Wrote an article for the nice people over at China Youthology. Check it out!
Hangzhou, January 2010.
A huge crowd of Chinese b-boys, b-girls, hip hop dancers, and stylish hipsters has gathered in the cold waiting to enter Reggae Bar, a smoke-filled dive bar replete with Bob Marley memorabilia and Jamaican flags; the occasion is the second installment of the City Kingz competition, attracting top dancers from across the country. These young Chinese dancers are rocking colorful Puma Suedes with the ever classic fat laces, rainbow-psychedelic Nike high tops, a plethora of t-shirts from the online store of the properly-named bboyworld.com website, piercings, tattoos, the whole bit. These attendants are some of the best-dressed individuals I’ve seen over here on the Far East Coast – the Freshest Kids in China. (more…)
Just got back from Boston-based hip hop/b-boy/popping crew Lost Unnown’s Skillz for Billz competition in Shanghai! Only about ten people entered, but it was a good vibe and mix of foreigners/native Chinese. I had the opportunity to battle b-boys Danny and Rocbang of Caster Evolution, two of the nastiest motherfuckers out of the 1.3 billion Chinese population. Danny, if you don’t know, was one of the first b-boys to represent China on the international scene. I remember seeing footage of him winning against Physix of Rivers Crew way before I had any idea I would be coming back to get in touch with my native roots. The three-way battle resulted in Danny advancing, and me and Rocbang battling it out in a tiebreaker (which I don’t feel like posting.. haha). Anyways here’s 3 of my rounds from the night. Peace!
How Chinese youth view/participate in hip-hop and other global cultures has been a subject of ongoing debate for me. One thing that constantly comes up in discussions is the imitators who really don’t appreciate the roots of whatever scene they are participating in. Some good examples are the really nice and friendly metal rockers, or the Wu-Tang fans who are adamantly anti-weed, or the MMA fighters who do back-flips after fights but never shake hands with their opponents. It seems that Chinese imitators are constantly missing the point, and zee’s post really hit the nail on the head. He wrote:
… The history of Hip Hop culture is lost in translation, as there is a lack of Chinese articles related to this knowledge, as well as a lack of interest on the part of Chinese Hip Hoppers, many of whom are more interested in imitation of the moves and clothing styles than the informed practice of Hip Hop.
A lot of China’s imported “culture” has this problem: what I’ve been calling the problem of a “direct translation.” Musicians especially try to get from point A (amateurs) to point C (rock stars) without going through the process of B (development of your own sound, style, etc.) From what I’ve seen, this is true not only to musical sub-cultures but also to a lot of other imported cultural elements in contemporary Chinese society.
As for hip-hop, it’s such a different kind of musical culture, because it requires so much self-expression. I think this is tied closely to the issue of language. The tonal aspect of Chinese can definitely make word-play harder, or at the least dramatically different. But what is more central to the role of hip-hop is to express a story, an experience, a perspective. This role necessarily requires the process (B), the life experience to express a specific cultural moment in time and place that defines what an MC or bboy represents. A lot of Chinese hip-hoppers can express who they want to be (Eminem), but how many can express who they are?
What I’m saying is that hip-hop is not a lifestyle you chase, but a tool of expression for whatever lifestyle you have. In this sense, participation in hip-hop does not require an appreciation for its history or a fluency of English. All you need is an appreciation of your own history and have something to say about who you are. Globally there are many examples that show this: France, Japan, even the former Yugoslavia (see my college thesis haha).
A lot of the time in China, I get the feeling that hip-hop, or rock, or whatever “cool” thing is not a platform for expression as it should be, but rather the entire end goal. Obviously, this is hardly unique to China and exists everywhere, but at least from my view, this attitude is disproportionately pervasive here. I’m beginning to suspect that the source of this difference lies in two ruptures in China’s cultural history: the first being the suppression of Confucianism along with a lot of traditional Chinese culture since the rise of Communism, and the second being a huge emphasis on money and all its trappings associated with capitalist reforms post-1978. Maybe a side-effect of these influences is a youth culture that is struggling not to express its counter-cultural identity to a broader society (as has been the case with a lot of booming hip-hop scenes), but to find it’s identity outside of China’s confused and noisy cultural landscape.
So the question then becomes: what role does hip-hop really play in China?
Over the course of the past four months, I’ve been doing research on China’s Hip Hop dance scene- completely decimating the line between participant and observer. My fieldwork involves going to practice at Discover Dance Studio in Shanghai, performing at various corporate and entertainment venues, going to competitions with a crew called Dirty Fresh, and shooting the shit with Chinese Hip Hoppers. Mmm… fieldwork.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a Hip Hop/Breaking/Popping competition in Changzhou, and was blessed to meet a bunch of dope dancers who gave me some insight into the Chinese Hip Hop dance scene. The venue for the competition was a shopping center on Christmas Eve and Christmas, a frenzied celebration of China’s participation in global capitalism: the wealthiest X percent of people who can afford to buy presents make purchases, while the large majority of Chinese go to these department stores to browse and window-shop.
