Ever since I learned how to produce radio stories, I've wanted to produce a non-narrated story--one without my voice in it. These are deceptively hard to do. You need great background audio, and you need an interview subject who speaks clearly and succinctly. Lots of people don’t do that.

Finally, mission accomplished! Hear how St. Paul hiphop artist Tou SaiK connected this American style with his Hmong roots: by free styling with his grandma.

When Tou Saik Lee started out as a hip-hop and spoken word artist, he thought he was forging something new as a Hmong-American artist. Soon he realized his spoken word in English had a lot in common with his grandmother Youa Chang’s traditional song poetry in Hmong. They performed together, grandmother and grandson, for 10 years. Producer Emily Bright has the story. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.