Straight Outta Bangkok: What It’s Like to be a Nigerian Rapper in Thailand

BANGKOK — On his way to film a rap music video, Junior was inexplicably stopped by the BTS guard – who did not stop anyone else.

Clinton “Junior” Okoroji, a Thai-born Nigerian, recalls that the guard searched his backpack thoroughly with a flashlight.

Pointing to the tripod in his backpack, the BTS guard said, “Is this a knife?”

“I couldn’t even speak; I was boiling with rage. I told myself to jai yen,” he said in a live interview with a Thai black empowerment group. “This was racism. There were so many people wearing backpacks, but he only checked mine.”

In a followup phone interview with Khaosod English, the 26 year old talked about his experiences of growing up black in Thailand, fraught with racism and constantly being stopped by police.

“Being stopped and checked by police is like a regular occurrence,” Junior said. “It’s daily life for black people here. Every time I get stopped I have to explain myself so much.”

Once, when he was on a Grab bike on the way to BTS On Nut, his bike was suddenly flanked by three police motorcycles. After parking, speaking in Thai, and showing his passport, the police officer tried to insist that Junior’s visa had expired, even though it hadn’t.

“He kept asking more and more questions such as if I was smoking, until I said, ‘hey, I want to go to the BTS. What do you want?’” Junior recalled. “Some police don’t know how to check visas.”

Read more of Clinton “Junior” Okoroji’s stories at : https://www.khaosodenglish.com/life/arts/2020/07/08/straight-outta-bangkok-what-its-like-to-be-a-nigerian-rapper-in-thailand/

Source: Straight Outta Bangkok: What It’s Like to be a Nigerian Rapper in Thailand

YouTube Photo: Opalcrazy / Instagram

Photo: Opalcrazy / Instagram

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