But I’ll leave it to PhillyGrrrl at Sepia Mutiny who writes:
Words like “fetishism” and “objectification” came to mind as soon as I saw it. The chorus, “Girl do that Indian dance/Dance for me now/Dance for me now” is nauseating enough, but “Ma got hair like Pocahotantas/Hands on the ass of an Indian goddess” induce further vomiting. As does ” shake, wiggle it , slither like a snake, mama.” In short this video reinforces every stereotype already out there about South Asian women. Servile? Check. Exotic? Check. Kama-Sutra-fantasy? Check. And yes, I know it’s not very different from any other misogynistic hip-hop song out there, but really? Really? And ode to brown fever?
I will add that she’s right — this song isn’t anything new. But its stereotypes seem much more blatant. I wonder if that’s because I’m not used to pop songs specifically about South Asian women, but I am used to songs that reduce black women to big butts and brown skin.