Shortly after PG One's downfall, rapper Sun Bayi released a music video called Magnificent China on Weibo. The song opens with the lyrics, "We all know the original aspiration and mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC), they work endlessly for people's happiness and for national rejuvenation."
Even though the song had been in the works prior to the 19th CPC National Congress, Sun told the Global Times that he was criticized by some for "sucking up to government," which he found ridiculous, because he was merely reciting passages from the congress report, he said.
Sun believes that one of the core values of hip-hop is "keeping it real." "If American rappers want to talk about oppression in their society, they have every right ... But I've never personally experienced oppression, instead I want to focus on the opportunities and advantages I've experienced living in China," he said.
"I don't care about labels. I see something, I write something. There's nothing wrong with that," he said. He paused, then added, "Even if it is propaganda for my country, so what?"
Many others certainly don't think the same way. CD Rev has been labeled "Red song army." After an interview with BBC last year, the reporter wrote on his Twitter account: "Trying to make blind nationalism cool … what a naff idea."
Harmonizing hip-hop
Perhaps one part of opposition to these young rappers stems from the question how far should there be government guidelines of an artform that seemed unhinged in its place of origin.
The Rap of China arrived at a sensitive time. A few weeks prior to its debut in June 2017, China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television released strict regulations for visual internet programs, saying some have distorted values, language and taste and needed to be reviewed.
IQiyi took obvious precautions to ensure their new program ran smoothly. The word "laozi" - a slang literally translated as "your daddy" - was dubbed with a simple "I" in captions; "shit" was dubbed as "things." What netizens found to be a more ridiculous example was that the word "butthole" had been dubbed as "dermatitis," a Chinese word with similar pronunciation.
"Come on. You really expect us to believe a rapper would talk about dermatitis?" one commenter wrote.
This led many Chinese hip-hop fans to believe The Rap of China's content had been carefully curated and its rappers' lyrics self-censored to avoid upsetting authorities, which tends to go against the rebellious origins of rap. Netizens even joked that the program's name should be changed to "China has no rap."
After journey, a Chinese hip-hop artist who won top four in The Rap of China's battle, confirmed to People Magazine in an interview that "The rules of the game are here, there are some bottom lines you can't touch, such as government or social rank, and you can't have dirty words."
Indeed, in 2015 China's Ministry of Culture released a list of 120 songs that had been officially banned because of "bad influence," most of which were rap. Former Beijing rap group In Three claimed 17 songs on the list.
The act, however, is applauded by many Chinese, as hip-hop culture is still considered foreign and even inferior to them. "We cannot import American gangster culture and their tradition of bragging about organized crime in songs," one netizen wrote on popular entertainment forum Tianya.
From underground to commercial
Sun Bayi knows the importance of government support in China. Last September, he held a concert at a basketball court in Kaili, Southwest China's Guizhou Province. In trying to obtain approval for the gig, he told local government officials that his songs focus on caring for rural China's left-behind children and also promotes Kaili tourism.
Wang agrees, telling the Global Times, "If you want to do something related to politics, it's best to gain [government] support. It's helpful."
Following "This is China," CD Rev and CCYL continued to cooperate on other songs, including "This is Our Generation." The group soon found itself receiving multiple government invitations.
They went on a trip to the South China Sea hosted by the Central Military Commission. They went to universities lectures organized by CCYL and even became friends with Zhou Xiaoping, a famous nationalist writer.
Some attitude shift can be observed from other rappers. The attitude of Gai, who tied with PG One for first place, has been the center of discussion these days to offer contrast.
One of his old songs included vivid descriptions of his rough upbringing in China, with undisguised lyrics such as "I've been to prison, but never admitted wrong." In the music video, he poses shirtless, with a gold chain around his neck, shouldering a machete. The video was later removed from most Chinese video platforms.
In recent years, however, Gai has reflected on and even regrets his past deviations. In a new song, "Trash Talk," released last year, he admits, "Men shouldn't do bad things, you need to correct your wrongdoings."
"If you really want to be underground and write violent and lewd songs forever, nobody will bother you. But you can't do that while wanting to be a big star and make big bucks in the entertainment business," Wang said. "You can't have your cake and eat it too."
