Sandra Kurfürst’s Dancing Youth is, to my knowledge, the first book-length English-language treatment of hip hop culture in Vietnam [văn hoá hip hop]. The book convincingly demonstrates that hip hop in Vietnam cannot be reduced “to be mere [cultural] appropriation” (9). Rather, the book shows how through hip hop young Vietnamese create community and develop the self by weaving together elements from Vietnamese society with those from the global hip hop culture.

The book foregrounds Vietnam and women, both commonly understudied in global studies of hip hop. In the Vietnamese context, the hip hop scene comprises largely middle-class young people holding university degrees whom, “at least for a time, had held positions that matched their education background” (195). This provides an important counterpoint to the global literature on youth and hip hop that focuses on marginalized youth. Kurfürst argues that for the dancers she has worked with it...

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