Hip-hop and rap has a rich history in Western society – bridging genres of blues, rock and roll, gospel, and jazz, modern rappers and artists have become larger-than-life icons that have defined musical success and the canon of contemporary music. However, up until the 1980s, China had lagged behind on the musical bandwagon. This could be due to the communist party's control of media outlets or just a general disconnect between Western musical trends. Regardless, the Chinese rap scene is in a formative state reminiscent of America's rap scene; much of Chinese hip-hop and rap is an outlet for individual struggles and is used to express differences in culture that would otherwise go unheard. For a culture of youth that have been systematically suppressed for generations, the expressive nature of hip-hop has quickly assimilated into contemporary Chinese society.
Contemporary rap has had a
foothold in China since the early 1990s, with artists such as Eminem and Q-Tip
as popular musicians, and many Chinese citizens can identify Western classics
like, “Momma Said Knock You Out” and “Big Poppa”, but most admit to not fully
understanding the lyrics or even some of the words. However, the emotive quality
of hip-hop and rap resonated with the suppressed individuals, a fact that
helped the genre cross the language barrier. However, rapping in Chinese raised
some serious complications at its onset, such as “How does one rap in a tonal
language?” or “You can't rap.. The government will censor you!” But, just like
any counter-cultural music genre, rap pervaded and permeated.
Chinese hip-hop took form
after select individuals from the Western world decided to take the musical
form to the Eastern world and develop the genre. Andrew Ballen, a Duke
University drop out, started up a weekly rap night at a Shanghai nightclub
called “Pegasus”. After two years, Ballen had become a Diddy-esque hip-hop
mogul, owning his own label, hosting radio shows, and becoming the voice of
Motorola. Ballen and his record label have since created a quite successful
empire, but there is still a substantial amount of competition within the music
industry, as most of popular Chinese music is innocent, flippant pop.
Chinese hip-hop has developed
a very unique form in its short life. Yin Ts'ang, one of the pioneering Chinese
hip-hop collectives, was formed by a native Chinese, a Chinese-Canadian, and
two Americans, and their first hit single, “In Beijing”, layers a thousand
year-old Erhu melody over a traditional “old-skool” hip-hop beat. Since the
uniquely Eastern hit's prevalence, there has been a rapid upsurge in Chinese
rappers, and the Chinese rap culture is quickly going through the same stages
of development as seen in the West. Freestyle rappers such as Jin, a Beijing
native, have been viewed by millions destroying Western freestyle experts in
competition.
However the future growth of
hip-hop in China is dependent on social reactions to the genre. China is not as
complacent with misogynistic lyrics laden with expletives. For Chinese hip-hop
culture to grow into a prominence likened to the Western world, the genre will
need to develop a completely unique identity that still has the same unifying
and emotive qualities as Western rap and hip-hop.
Examples
of Chinese rap and hip-hop:
Chinese Dating Culture 约会
In China, dating is
far different than in the west for a plethora of reasons.
First and foremost, the casual “serial” dating that is
common in initial courtship in the west is far from commonplace (except for
certain exceptions in highly internationalized cities such as Shanghai or
Beijing). Many women that are willing to date immediately assume you to be a
potential spouse in the not so far future. The role of mutual acquaintances is
highly involved when making the initial connection between two partners.
Oftentimes a mutual acquaintance will try to play the role of matchmaker
between two friends by inviting both to a group event or dining excursion with
the intent of trying to casually push the two potential partners into being
“further” acquainted. Chinese women,
particularly with foreigners, will seek surprisingly very few dates with a man
before they have marriage on their mind.
Once Chinese women and men alike have ultimately decided to
marry their potential suitor, the next major step is for the suitor to meet
their parents. In the west, meeting your boyfriend/girlfriend’s parents is a
rather innocent occasion and does not necessarily have any long-run
implications on the relationship. In China this is simply not the case. Meeting a suitor’s parents in China is
tantamount to a public engagement announcement in the U.S. or U.K.
On the other side of this culture however, exists a tendency
towards consistent platonic dating between friends of the opposite sex. It is
very common for two men and women in China to go on multiple “dates” while not
necessarily being “dating” or in any sort of relationship. Men often gain “face” in Chinese culture by
taking multiple women, with whom they share a purely platonic relationship, out
on dates and paying for said occasions purely for the respect and “face” that
is accrued from being a wealthy enough individual to entertain young ladies and
enjoy their company. This is very common among traditional Chinese girls as
well as Chinese that have immigrated to the west.
The words for “date” as in an appointment and
“dating” as in beginning a possibly long-term relationship are vastly different
in their connotations between Chinese and western cultures. This leads to a
great deal of miscommunication when western-born foreigners interact with
Chinese women in potential dating circumstances. On the one hand, there is a
possibility that one could entertain one young lady for several months before
realizing that the relationship will never go beyond a platonic friendship, and
on the other hand there is the extremely rapid dive into marriage when the
young lady in question interprets the relationship as a brief pre-cursor to
marriage. For Chinese men, it is often the prior more than the latter,
especially in dealing with foreign women.
While it is not uncommon for young Chinese men to entertain several
young ladies simultaneously, this is often a privilege reserved for the much
wealthier class. When serious, however,
traditional Chinese men follow the same principles of quickly escalating
relationship commitment that Chinese women do.
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