Ben Mulroney Unpacks Anti-immigrant Hate and Racism Through Punjabi Hip Hop Video Controversy
In a recent episode of The Ben Mulroney Show,
the host dives into the complicated intersections of
race,
media representation,
and immigration in Canada.
The resurfacing of a Punjabi music video by the late Sidhu Moose Wala
comes at a time
when anti-immigrant
and anti-South Asian sentiment in Canada
increases exponentially.
Online platforms like 6ixbuzz,
which once branded themselves as Toronto’s “voice of the streets,”
have become notorious for amplifying divisive narratives.
By selectively posting videos of Desi youth,
often problematically framed
to highlight cultural differences
And reinforce stereotypes
rather than celebration.
6ixbuzz has fueled a comments section rife with xenophobia, stereotypes, and outright hate.
One recent example
was a clip of Punjabi international students dancing at Yonge-Dundas Square,
which went viral
not for its joy
but for the torrent of racist backlash it generated.
Instead of being read as a youthful expression of culture
in one of the world’s most diverse cities,
the video became a lightning rod for complaints about immigration,
“overcrowding,”
and the alleged erosion of Canadian identity.
The comments revealed how quickly cultural moments of pride can be twisted into platforms for resentment and rage-baiting.
This environment mirrors the dynamics Dr. Cheryl Thompson and Ben Mulroney describe: racialized art and expression are too often stripped of context and weaponized,
feeding the rise of anti-immigrant hostility in Canada’s digital public square.
The episode, titled “Punjabi video sparks rage baiting online amid Canada immigration woes”, uses the resurfacing of a Sidhu Moosewala music video from seven years ago as an entry point to explore how cultural expression is often misrepresented and in some cases, weaponized against marginalized communities.
Joining Mulroney is Dr. Cheryl Thompson,
Canada Research Chair in Black Expressive Culture & Creativity,
who brings critical perspective to the conversation.
She highlights how media often strips cultural works of their historical and artistic context, reframing them as political threats
or moral failings
when produced by racialized artists.
In this case, a Punjabi hip hop video has become the focus of online outrage,
refracted through ongoing debates about immigration and Desi identity in Canada.
Hip hop culture, in particular, has long been subjected to distortion in mainstream discourse.
What was born as an expressive tool for marginalized voices
has repeatedly been vilified,
criminalized,
or taken at surface value
without an understanding of the deeper cultural narratives it conveys.Mulroney and Thompson situate this latest controversy
within a broader tradition of cultural misinterpretation.
They point to works like Jay-Z’s Decoded,
where the rap icon painstakingly unpacks his own lyrics
revealing layers of metaphor,
symbolism,
and cultural commentary
that are often lost on audiences who read hip hop literally.
Jay-Z argues that rap should be analyzed as poetry, not police evidence.
This act of decoding
transforms hip hop from a scapegoat for social problems
into a powerful archive of cultural memory,
resilience,
and critique.
The same framework applies to Desi artists navigating the Canadian media landscape.
Moosewala’s video,
now retroactively weaponized in online debates,
was originally an artistic reflection of community struggles,
aspirations,
and identity.
But divorced from context,
it becomes a vessel for rage-baiting headlines
that feed into anxieties about immigration
and demographic change.
By situating this controversy within a lineage of cultural misrepresentation,
Mulroney and Thompson underline the need for nuance
in how Canadians engage with racialized art forms.
To understand hip hop or Punjabi music videos
is to understand the communities from which they emerge,
not to flatten them into fodder for political fearmongering.
The real danger is in flattening these works into single narratives: “violent,” “foreign,” or “un-Canadian.” That flattening not only distorts the art, it fuels racism and feeds an outrage economy designed to divide.
Mulroney’s call to action is simple,
and it requires effort:
pause before reacting,
seek out the full story,
and immerse yourself in the cultural context before believing
or reposting
clips online.
Practice critical thinking.
Refuse to reward rage-bait with lazy clicks.
Support creators who contextualize
rather than caricature.
In short:
do the work.
Don’t be lazy.
Art is richer,
communities are deeper,
and truth is always more complex
than the comments section.
Stay informed!