As hip-hop grows in China, its performers seek a voice that reflects their lived experiences

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Hip Hop And Rap,China,Chengdu

In 2018, the censors who oversee Chinese media issued a directive to the nation’s entertainment industry. They barred artists with tattoos and those who represent hip-hop or any other subculture. For months, no rappers appeared on the dozens of variety shows and singing competitions on Chinese TV.

Chinese rapper Boss X performs at a concert in Chengdu in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, Saturday, March 16, 2024. The rapper, who had come up from making music in a run-down apartment in an old residential community in the city, was now playing to a stadium of thousands. Fans of Chinese rappers including Boss X react during a performance in Chengdu in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, Saturday, March 16, 2024.

in China has only continued. It has done so by carving out a space for itself while staying clear of the government’s red lines, balancing genuine creative expression with something palatable in aMuch of the energy can be found in Chengdu, a city in China’s southwestern Sichuan region.

Part of the city’s hip-hop lore centers around a collective called Chengdu Rap House or CDC, founded by a rapper called Boss X, whose fans affectionately call him “Xie laober” in the Sichuan dialect. The city has embraced rap, as its originators like Boss X went from making music in a run-down apartment in an old residential community to performing in a stadium for thousands. At Boss X’s performance in March, fans sang along and cheered in Sichuanese.

But even though the rap battles are gone, the field has more rappers than ever. That’s a good thing. “The more players there are,” he says, “the more interesting it is.”. But the talent competition/reality TV show “The Rap of China” has played an outsized role in building China’s rap industry. Then came the 2018 meeting where censors reminded TV channels of who could not appear on their programs, namely anyone who represented hip-hop. PG One was finding that any attempts to release new music were quickly taken down by platforms. The platform, IQiyi, even took down the entire first season for a while.

Some, like GAI, have fully taken on the government’s mantle in the mainstreaming of hip-hop. He won “The Rap of China” with a song called “Not Friendly” in which, in classic hip-hop fashion, he dissed other rappers that he didn’t name. “I’m not friendly. I can break your pen at any moment. Tear down your flashy words. … My enemies you better pray for you to have a good end.

 

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