Video: Sampling Chinatown

Last week, Fatima Al Qadiri, the Senegal-born, Kuwait-raised, and Brooklyn-living conceptual electronic musician, released her new album, “Asiatisch,” which Sasha Frere-Jones writes about today. The tracks entwine contemporary Eastern sounds and samplings of classical Chinese poetry. As Al Qadiri and I walked through Chinatown together on a recent afternoon, she spoke of our misdirected, modern inclinations to blur the distinct cultures of Asian countries, and give them the untextured label of “Asian.” It’s this concept that she explores in the album’s tracks, one of which you’ll hear in the video above.