From Gai to Vava: five Chinese rappers who became famous (or infamous) after The Rap of China

Chinese reality show The Rap of China was a sensation – racking up nearly three billion online views – when it launched in 2017.

A competition in the model of The Voice, the show has been credited with launching hip hop mania across China and making stars out of many of its competitors. In the face of a government crackdown, resistance and overt censorship, the second season struggled to find as many viewers, with some observers saying the show had lost its edge – something of a death sentence in the world of hip hop where edginess is one of the genre’s most valuable currencies.

But now, in the run up to the third season, the show is rebranding and casting a net across the Chinese diaspora from the Americas to Malaysia hoping to find the next great Chinese rapper. Auditions all over the world have been packed and expectations are high. For good reason: The Rap of China remains a potent force for hip hop stardom.

In the run-up to the new season, which is expected to start airing soon, check out these five rappers, who got their start during the first two seasons of The Rap of China and became some of the biggest artists in Chinese hip hop.

PG One

PG One is among the most popular rappers to come out of The Rap of China, but he has also become a symbol for the show’s waning street cred. In a first-place tie, PG One was declared joint winner of Season One with Gai (see below).

But controversy soon followed success as the rapper faced criticism for misogynistic lyrics in songs from as far back as 2015. PG One’s eagerness to apologise and soften his image would go on to define contemporary hip hop posturing in China.

It didn’t help that his tone-deaf apology – in which he blamed his bad behaviour on his exposure to “black music” – only further alienated his fans.

A much-publicised alleged affair with married actress Li Xiaolu, didn’t do him any favours with the authorities and so far, any real attempt at a comeback for has been stifled.

Even a message he posted last year to his Weibo promising to behave better and focus on positivity was taken down by censors.

Gai

PG One’s co-champion from Season One has had better luck. Zhou Yan, better known as Gai, has stayed in the public eye thanks to a series of popular online hits, and his Gosh Music label is still going strong. Gai has also proved an effective trailblazer – he was one of the first big-name rappers from Chongqing, now considered something of a hotbed for hip hop talent in the country.

Gai has had his brushes with the censors – he was pulled from a Hunan reality show in 2018 – particularly with his early work that glorified crime. But his response has been more creative and nuanced than his peers, looking into traditional Chinese poetry, music, and literature – especially historic martial arts stories – as influences to keep his work interesting, vital, and Chinese, while staying acceptable to everyone, including the government.

These days Gai is less active behind the mic, but remains an influential and prolific producer.

Lexie Liu

Lexie Liu was already well on her way to stardom when she snagged fourth place on the second season of The Rap of China. While she may not have won the competition, she went on to become one of the most successful Rap of China contestants.

Her appearance on the show brought her to the attention of US-based record label 88Rising and she became one of the label’s dependable hit makers with tracks such as Sleep Away finding crossover success in Asia and the West.

Since her stint on the show, Liu has established herself as a fixture in the fashion scene as well as the music scene, and showed herself to be a versatile and serious musician, easily adopting musical styles from outside the world of hip hop. She released her debut EP, 2030, for American audiences in February this year.

Vava

Her fans were distraught when Vava was eliminated in the penultimate round of Season One – she was the only woman in the final four – but she has gone on to prove her staying power. Dubbed the “Queen of Rap”, Vava has managed to forge an edgy, avant-garde persona in the tricky world of Chinese hip hop.

Her songs consistently push the envelope, both visually and sonically, as she combines elements of traditional Chinese costume and even Peking Opera.

Rapping in both the Sichuan dialect and Mandarin, her chameleon-like ability to reinvent her image, her brash youthful attitude, and her preternatural sense of cool has seen her described as China’s answer to Rihanna. And her influence continues to grow, as one of her singles My New Swag was featured on the soundtrack of the smash hit film Crazy Rich Asians.

HipHopMan (MC Jin)

Eliminated in the seventh round of Season One, HipHopMan was the only American rapper taking part. The Hakka-American MC, whose real name is Jin Au-Yeung, made history as the first Asian solo rapper to be signed to a major record label when he was picked up by the notorious Ruff Ryders label in 2002.

Though successful in Hong Kong and the United States, success in China eluded him until his appearance on The Rap of China where he competed in a mask under the new alias, HipHopMan. He was such a fan favourite that he was invited back to the second season as a judge.

Jin has been a born-again Christian since 2008 and often raps about his faith in his songs. Hongkongers might remember Jin from his divisive – and not exactly hard core – collaboration with then chief executive Donald Tsang for the hip hop Christmas video Rap Now, 2010.