Chinese rap father, Yueting Song, never expected that rap would became famous in China in 15 years after his death. Because hip-hop originated in American society and its rebellious spirit contradicts with Chinese traditional culture, it wasn't accepted by Chinese people for a long time.
'Rap of China' enables the world to hear Chinese rap.
"For example, in a battle or a diss song, rappers may use rude words to attack each other. Chinese people would think this kind of lyrics are totally unacceptable. Especially for older generation, they regarded those rappers who wear bizarre clothes and behave strangely as hoodlums." PO8, a Chinese student rapper said.
"But as TV show 'Rap of China' broadcasted online, people became to accept rap music," Zensoul, a Chinese rapper and friend of PO8 said. "Just look at how many people are discussing the show and are crazy for the two winners."
PO8 was performing in 2017 CSSA Mid-Autumn Festival party
The TV show "Rap of China" is Chinese first hip-hop show made by iQiyi video, a Chinese video-sharing website like "Youtube". The producers in the show let talented Chinese rappers compete on the stage and finally select a winner.
The show proves to us that Chinese rap could also be swag. The two winners, GAI and PG One, one used dialect to perform rap. One displayed high rapping skills like American rappers do. They are on par with each other and represent the energy of Chinese young generation, according to Chinese Sina entertainment news report.
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MC Jin, a Chinese-American rapper who won seven battles in a freestyle-battling show in the U.S., but couldn't speak Chinese fluently. He rapped in English on "Rap of China" and he lost the competition. MC Hotdog, one of the producers said that:" If I made you the winner, it's unfair to other candidates. It's 'rap of China'. I hope you add more Chinese elements in your song." MC Jin left the stage regrettably and said: "See you guys in the U.S.."
MC Jin practiced Chinese hard and after 2 episodes, he came to the stage again and rapped a song in Chinese, which made a stir in the audience, according to the show.
Many people predicted that there will be a next season, where MC Jin would lead Chinese rapper team to battle with American rappers. MC Jin's arrival proves that this show is pushing Chinese rap to the stage of world and enabling more and more people knowing about Chinese rap, according to Chinese Sina entertainment news report.
American people talked about Chinese rap.
Let's listen to what do people in USC campus think of Chinese rap.
But, there is still a long way to go
"Many rappers and producers don't have a good sense of music" PO8 said. The rap industry in China is still at the beginning. If you look from American rap, you will find that no matter from music sampling, recording, production, sound mixing, master tape or from publish side, American rap is more professional, according to Zensoul.
Chinese rap should contain Chinese culture.
Sameh, an USC student said that he has listened to so many rap songs that contain complicated beats and flow, so complicated beats or fast rapping speed are nothing new to them. He hopes Chinese people could bring their own culture to this kind of music.
"I really hope that Chinese rap could contain our own culture," PO8 said. "Adding our own culture not only means to use traditional Chinese instruments to perform or adding Chinese ancient poetry in it, but also rap what we saw in Chinese society."
PO8 said that the censorship in China didn't bother him so much, because he has never thought to write rap songs to criticize the Chinese president. "In China, songs that target the president or the government is not popular, but you can still rap about the problems in the society, as long as you are not connecting those problems with the government." He said.
Zensoul said that "Rap of China" TV show still has lots of things that need to be improved. "The show is really like a show rather than a platform of doing music seriously," he said. "To do rap seriously, people should learn from its history, production, origination and styles like R&B, blues, jazz, so that people can have a better sense of how to produce good music." "Hip-hop is well-established in the U.S. and has music industry support. Chinese rap doesn't, so we should learn from the root." He said.
Chinese rappers
PO8, Zensoul and their friends always get together and make music. PO8 established "Cypher L.A."4 monthes ago, which is an organization that gethering all rap hobbyists to make rap songs.
What's next
PO8 and Zensoul said that many Chinese rappers dream to come to the U.S. to study rap because it is the birth place of rap. They can communicate with local rappers and get more inspiration of music composition.
We must stand up and fight. It's time to make art now.
"I study hip-hop music in the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. American rap has a deep influence on my music composition and production. The music here is more standard," Zensoul said. "I want to become the rappers like J Cole and Kendrick Lamar, who speak for their community."
"One of the important things I learned here is to insist on your own flavor," Zensoul said. "The style of hip-hop changed very fast. You may keep listening to different kinds of hip-hop songs, but you should find one you like and insist on it."
Jamel Chapel and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez rap about realistic problems in American society. Jamel, a rapper from New York City who used virtual reality and interactive technology to deliver social problems, said he finally developed a career that he loves and would be helpful to the society---rapping about political problems.
Photo credits Jose Alvarado
Personal story
PO8 and Jamel Chapel are talking about how they fell in love with rap.
Photo credits Christian O'Rourke
In a song of him called "hands up", Chapel used virtual reality to put people in a live protest against President Donald Trump. He thinks that adding technologies in music videos would make songs more infectious. "These technologies are used to actually explore the breath and scope the vast diversity of humanity that's often subjected to repression that's often hidden from people." Chapel said.
Chapel was performing in USC Annenberg School.
Martinez was talking about why he used rap to deliver his thoughts and his envision to American rap industry.
He thinks that more serious rap songs that convey the problems in the society should be made. "If you look at the entire landscape, from art funding be pulling out to DACA and LGBTQ problems, you will know what the Trump presidency mean to the planet," Jamel said. "We must stand up and fight. That why it's time to make art now."
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, an activist who uses rap to talk about environmental issue and criminal justice, found that rap is a broader way to reach to the world than speeches or books do. He said that he hopes that in five to 10 years, there could be more conscious artists who produce good beats and make good music.
Martinez doesn't like trap music that contains meaningless lyrics. "What are they doing this for?" Xiuhtezcatl asked. He thinks this kind of music could neither help the world to change nor contain a broad message. He thinks that political and serious rap would become the mainstream. "There's artists like Kendrick Lamar, they have mainstream hits, but their songs are political." He said.
Martinez thinks that Chinese people doing rap is a cool stuff. Chinese people should develop their own rap and help to deliver the social issues. He also encouraged Chinese people to get into hip-hop in the U.S..
There are still many Americans haven't listened to Chinese rap. "To make Chinese rap become a mainstream music in international stage, we still have a long way to go," PO8 said. "But I believe there will be one day that Chinese hip-hop could be really mature. Like what Americans do."
