Hip Hop in China

Sinica: Hip Hop in China

Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined today by Jerry Chan and Matt Sheehan for a look at hip-hop in China. Both guests should be familiar to long-time listeners in Beijing. Jerry has been involved with the local music scene for over a decade and now works as marketing director for True Run Media. Matt Sheehan is the Beijing correspondent for the Huffington Post and has recently written on rap in China as well. [standalone mp3 download]

DougNJ

said on

September 25, 2015

Thanks for doing another great show on the music scene. It would be great to hear more on related subjects in future shows.

There is one Nanjing artist who might also be of interest to your listeners. Jony J, who originally went by the surprising stage name of "bean sprout (豆芽). He is a local musician who raps in Mandarin rather than the local dialect. He has an interesting collection of good quality music videos on Youku and Douban (<a href="http://site.douban.com/jonyv/room/311716/">http://site.douban.com/jonyv/room/311716/</a>), including a short documentary on making music and the hip-hop scene.

One video that initially surprised me is Change (改变), where two guys are tossing molotov cocktails around an empty building site with bandannas over their faces. The other videos are more tame, but perhaps some listeners would be interested in seeing some locally produced hip-hop videos.

Sinica

said on

September 26, 2015

Jerry Chan - MC 小龙, DJ Wes, MC Webber, Wordy, Soul Speak

Matt Sheehan - 单挑，Huntington Post Article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chinese-rappers-hip-hop_55ca6009e4b0923c12be783e

David Moser- Rainbow Family, http://www.iqiyi.com/a_19rrhb241d.html

jojje

said on

September 28, 2015

Interesting episode, but I was a bit surprised on the very brief mention about IN3 (阴三儿) and also the somewhat simplified explanation of the political message in Chinese hop hop.

These two topics are closely related, as IN3 had to dissolve a couple of years ago when their shows started to get closed down due to political sensitive lyrics. So in 2013 (if I remember right) the lead singer Jia Wei started a new band called Purple Soul (龙胆紫) together with an MC named Jiezi and a beat maker called FAC-D12 or Fengxiao.

They released a great - and political sensitive album - called W.T.F. in the end of 2014, and have since been the hottest band by far on the Beijing hip hop scene. I followed them this summer because a friend of mine was here filming them and I helped out a bit with translating. On underground memorial concerts with 5-6 bands, Purple Soul is the band that everyone waits for and everyone cheers the most for.

They are also, by far, the most outspoken band in Beijing and on the verge of their second album release the police raided FAC-D12's home and took him away, he is now facing 3-5 years in jail. Also, Jia Wei was recently detained and beaten up by police. They had all kinds of "evidence" suggesting he was being followed for months.

I won't write more details here, but I recommend everyone to see the video of the opening track on their first album here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-2KToSVGqk

This suggests that (at least some) Chinese hip hop bands are not political not because they don't want to, but rather that they are facing abuse and jail if they choose to be.

lana.larkin

said on

November 6, 2015

WOAH! First of all, the guys in Chengdu definitely hang out with foreigners—one foreigner in particular—ME, Lana, a white girl from the United States. I am like a sister to Melo and Psy.P, who make up 天地会, and I’ve been homies with Shady before all the neck tattoos and 老子明天不上班. I am 说唱会馆’s official translator and manage their Facebook and Youtube pages. So stop being lazy, Matt. Oh, and by the way, Melo is 21. Not 23. And it’s also worth it to mention that Melo’s Dad is a GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL. He is in charge of 绿色化 for Chengdu. You also left out two of the biggest names in 说唱会馆—Ty. and Masiwei, who is about to go on 好声音 and get Shady-level fame and status. Masiwei also just released a song with a rapper in the states named Ran$om Watson, so about the getting international fame thing, never say never. Feel free to contact me if you want to confirm any of this or continue the conversation lana.larkin@gmail.com

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