MOCA PERFORMS – Crouching Dub, Hidden Riddim

About the event

An hour-long live cinematic and musical performance by Ben “saxofshaolin” Chin pairs martial arts films with a live soundtrack of Asian-influenced hip-hop and reggae. Martial arts films and Black diasporic music have long served as entry points into Asian and Black cultures. The program reimagines these familiar cultural forms while confronting the stereotypes that have long shaped their reception. This performance highlights the deep-rooted connections between Black and Asian diasporas while imagining new models for collaboration, solidarity, and cultural empowerment. This event forms part of Carnegie Hall’s United in Sound: America at 250 festival. ABOUT Ben "saxofshaolin" Chin Ben Chin, aka saxofshaolin, is the confluence between East and West. As a saxophonist, composer, and bandleader, he seeks to merge the musical lineages of his upbringing. He fuses American, South East Asian, and Afro-Caribbean music and creates music that sounds like a dance between the ancestors of the three traditions. This is not only an effort to experiment with music but also to find common ground between far-flung cultures. It’s an approach that has developed, instinctually, from his experience as an immigrant and a Hakka Chinese, a nomad by blood. His music is simultaneously traditional and contemporary. Equally aggressive and tasteful. Always danceable and spiritual. Outside of saxofshaolin, Ben is a part of a handful of music and food startups in New York City. Whether it’s via Resonator, QNA, Moonlite, or Bagel Joint, he integrates his love of culture into every project, product, or piece of food. Ben Chin is a 2024 Artist-in-Residence at the Museum of Chinese in America, and Google Next Gen Policy Leader.