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Agence France-Presse

Chinese rap and hip hop seemed poised to break out after a wildly popular singing show bestowed fame and legitimacy on a musical scene that had struggled to find its voice in China.
But an abrupt official backlash against the edginess of hip-hop culture has tamed the swagger of artists who fear that Chinese rap, like a once-promising home-grown rock 'n' roll movement, will be nipped in the bud by Communist politics.
“I don’t need to be such a superstar – it’s very dangerous,” Shanghai rapper Mr Trouble said of the sudden shift in climate.
He is now back in the studio, watering down a new album to avoid blowback.
“You gotta be a smart person. Even though it’s soft and weak, it’s a hip hop album. I put my attitude in it. If you are smart, too, you can dig it out,” said the rapper, 28, whose real name is Hong Tianlin.
Chinese music fans fear rap latest to fall foul of government censors
China lacks the racial issues and “gangsta” street culture that made rap and hip hop social and cultural forces in America.
But it slowly took root as artists infused beats with commentary on issues like China’s growing economic inequalities, added with ancient Chinese philosophical references, often rapped in earthy local dialects.
Then came the smash-hit reality show Rap of China.
Debuting last year, the internet-based rapping contest became one of China’s most-watched programmes, thrusting rap onto the national stage and earning its stars fame and recording contracts.
Chen Wei, the show’s producer, told state media last July that Chinese hip hop was “on the threshold of becoming really big and mainstream”.
The benefits trickled down to the likes of Mr Trouble, a chain-smoking self-taught musician and record producer.
“Even if we didn’t like that show, it influenced us a lot. We earned more money and more girls love us,” he said, chuckling.
But rap’s brief spring seemed destined to end under President Xi Jinping, whose government has tightened the screws on anything considered antithetical to the ruling Communist Party’s values.
In August, an artist known as “Fat Shady” raised eyebrows with a profane rap against foreigners living in China.
And last month, PG One, the co-winner of Rap of China, came under fire over a 2015 track containing sexual and drug references, plus a rumoured fling with a married actress.
Finally, in mid-January a leaked government directive banned airtime for “artists with tattoos, hip-hop music” and other content that “conflicts” with party morals.
Hip hop in China bounces back as new show gives next-gen rappers mainstream appeal, despite censorship
A second season of Rap of China is now in doubt and artists say music venues are snubbing rap acts.
Li Dalong, chief operating officer of Mao Livehouse, which has eight venues across China, said hip-hop artists now face more careful screening for “ideological mistakes” in their music.
“The biggest difficulty facing rappers is that sponsors are fleeing. I don’t even know if Rap of China season two will be allowed,” he said.
In the 1990s, Chinese rock was similarly poised for a breakthrough as rockers tapped into angst about rapid socio-economic change.
But it was soon tamed or forced back underground after the government banned it from television and restricted live performances.
Some fear the same for hip hop, or worse – being co-opted by the Communist Party.
Hip-hop groups like CD Rev from the southwestern city of Chengdu deal in patriotic rap, working with the Communist Youth League to release songs like This is China that voice party approved national pride. Purists deride it as propaganda.
For edgier artists like Shanghai’s Naggy, the future is unclear.
“We’ve gotta find a way. But we don’t want to have to ‘find a way’ to express ourselves. We just want to express ourselves,” he said.
Chinese rapper under fire for sexist lyrics blames influence of ‘black music’
Shzr Ee Tan, an ethnomusicologist at Royal Holloway University of London, said hip hoppers were unlikely to simply shut up.
“What could get interesting is how they react to the ban, creatively and socio-politically. Do they dig in deeper into their perceived non-mainstream positions?” she said.
“I suspect quite a few artists will actually choose to work with the government … as rockers have done in the past.”
The ban encompasses anything embodying China’s so-called “sang” culture, a catch-all Chinese term for youthful pessimism and despondency.
But it also hurts middle-of-the-road artists like Mr Trouble, whose raps touch on romance, his beloved parents and his Shanghai childhood.
Despite his bad-boy nickname, Mr Trouble says China’s government “is doing well” at managing the huge country.
But he is now tempering his dreams.
“We’ve still got fans and we still see hope. But even if hip hop is dead in China, I will still make rap songs. I will record them and sing to myself.”


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Rapper Mr Trouble, real name Hong Tianlin, pictured outside his studio in Shanghai. Photo: Agence France-Presse

This picture taken on February 5, 2018 shows Shanghai rapper Naggy (L) singing in his studio while fellow rapper Mr Trouble, Hong Tianlin (R), is reflected in the studio window in Shanghai. Chinese rap and hip hop seemed poised to break out after a wildly popular singing show, but an abrupt backlash has tamed the swagger of artists who fear the music scene will be nipped in the bud by Communist politics. / AFP PHOTO / Johannes EISELE / TO GO WITH China-culture-music-rap-censorship,FOCUS by Dan Martin

This picture taken on February 5, 2018 shows Shanghai rappers Naggy (R) and Mr Trouble, Hong Tianlin (L), smoking in their studio in Shanghai. Chinese rap and hip hop seemed poised to break out after a wildly popular singing show, but an abrupt backlash has tamed the swagger of artists who fear the music scene will be nipped in the bud by Communist politics. / AFP PHOTO / Johannes EISELE / TO GO WITH China-culture-music-rap-censorship,FOCUS by Dan Martin

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China

People & Culture

One top rapper also watering down his lyrics after a leaked government directive banned airtime for hip hop artists


Hip hop in China