ABSTRACT
One might be happy to learn that rap music made its way to Cambodia before McDonald’s did; or perhaps not. Then, for those who long for familiar signs of home away from home, and to whom golden arches or cardboard cutouts of Colonel Sanders with his benevolent smile make for a comforting presence, there is solace: Phnom Penh boasts a shiny and spotless BBW (Burger and Bakery World) with its upside-down, though recognizable, golden arches (W instead of M);1 a Pizza House framed inside the same red, black, and white logo as a Pizza Hut; and a KFC, that is, Khmer Fried Chicken. But if the latter still does not meet one’s expectation, the “real and authentic” Kentucky Fried Chicken, imported from Japan, can be found in the frozen food section of the Lucky Supermarket, an upscale store that caters mainly to wealthier Cambodians and expatriates. And then, of course, there is rap music. Across the street from the Lucky Supermarket, an unmistakably catchy rap tune-fusing its invitational refrain “ah yeah! Do you wanna ride with us, ride with us . . .” with the loud and busy late afternoon traffic on Sihanouk Boulevardblares out from the large speakers of the CD World store and gathers a crowd of young Cambodians not quite used to letting their heads bop to this new rhythm. It is a cut from the first CD by a Cambodian rap group, the Phnom Penh Playaz; and Sam Sen Sambo, a.k.a. BO, a member of the rapping quartet, was there in person for the promotion and sale of the CDs (at five dollars a piece they are expensive compared to the usual two to three dollars for pirated copies of a Beatles or a Britney Spears CD). This was Phnom Penh in 2002.
