”praCh‘s incendiary tales of Cambodia’s past, told in the defiant tones of rap, hit Phnom Penh like a B-52 bombing raid.” – Adam Piore — NEWSWEEK
“Can you be famous but unknown? Can you unwittingly electrify the youth of a homeland you left as a toddler? Can lyrics written in California bring a new generation to face Cambodia’s greatest modern horror? This is the miraculous story of how a refugee named praCh accomplished all that, to his own astonishment.” – Gina Chon — CAMBODIAN DAILY
”A brash new rap album made in Southern California is breaking the taboos by telling young Cambodians about the darkest chapter of their country’s history.” – LOS ANGELES TIMES
”Everyone wants to express themselves like these guys (praCh and his friends), but they’re afraid… In Cambodia, no one would dare say what those guys say. It’s inspirational.” – CNN
”Long Beach rapper praCh could pass for a wise teen-ager with understanding parents. But when he opens his mouth to rhyme, or when you listen to the fiery rap CD, praCh an actor’s son who is 22, sounds like he’s 22 going on 50.” – Theo Douglas — L.B.PRESS-TELEGRAM
“praCh has begun teaching local youths what parents and school have not…Shattering the stereotype of a rapper praCh is polite and earnest.” – Wendy Thomas Russell — L.B.PRESS-TELEGRAM
“Ly’s music is an explosion of art and music and intellect, a chronicle of loss and those things birthed in redefining and retelling the Khmer narrative while retaining a uniquely Long Beach experience. And through Ly’s (last?) performance, Saturday night, the diverse crowd cheered every track.” – James Chow — LONG BEACH POST
“The album has caught on among the trendy urban youth of the capital, who often have access to MTV and English-language lessons.” – ABC News
”At parties, in bars and in homes around Phnom Penh, the album has teen-agers buzzing about songs on death, forced labor and broken families.” – CBS News
”He brings it to the new generation, and talk about reality, talk about society.” – FOX News
”His songs are a step forward.” – NBC New
“He’s the Cambodia Town Ambassador, an international Hip–Hop artist“ – KCET
“It’s clear that his experience in both Cambodia and the United States have shaped his style, and sound which he crafted brilliantly.” – The WORLD.org
“Story, from the evacuated streets of Phnom Penh to the freestyle immigrant mix of Long Beach… he deliver a blistering history lesson.” – Sheraz Sadiq — P.B.S. ‘Frontline’
“Authentic, unapologetic, raw lyrics. It’s unadulterated rap – I love it” – Mark Cole — BBC World Service – The Strand
”He’s awfully precise, this praCh…Dalama raised, in one way or another, got Cambodia’s moldering history books victims of a bury-the-past mindset-back in the schools.” – Rich Kane — O.C.WEEKLY
“He’s a genius. To use his rap lyrics to tell the stories of the immigrants… I don’t know of anyone else who’s doing what he’s doing,’ – Frank Stewart — MANOA – University of Hawaii Press
“Renowned hip-hop artist praCh ly, who, in a fearless solo performance resonating with authenticity, vulnerability, and indomitable force, astonished young and old alike with the immediacy and timelessness of his brilliant musical and poetic talent“ – June Unrue — HARVARD University
“We‘re honored to have him headline the Khmer Voices Rising: An International Freedom-to-Write Literary Festival. praCh is a talented Cambodian American rapper, writer, poet who tells in stories in beautiful lyrics.“ – Robert Coover — BROWN University
“praCh Ly is Long Beach’s next Legend. The Cambodian rapper is a leader and a visionary. By producing a bilingual album pack with meaning and history. He electrified his homeland with lyrics that relentless yet thoughtful.which reminds me of why hip-hop was great in the first place.” – Mike Sonksen
”Your music is very creative, your voice rich with your Battambang accent and your words cover a full agenda that is political and demand action. I hear frustration, I hear confrontation but I also hear hope. ONE CANNOT TAKE THIS ALBUM LIGHTLY AND I THANK YOU FOR THE VERY HARD WORK , VERY HONEST AND VERY BOLD AND RAW CRY FOR JUSTICE FOR OUR PEOPLE. YOU NAME AND SHAME THOSE WHO ARE NEVER SATISFIED WITH THEIR GREED. THEY MAY NOT LISTEN TO YOU BUT THEIR CHILDREN DO AND THERE IS HOPE FOR CHANGE. It is a very rich album, praCh! THANK YOU , IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY AND JUSTICE. WITH BEST WISHES FOR SUCCESS, “ – Sochua Mu – Activist, Humanitarian, *Nobel Peace Prize nominee
“Dalama 3 — as is the case with the previous Dalamas — once again proves why hip hop — and Cambodian/American hip hop — matters. Drawing together the fundamental elements of hip hop, Dalama 3 provokes, pushes, and forces a listener response. Filled with compelling lyrics, Cambodian pop samples, and Khmer backbeats, Dalama battles oppression around the globe and in your own backyard. Not content with just one approach, Dalama throws out — in sophisticated, wonderfully moving fashion — a host of issues, sounds, and beats. Taking down regimes with rhyme and lyric, Dalama 3 has an unmatched emotional power. Taken together, Dalama’s end result — justice-oriented knowledge — makes this a masterpiece by a master MC. With respect, admiration, and appreciation.” – Cathy Schlund-Vials Ph.D
“Its pure unadulterated rap. He’s the voice of his people.” – NAS
“praCh is the pride of Long Beach” – Beverly O’Neil — Mayor of Long Beach, CA.
“I seen him perform live at Celebrate Asia, praCh is the real deal“ – Alvin Brown — Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida.
