The Bangladesh-born, Queens-raised MC takes footage from around the world to celebrate immigration
In a weighty new music video, “Came From,” Anik Khan – a rapper born in Bangladesh and raised in Queens, New York – recognizes the lives, journey, and impact of immigrants in America and elsewhere. “Do you know where we came from?” he raps. “Do you know what we had to get away from?/Do you know where this pain from?/Them boats we rode wasn’t vacation.”
The video opens with a barrage of news and stand-up clips on anti-immigrant sentiments, followed by a checkerboard of influential immigrants to the U.S. like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. It evolves into a striking collage of archival and modern footage and animation, including harrowing imagery, global protests, destruction, and border patrol arrests. Much of the video is also joyous and rebellious, showcasing different ethnic cuisines, stars like Lupita Nyong’o, athletes like Liverpool F.C.’s Mohamed Salah, and young Black and Brown graduates. Khan widens his celebratory scope to people of color more broadly, rapping “Born with gorillas, We not around vultures/They couldn’t understand my culture,” as a clip of Addison Rae doing TikTok moves popularized by Black teens with Jimmy Fallon is interrupted by a video of young Black dancers.
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The video comes as the Trump administration terrorizes immigrants with hasty deportations, repeatedly, regardless of citizenship status. In a message to his followers on WhatsApp, Khan wrote, “Came From is a celebration of where we come from and what we’ve contributed — especially at a time when the word immigrant has been twisted into something negative. It’s about roots, sacrifice, survival, and pride. It’s about honoring the grit, beauty, and power of our cultures — and reminding ourselves of the tremendous value we are to this country.”
Khan said he plans to collect immigrant stories over the next few years via calls and messages to 917-300-9764. Khan has long explored the topics of immigration and assimilation in his music, from the album Kites in 2017 to a double EP, Denied / Approved in 2021. Denied / Approved chronicled his own battle for U.S. citizenship. Approved includes the song “Spill” with Dreamville rapper Bas. In 2018, he released “Oh My” with Sango and Burna Boy.
