TITLE:
Chinese Hip-Hop: The Use of Diss, and the Representing of Youth Culture
AUTHORS:
Hai Tang
KEYWORDS:
Hip-Hop, Rapper, The Rap of China, Diss, Youth Culture
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.8 No.1,
January
14,
2020
ABSTRACT: This essay takes a Chinese music TV programme Zhongguo You Xiha (The Rap of China) to discuss the Hip-Hop music in China. It states that
the rising of the Hip-Hop in China is actually a cross-cultural phenomenon. On
the one side, Chinese Hip-Hop keeps the idea of expression as its core philosophy.
The sustainable economic development and
the open-door policy in China, to some
extent, have created an expansion of personal freedom in socio-economic life, allowing Chinese artists to express their feelings, emotions, attitudes,
and, to make their voices heard. On the other side of the coin, Chinese rapping
or dancing acts as a multicultural phenomenon, mixed with both the Eastern
(Japanese and Korean) and the Western (American) styles. It appears as a new
form of musical expression, functioning as a pop culture rather than a
political one. Furthermore, Chinese Hip-Hop has been particularly attracted to
Chinese youth. In other words, Chinese young rappers have potentially adopted
Hip-Hop as a youth culture to fulfill their
personal interests and needs.