“praCh is my homeboy“- Todd E. William — US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia
“praCh is a genius, he represent Khmer with pride and it shows” – Bonnie Lowenthal — Califorina State Assembly 70th District
“praCh work speak volumes, which we should praise and acknowledge” – Alan Lowenthal — U.S. Congress
“He brings the people and community together“ – Jim McDonnell — Chief of Police of Long Beach.
“praCh is now the most popular rapper in his native Cambodia, here at home (USA), he‘s a proud Ambassador of Cambodia Town… praCh put the punctuation mark on the evening” – Andrew Zimmern — BIZARRE FOOD / TRAVEL CHANNEL
”praCh’s voice is a David to the Goliath of history ! This thing has the drama of the work of a fine rapper/artist and the scope of epic poetry! – Awesome “ – DAVID BRISBIN – Production Designer – Twilight’s New Moon, The Day the, Earth Stood Still, the Exorcism of Emily Rose, City of Ghost, Dead Presidents, Nice Hat!
“Long Beach-raised Cambodian-American rap artist praCh Ly wants to inspire nothing less than revolution. It may be actual, it may be spiritual, it may be intellectual, but it’s revolution. “Dalama” is praCh’s most overtly political work, as he takes Cambodian leadership to task for the state of affairs in a country where he sees youth who are aching for change. So, when praCh writes, “I’m target for death, they want to delete my existence, I’m a high-risk threat, the leader of the resistance. The battle for tomorrow, its start today. Afraid of no one, that’s just how I was raised,” it can be hard to know where the lines merge and split.” – Greg Mellen — LB Press-Telegram
”Khmer rap from California wakes up stifled generation in Cambodia. Some people hope that praCh’s music will kick start the creativity of a numb nation.” – Chris Decherd — ASSOCIATED PRESS
”I have to admit? the brother has mad skills. From putting lead to paper and drawing out sketches to spitting out lyrics. praCh has an eye for detail and perfection. There is method to his madness… I think this album: (Dalama ” the lost chapter.”) is a testament to the evolution of the individual whose heart beats in time with music and whose flow is a fusion of experience and narrative genius.” – DemRaw — C-Hope
“praCh is phenomenal! praCh is a bi-lingual Khmer-American rapper. He’s smart, raw, talented, inspired. I saw him performed two years ago in DC and he blew me away! I don’t normally listen to rap, but this man had me off my seat, bopping my head up and down, laughing, and eyes glued on him. When I turned to my neighbors, I saw elder Khmer men and women doing the same. praCh is a treasure to our community.” – Loung Ung – Activist, Author, Lecturer— ‘First They Killed My Father.’
“I respect his work, I love it” – Angelina Jolie
“praCh Ly is the most authoritative voice in Khmai and Khmai-American rap. (Dalama…”memoirs of the invisible war.”) not only shows his music taking on new beats and new sounds from traditional and other sources. The lyrics focus have a new focus on all of the Cambodian tragedy from 1970 to the present. Aware, furious, respectful, precise — this is political writing at its finest. Like Nelson Mandela had rapped when he was young. – Geoff Ryman – BBC
“WOW, VERY POWERFUL!! You’re incredible !! The album is nothing less than social revolution !! I am deeply impress with the depth of lyrics and your detailed following of social issues and Cambodian politics. Even though you’re physically faraway, your soul and spirit are here; I feel it in your lyrics and the songs’ beat and energy. I love your creative mixture of old and new; Khmer and English – a tribute and recognition of what had gone on before and paying special tribute to that and then communicating that to this generation… You have a real gift and I admire your passion to use this gift to address substantive issues, in addition to just pure entertaining. I am now coming to the end of the album, having listened to all of them in one sitting… MORE POWER TO YOU, my friend!!” – Theary C. Seng – Activist, Author, Humanitarian
“I finally got a chance to sit down and listen to your new CD – and I just wanted to tell you I loved it. They’re very different works, but in some ways DALAMA 3, in it’s conceptual ambition and flow, reminds me of one of my favorite albums – Prince’s LOVESEXY. – Robin Lee – music editor, Star Wars: episode V, Star Wars: episode Vl, The English Patient, Toy Story, Godfather part lll
“Upon receiving the opportunity to listen to his album, I thought that each song, like Cambodia, was so unfathomable in its emotions and history. The album like what has been said, teaches and informs us of the unforgotten atrocity of Khmer rouge. It does not preach. praCh shows his heritage and love for his culture with taste and does so successfully. Like all of the classics who have gone before Prach, like that of Sin Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea, and among others, praCh Ly has lived up to them. He and like others have shown that of the years we, as minorities who are starting here and making our new lives here, have come so far. Good job praCh and thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn more about your heritage.” – Bee Vang, lead actor in Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino
“praCh is in rare form, in this, his third effort. His originality is unparalleled as he matches gorgeous beats with compelling lyrics in both English and Khmer with the beautiful, emotional voice of a young poet and a talent that is ripening, along with his maturity. Dalama 3 is like nothing else being produced today, and thus, earns its place as “must hear” music experience!” – Louisa Castrodale: Visual and Performing Arts Specialist
“I feel that stylistically this is what true rap is. Forget about all the fluff that is in the modern rap industry—manicures, threaded eyebrow and posers. Your album makes me appreciate rap and feels “old skools”, but in a new way. I long for the days that rap will return to this expression, and I think you’ve put your finger on it. Also, the political expression you put into it, again, I really LOVE it. This is what I call “pure rap” unadulterated rhymes with raw power to move the hills and mountains, and you’re one of the few masters of it. Thanks again for this gift to the world.” – David N. Andrzejewski