[Exhibit A. The stage]
In contrast to American jams, where there is usually lots of room to watch and dance in cyphers (thereby eliminating the line between participant and observer, as everyone present is essentially a participant), the stage on which the competition took place made for an atmosphere in which dancers and observers were strictly separated, making it seem more like a performance than a jam. For readers who aren’t familiar with what a cypher is, here are two relevant definitions from Wikipedia:
1. In breaking, the name given to a circle of b-boys who take turns dancing in the center.
2. A hip-hop jam session or freestyle battle.
So given the lack of cyphers that I’ve seen in China, you know I had to do it right. The other guy is 南龙 (Nanlong) from 36 Chambers, Beijing, fat guy is 金鱼 (Jinyu) from our very own Dirty Fresh.
The MC for the night also spoke in a mixture of languages, using Chinese for things that he actually needed to communicate to the audience, such as what time the competition was going to begin, while English was used to say things such as “Yo DJ, drop that beat!” The issue of language within Hip Hop dance in China is definitely worthy of further investigation. Hip Hop is a global culture with American origins, and as a Taiwanese popper told me, “English is the language of Hip Hop.” This goes into the issue of musicality, where only English-fluent dancers are able to express the lyrics of the songs, which are 99.9% of the time English songs. Is fluency in English a necessary prerequisite for participation in Hip Hop? In addition, the history of Hip Hop culture is lost in translation, as there is a lack of Chinese articles related to this knowledge, as well as a lack of interest on the part of Chinese Hip Hoppers, many of whom are more interested in imitation of the moves and clothing styles than the informed practice of Hip Hop. And don’t even let me get started on the issue of race and Hip Hop in China.
[Exhibit B. Hip Hop poster for a dance studio in Changzhou. Snowboarding: the Fifth Element]
Some pics from the event of the freshest kids in China:
I also wanted to post up a video of a choreographed set from a crew called 新偶像 (New Idol), which was performed at the competition (this video is from a different venue, as I wasn’t able to record their set in Changzhou). Ever since I came to China, I’ve been looking for instances of Hip Hop that successfully incorporates Chinese culture. I mean, it only seems right, since the pioneering Bronx B-Boys of the 1970s borrowed a whole lot from Chinese martial arts films in the infant stages of the dance.
And bonus feature for those who haven’t seen it yet: just for shits and giggles, a solo performance I did at Fudan University. Represent represent!
So it turns out, hip-hop MCs do actually exist in China, they are just hard to find.
Despite a blossoming rock scene here in Beijing, hip-hop has yet to really take root among Chinese youth. Hip-hop shows in well-known venues (actual Chinese hip-hop shows— not some DJ playing Eminem) come only once every couple of months. But if you try hard enough, you’ll find some legitimate MCs who are sharing a piece of the Beijing experience through their lyrics.
Now to the meat of the post, here is some Beijing-grown hip-hop for your enjoyment:
C.O.U. (CHN Organic Union)
Chinese Jazz Hip-hop made in Beijing. I think producer Kirby Lee is excellent. I have their album, which is a little rough around the edges (especially when they start using English), but full of the same jazzy beats and reflective lyrics.
爽子Shuang Zi 爽子 – 挂念 – Gua Nian (Concern)
Another MC from Beijing, you can check out a lot more of his songs along with full lyrics at SongTaste.
阴三儿 (In3) – Pictured 阴三儿 – 北京晚报 (Beijing Evening Report) 阴三儿 – 老师好 (Hello Teacher —Locals favorite) 阴三儿 – 黑 (Black) 阴三儿 – 没钱没朋友 (No Money No Friends)
Old Beijing hip-hop band that raps about regular life in Beijing. Their lyrics are hilarious and almost excessively dirty (which is typical of Beijing people). Maybe one of the most heard-about hip-hop acts in China.
