Hasan Minhaj

Despite an apology from Popchips CEO, comedian Hasan Minhaj is still fuming over Ashton Kutcher's "brownface" ad.

Last Tuesday, a new Popchips ad campaign, "World Wide Lovers," went viral with Kutcher portraying several characters -- including a Bollywood producer named "Raj."


Some viewers called the clip racist, and Minhaj agrees.

"Maybe Popchips consciously didn't want to offend minorities, but subconsciously, they knew that they could get away with clowning Indians and Asians... That's the way it is now. They wouldn't do that with any other ethnicity," the comedian ranted in a new YouTube video posted Sunday. "There's a barbeque flavor of Pop Chips, why didn't you make him blackfaced and Tyrone? Because you knew you'd get f--king buried, Popchips. That's why. And you know that Asians and Indians are the new 'clownable minority.' "


PopChips CEO and Founder Keith Belling apologized on Thursday and the commercial has since been pulled.

"We received a lot feedback about the dating campaign parody we launched today and appreciate everyone who took the time to share their point of view," Belling wrote on Popchips' official website. "Our team worked hard to create a light-hearted parody featuring a variety of characters that was meant to provide a few laughs. We did not intend to offend anyone. I take full responsibility and apologize to anyone we offended."


Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/comedian-hasan-minhaj-mocks-ashton-kutchers-racist-popchips-ad--201285#ixzz252nRKkXd - US Magazine

Meet Hasan Minhaj, an LA-based stand-up comic who’s convinced that Nikki swaggerjacked his last name.

The 24-year-old recently released his first comedy album, Leaning on Expensive Cars and Getting Paid to do It. Confused? So were we… until we sat down with him and found out that he’s just like the rest of you OGHH readers: A Jay-Z fan whose ultimate goal is getting an @reply from @THE_REAL_SHAQ.

Why does the cover of your comedy album look like a rap album?
To tell you the truth I’m not really into the whole comedy thing. Standup is just a placeholder; my main goals in life are to be a rapper or ball player. So I wanted my album cover to look like the hip-hop albums that inspired me the most from my childhood and the early to mid 90s.

And those are?
Jay-Z’s Vol 2. Hard Knock Life, Puff Daddy’s No Way Out, and Harlem World by Ma$e.

What do you think about Puff Daddy changing his name to Diddy?
He can do whatever he wants to; he’s Diddy. If he changed his name to ‘Strawberry Shortcake’ it’d still be cool. Everyone would be like “Ohhhhhh waddup Strawberry Shortcake!”

Do you follow him on Twitter?
No. I can’t stand his tweets. And its hard to take him seriously when I see CNN posting how I should help save Haiti then all of a sudden I see Diddy post: ‘I JUST DRANK CIROC! LET’S GOOOOOO!!!!’

How did you come up with the name of the album ‘Leaning on Expensive Cars and Getting Paid to Do It’?
My favorite hip-hop videos involve the following three things:?1. Expensive Cars?2. Things blowing up behind the rapper?3. A zero gravity chamber. If you don’t know what I’m referring to here, please see the ‘Mo Money, Mo Problems’ video.

I integrated as many of those things into my album title/cover.

How come you’re not leaning on a car on the cover of the album?
My Lambo is in the shop right now.

OK…Anyway, I don’t understand some of the titles on your album.
The Cancer Curing Baby? Explain.
I have a prodigy baby at my apartment that can cure cancer. He’s like the Lebron James of babies.

Takin’ it to the Max?
My policy in bed.

Captain Planet?
What I liked to be called in bed.

Screw you Zimbabwe?
Of all the countries in the African subcontinent, folks from Zimbabwe have always been the rudest to me. Every other country? Fantastic. Not Zimbabwe.

Madd Comedians?
Remember the Madd Rapper from the Biggie albums? It’s kinda like that.

I also noticed you have skits on your album.
All of the hip-hop albums I listened to growing up had skits on the album to explain a narrative that was happening. It was kind of like a ‘Day in the life of…’ for that respective rapper. My goal here was to show the same thing, except the day in the life of a comedian. As you know, both are similar.

So you’re a big fan of the 90’s.
Yes, I grew up during the 90’s. Actually, the tux I’m wearing pays homage to Jay-Z’s cover of ‘Reasonable Doubt’ (Which came out in ’96) but for whatever reason everyone thinks it’s a James Bond thing. It’s not.

