “higher power” could only be accessed with a major key, it considered minor music, and, by extension, Marshallese music, to be “devil music.” Therefore, while imperialism most directly impacted the Filipinx musical tradition by introducing American genres such as hip hop, colonialism most directly impacted the Marshallese musical tradition by suppressing the use of an entire modality of Indigenous music. It is in this context that Marshallese youth artists define colonial structures of music education as a “eugenics of the tongue,” which represents yet another example of imperialism destroying Pacific Islander cultures. However, it is through this same medium of expression that many Marshallese youth use to subvert this historical legacy. As Marshallese youth reject the major key by recentering hip hop, another genre that primarily works in the minor key, they continue to combat colonialism in a highly relevant and incredibly effective way. These artists engage with music not only as a medium for historical dialogue, but also as a way to both imagine and manifest a decolonized future. 

However, while being a frequently productive practice, the widespread adoption of hip hop by AAPI rappers could also be seen as an appropriation of African American culture by non-African American youth. Originally developed by Black musicians and dancers in the Bronx, hip hop has long been associated with Black artistry and resistance. Yet the genre’s ongoing commercialization has led to much debate surrounding what constitutes cultural appropriation, and what doesn’t — especially when considering language and aesthetics that come from Black communities and are central to hip hop, yet are now being used by non-Black populations. 

Although AAPI hip hop certainly serves as a powerful medium of cross-cultural solidarity amongst marginalized groups, it is also ultimately derived from a musical tradition that may exist outside of these artists’ cultural backgrounds. An article titled “Faikava: A Philosophy of Diasporic Tongan Youth, Hip Hop, and Urban Kava Circles” discusses this nuance, stating:

The problematic exploitative appropriation of African American culture and music by colonial capitalist projects can be reinforced by non-Black POC at local levels, albeit without the same power as the entertainment industry. However, many Tongan and other Moana youth connect with these musical cultures because they speak about ancestral connections, anti-colonial and anti-racist struggles, island environments, and spirituality.

This article distinguishes between appropriation on a corporate level, as opposed to the levels of appropriation that come with independent artistry. While both practices certainly draw from a culture that is not their own, the authors argue that the entertainment industry does this purely out of economic exploitation, whereas many Pacific Islander youth are drawn to hip hop because it speaks on shared themes of struggle and connection. Specifically, the authors name “ancestral connections,” “island environments,” and “spirituality” as popular subjects in hip hop music; clear parallels can be drawn between the values explored in hip hop culture and the paradigms commonly upheld in numerous Pacific Islander communities. In this sense, hip hop exists as a contemporary form of cultural preservation, serving as an ongoing method of fostering connection and solidarity both within and beyond a particular community.

From its inception as a form of anti-racist resistance amongst African American communities to its evolution as a form of anti-colonial resistance amongst AAPI communities, hip hop simultaneously unites and mobilizes these populations on the basis of challenging historically white systems of power. Therefore, by giving marginalized youth heightened levels of access to cultural institutions, hip hop allows these artists to both recognize and dismantle global systems of oppression. As a medium that simultaneously allows for cultural preservation and social activism, hip hop generates a significant space for Filipinx and Marshallese artists to not only imagine, but manifest a decolonized future within their own lifetimes, and of their own making.