大狗 (From Wuhan)
Recently I checked out MC DaGou (大狗 trans: Big Dog) at local venue YuGong YiShan, and though I thoroughly enjoyed myself, the crowd was kind of sparse and seemed almost afraid to get near the stage. I thought 大狗 represented a lot of what hip-hop should be, but you can judge for yourself:
MC DaGou (大狗 Big Dog) of Wuhan performs “Zai Lu Shang” (在路上 On The Road)
隐藏 – 在北京 (trans: In Beijing) You might find this funny if you are a foreigner living in Beijing… maybe
Aight, that’s it for now. Till next time,
-Pin
P.S. Please correct my grammar, it’s been going to shit since I moved out here…
A materialistic Chinese girl posts a picture showing off money and what she claims to be an expensive watch. As if anybody really cares. Here’s the picture from the original post:
But it really cannot compare to this one:
from chinaSMACK “Chinese Girl Shows Off, Becomes Internet Joke”
‘Happy Farms’ Game Destroys Chinese Jobs, Relationships
Recently, the first thing Chinese netizens do upon turning on their computers each day is “grow crops” and “steal crops”. This is a game called “Happy Farms”. Even though “stealing crops” online cannot bring any real benefits to the players, more and more people are joining the game and getting addicted. Because of this game, some players have been fired, lovers have broken up, but none of them can stop “Happy Farms” from becoming increasingly popular. The game developers only allow 2 million new players every day, but there are still more people waiting to play. If you are not a “farmer”, you are behind the times. So why are Chinese people so crazy about this game?
It’s been a minute since the last post. Me and jc have had an eventful three weeks in Shanghai of attending classes and meeting new people. Let me introduce you to one of our new worst enemies best friends:
[Figure 1. Liquid Death]
This little fucker, respectfully known by the name of Mr. Er Guo Tou (二锅头先生), costs about 6 RMB- translated into US currency, that’s just a tiny bit under one dollar. I have him to thank for my new fatty liver, you fucking 112 proof demon. Real talk, all of the bums of the world should just move to China- it’s much easier to be a homeless drunk over here than it is in America, where the price of a 40 will buy you a couple of these bottles. Anyways, the view from our roof- see if you can spot the Oriental Pearl Tower (东方明珠电视塔) in the first picture:
[Figure 2. Da view.]
[FIgure 3. God damn!! That is a nice fucking view!!]
During the moments in which we’re not indulging our alcoholic tendencies, we go to various places to get down with the Shanghainese b-boys. Just this weekend we attended our first jam in China, a 3v3 b-boy battle at the Reebok basketball courts at Shanghai’s athletic stadium (上海体育馆). Overall first impressions of the event: there wasn’t a lot of time to cypher at the beginning (nor a lot of energy in the cyphers), the DJ fucked up a couple times during battles, and it was pretty rare to see b-boys who have developed their own style/musicality. There was a crowd of about 500 people watching, but a lot of the battles were dead silent. Where’s the hype China!?!? One could scapegoat China’s collectivist tendencies (who wants to be the only schoolgirl groupie screaming ‘woooo’?).. but I have to admit, a lot of the first round battles were pretty boring to watch, with only a handful of dope, memorable runs.
[Figure 3. Chillin' with Shanghai's b-boy Danny, Moski, Stone, and Other Dude]
[Figure 4. b-boy Stone and jc, with the homie Little Seven in the backgrHOLY SHIT WHO IS THAT GUY BEHIND HIM]
For your viewing pleasure, here’s footage of me, Moski, and Stone battling some Shanghainese b-boys. WE GOT ROBBED!!!
And then what I considered to be the hypest battle of the night… Caster/Dust Breakers (L) against a crew from Nanjing. All of these guys were on some other shit compared to the rest of the b-boys that entered.
After the jam, me and jc went to eat hot pot with Little Seven, b-boy Stone, and his future ex-wife. Stone also brought along our mutual friend Mr. Er Guo Tou. Mad hospitable, down to earth people. All in all, a Saturday well spent. Looking forward to seeing what else this scene has to offer in the future!!
And.. one last thing before I call it a night. We all know that China is the bootleg capital of the world- DVDs, shoes, BUFU gear. But PEOPLE TOO?!? Chillin’ with the Chinese bootleg b-boy Physix:
Asia is nowhere near closing its economic and military gap with the West. The region produces roughly 30 percent of global economic output, but because of its huge population, its per capita gdp is only $5,800, compared with $48,000 in the United States. Asian countries are furiously upgrading their militaries, but their combined military spending in 2008 was still only a third that of the United States. Even at current torrid rates of growth, it will take the average Asian 77 years to reach the income of the average American. The Chinese need 47 years. For Indians, the figure is 123 years. And Asia’s combined military budget won’t equal that of the United States for 72 years.
…
Those who think Asia’s gains in hard power will inevitably lead to its geopolitical dominance might also want to look at another crucial ingredient of clout: ideas. Pax Americana was made possible not only by the overwhelming economic and military might of the United States but also by a set of visionary ideas: free trade, Wilsonian liberalism, and multilateral institutions. Although Asia today may have the world’s most dynamic economies, it does not seem to play an equally inspiring role as a thought leader. The big idea animating Asians now is empowerment; Asians rightly feel proud that they are making a new industrial revolution. But self-confidence is not an ideology, and the much-touted Asian model of development does not seem to be an exportable product.
We have 50 years before Chinese people turn into typical Americans, oh dear.