James Bond doesn’t lean on expensive cars?
James Bond drives expensive cars. Rappers lean on expensive cars. Those are two very different things. To post up and get paid to lean on cars is a pretty sweet job. Also, being able to wear sunglasses indoors is cool too. I just wanna get to a point where I can sit courtside at basketball games while wearing sunglasses indoors, just so the cameras can cut to me and put me on the Jumbotron while I’m chatting to my rapper friends like Chamillionaire.

So you’d be at a Clipper game.
Yup–Chamillionaire can’t afford Lakers tickets. There are different levels of stunting: Jay-Z sits courtside at Laker games. Beanie Sigel sits courtside at Oklahoma City Thunder games. And yes, this is a shot at Chamilitary records and RocNation.

What do you hope to achieve with this album?
My goal was to have it spread faster than ‘The Carter III’. He had a million digital downloads in one week. So the power is now in your hands, hip-hop bloggers.

Oh, and Ron Artest also personally promised me if we move enough units he’ll shave my name into his head.

Is that one of your goals in comedy?
My goals in comedy are simple. Get Ron Artest to shave my name into his head as the Lakers go into the playoffs, and have Shaq @reply me on Twitter. Hopefully Shaq reads OGHH.

If you could have this album purchased by anyone who would it be?
Shaquille O’neal.

Over Jay-Z?
Absolutely. Ideally he would hear the album and immediately reach out and be like ‘Yo Hasan, I loved the album. Listen, right now I’m working on ‘Kazaam 2’ and I want you to be a part of the project’. Of course I’d tell him yes. Who says no to Shaq Diesel?

Now that you know everything there is to know about Hasan Minhaj, hit up iTunes or Amazon and download “Leaning on Expensive Cars and Getting Paid to do It.” And if you really want to get your hands on that album art, just right-click and save.

ShareThis - Otherground Hip Hop

Hasan Minhaj‘s life is like a rap video–cigars, expensive cars, and explosions. At least that‘s how its depicted on the cover of his new comedy album, ‘Leaning On Expensive Cars and Getting Paid To Do It‘. When he is faking the good life, Hasan plays the role of Seth on the ABC Family comedy ‘State of Georgia.’

Hasan sat down with GuySpeed to talk about how to look important, crucial items for a guy and Facebook pics.

GuySpeed: How does a person know if they have the ability to fake their own importance?

Hasan Minhaj: I’m not sure if every person has the ability to fake their own importance, but I can say without a doubt, every celebrity in Hollywood has the ability to fake their own importance.

GuySpeed:The most important item a man should own to make it seem like he is more important than he really is would be a ___________ ? Why?

Hasan Minhaj: A really gaudy watch. I’ve seen a lot of guys wearing watches with enormous bezels on them–I don’t know if the guy is terribly near sighted and has trouble telling the time, or if he’s trying to land a mini helicopter on his wrist.



GuySpeed: Is it better to ask the owner of an expensive ride if you can take a picture next to his car or just do it when he isn’t around?

Hasan Minhaj: I try to do neither considering the fact that most Indian/Middle Eastern guys have cornered the ‘leaning on random mid level luxury cars’ market.

GuySpeed: How often should a man wear a tuxedo?

Hasan Minhaj: Three occasions: If you’re James Bond, going to your high school prom, or your album photo shoot.

GuySpeed: Women. What the hell is their deal?

Hasan Minhaj: Who knows? Remember that scene in ‘Back to the Future II’ where Doc Brown tells Marty he’s going to destroy the Time Machine so he can move on to the greatest mystery of all (women)? Whatever happened with that research?

GuySpeed: The best way to deal with people that don’t like you is…

Hasan Minhaj: Just do what I do, go upstairs and yell, “Stop it Mom!” at the top of your lungs.

GuySpeed: How can a guy pull off always looking awesome on Facebook? What should he avoid?

Hasan Minhaj: Post pictures of dogs, philanthropy work, or chocolate desserts. I’ve found that that speaks volumes to the opposite gender. Avoid posting shirtless bathroom mirror pictures as much as possible. The infamous MySpace pic is played.

GuySpeed: What’s the first thing a guy should do should he miraculously one day become filthy rich?

Purchase several copies of my comedy album “Leaning on Expensive Cars and Getting Paid To Do It” - Guy Speed

At just 23 years old, Hasan Minhaj is clearly ahead of the comedy curve. Only two years removed from graduating UC-Davis — where he founded the stand-up/sketch comedy group Gridiron Gang — Hasan is starting to make a name for himself on the national stage. Last year, he won the Wild 94.9 “Best Comic Standing” contest, giving him the chance to open for such headliners as Katt Williams, Gabriel Iglesias, and Pablo Francisco.

He’s built a relationship with NBC, as a finalist on the network’s Stand-up for Diversity, and currently, as a comedian on NBC’s National College Tour, which is bringing the San Francisco native to 37 schools across the country the end of Oct. 21 (Check out his schedule here) Not bad for someone who has only been doing stand-up for four-and-a-half years.

Hasan recently spoke with Punchline Magazine about college gigs, social networking, and more.

Only a few years into stand-up, what are some of the strangest places you’ve performed?
There’s this place in San Francisco called the Brainwash. It’s both a laundromat and an open mic. It’s run by Tony Sparks, a great host; he’s like the godfather of San Francisco comedy. Any comic who has come out of San Francisco has performed there. It’s still a great venue to work out material, but I’ve definitely bombed the worst there.

You used to work for the social networking site Ning.
I did. When I graduated from college, I needed a part-time job and I worked for a site called Ning. It was a pretty interesting experience. I felt kind of like I was living a double-life. I would write material about the things that frustrated me at work. It was a small start-up company, but the boss was a billionaire. My whole doppelganger life was revealed when a gossip blog did a story on me, how in my act I had a joke about kidnapping my boss, and what I’d do with his money. So that made things a little awkward at work. Incidentally, my relationship with NBC started building after that, and I moved to Los Angeles. So it was a nice way to leave my job.



How did this current NBC college tour come about?
A few years ago, I did NBC’s Stand Up For Diversity, where they went from city to city looking for diverse talent for the network. And I auditioned for them; I was only about 20 years old at the time, but they really liked my stuff. So I got a call from them last year asking me to audition in Baltimore. It worked out, and I ended up auditioning in front of network executives in L.A. They set up all the tour dates.

Check out more interview and videos after the jump.


Will you be performing with other comics?
Some of them, I’ll be going with other comics, like Rob Stapleton and Erin Jackson. But the majority of them will be just me for an hour, which will be a great experience. I’m excited to see the entire country. My friend was asking me, ‘What’s so special about this tour?’ A few years ago, Jay-Z had this thing called the Hangar Tour, where in around 24 hours, he performed in seven cities across the country. It’s kind of like that, where I’ll get to go all across the States within a six-week time period.

Is this your first real chance to do an hour set?
I’ve gotten to headline various rooms for one night, like the Purple Onion, or different places around town doing an hour for one night. But yeah, this is the first time I can hone a full hour each night.

How does performing in colleges differ from regular comedy club?
Before they set up these dates, they sent me on a test-run this Spring. So I did nine or 10 schools just to get my feet wet. And one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed is unlike at a standard comedy club there’s often not a host to bring you up. They’ll just have a student say, ‘OK, here he is.’ And depending on what type of venue they have, you’ll be performing in anything from a study lounge to an auditorium. When I performed in Illinois; there were students lined up to get season tickets, and I had to perform outdoors in front of the line of season-ticket holders. So some of them were really great, but others were just standing in the cafeteria.

I remember Chris Rock once talking about knowing your audience and he said, ‘If you ever go to Michigan, at some point, you have to say Ohio State sucks.’ So have you been researching the different schools?
Yeah. A lot of other comics have told me, ‘Definitely do your research.’ For instance, one of the first schools I’m doing is UNC-Wilmington, so it’s in my best interest to not talk about how great the [UNC-Chapel Hill] Tar Heels are. One thing I did in my test-run is I just picked up the school newspaper and saw what was going on at the school.

Also I found that if you just talk to the students, they’ll be really candid about what’s going on. Like at the University of Iowa, I read there was some sort of sports scandal, so I just asked one of the students, ‘What’s going on with that?’ and they said, ‘There’s a big scandal with the football players,’ and just bro - Punchline Magazine - Daniel Perlman

Television:
Chelsea Lately

Comedy Festivals:
Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival
NBC’s Stand Up For Diversity Tour
SierraMist’s Best Comic Standing Competition
Wild 94.9 Comedy Jams with Katt Williams, Maz Jobrani, Bobby Lee, Gabriel Iglesias, Pablo Francisco and more.

Comedy Clubs and Venues:
Laugh Factory Hollywood
Improv LA, Brea, Ontario, San Jose
Punchline San Francisco, CA
UCB Theatre LA
Cobbs San Francisco, CA

Web Series:
‘Roomies: Hasan and Reggie’

Awards:
Effinfunny.com’s “Comics To Watch List 2008”
AT&T’s Campus
- Sophie K. Entertainment