When Did The Chinese Hip-hop Culture Begin?
China’s hip-hop and rap culture has undergone more than 30 years of change. Although it was once confused, it has never fallen into the vulgarity.
Today, we can review the development of Chinese hip-hop culture.
Since the 1980s, thousands of Chinese youths who have been released from the dark houses have begun to look for all the most advanced elements in the world to create more fun elements for their childhood lacking sunshine and vitamins. At that time, the literary youth began to look at Sartre and Heidegger; the film youths madly studied Godard and Truffaut; for the music youth, rock and metal were the music that fell at that time.
In this big wave of the West Wind, the term and concept of rap music has slowly penetrated into the Chinese mainland. At that time, the avant-garde youth and art youths were of course listening to rock and metal. Some well-informed youths also vaguely heard rap, knowing that this is a style from the black street culture of African Americans.
Run-D.M.C.’s classic album “Raising Hell”, the early rap of the god brick.
In this wave of super-British beauty, the Chinese people began to hear about rap music. The concept of rap in the continent at that time was not a complete musical style but an element, and having this element would become super cool. In order to express the cool concept, the domestic TV dramas at that time would forcibly add a little rap to the typical mainland episode.
So that some of the sketches will add a little free style, which was called “rua” by the people at the time. Look at their understanding of rap music is to use the mouth to say, and then press the rhyme to express a smooth feeling.
Rua Pu
Ben Shanzi said in the “Red Sorghum Model Team”: “The land is a mother, and the labor is awkward, as long as the seeds are planted.”
Zhao Lirong also sang in “This Packing”: “In the spring, flowering fourteen five five six, in June six, watching Gu Xiu, I played six or nine heads in spring.”
It was in this trend that Yin Xiangjie and Xie Dong launched a rap album called “Someone” in 1993. The good guys in the future have recommended this album with enthusiasm and tears. He said that this is the Genesis of Chinese rap, and he has said a lot of meaning to him in a semi-dane and semi-serious manner.
someone
But in fact, let go of the touting of the later generations, you listen to this album carefully, you will find it is a ticketing work. From this album, it’s hard to see what style they are, or who they are influenced by, maybe they can see a little bit of Run-DMC, but more of a typical pop song wrapped in the 1990s. . In particular, it is also mixed with this song, which was later called the 90s karaoke song “Smiley Face”, which has been sung by some idiots and prostitutes.
The content is to vent a Jia Zhixin-style confusion in the transition period of the market economy. The main factor is that the world has changed. There is no money in the pocket. There is still some sexual turmity in the absence of money. In fact, 90% of the youth in the world are troubled. These are both things.
But after the vent is over, they will be finished. They also know that rap did not have a way out at the time. Therefore, he did not hesitate to transform the folk songs, and became a tracker, swinging on the rope. Since then, he has become a favorite of the aunts, enthusiasm to shake hands with the fellows, and honestly in the cctv2 as a jury of various family festivals, not talking about his former hip-hop career, no words.
In fact, to say the true rapper godfather, I prefer to put this title on Cui Jian’s head. Cui Jian’s music philosophy has always been avant-garde. In his opinion, the most important thing about music is the lyrics, which are the content. And style is just a weapon. He found that this form of rap can smoothly express a fierce and exciting lyric, without having to consider the melody. So in the 1990s, he used a lot of rap factors and even sang rap songs. For example, the “box” which is extremely fierce and has been offline in the whole network, and the “Beyond that Day” composing at the end of the 90s, this kind of intense song may not appear again for a long time.
Nobody wants to be an underground rapper
It was not until 2000 that the real rap band in China began to appear. At that time, the concept of rap was no longer a rua, but a real hip-hop. And the black fear at the beginning is not underground, but a record capital attack by the record company.
All these changes are still caused by changes in the market and capital. At the end of the century, Beijing’s cultural industry was full of a new century. Going higher, faster, and more international.
At the turn of the century, some of the avant-garde people in the cultural industry have a prejudgment. They believe that the Chinese music scene will soon be in line with the world. The favorite music styles for young people in the future will be punk, British rock, electronics, hip-hop. Just like what Park Tree Song sang: Listen to new music and cut new hairstyles. Their kind of optimism seems to be like the communists after World War I, and the red flag is about to sweep the Eastern West.
Representative of Beijing Xinsheng – New Pants Band
Therefore, the owners of some record companies believe that instead of waiting for foreign bands to invade China to take away the money, it is better to train the Chinese group. The record company has operated a batch of trendy bands in the form of a small blowout. So after they finished punk and electronics (flowers, new pants, supermarkets, this wave of debut, history called Beijing new sound), set the next goal in black fear.
So at the beginning of the second millennium, Jingwen Records signed two black fear combinations. Hidden combination and cmcb band, these two combinations are the original rap band in the true sense of China.
They wore oversized T-shirts and trousers, from gestures to typhoons, all of which were professional hiphops.
Especially for the hidden combination, Jingwen Records took a lot of effort to package them, their first album “Serving the People”, published in 2003, was the work of Jingwen Records, from planning and distribution. The list and the cover have all been greatly promoted. The company also arranged for them to enter the awards ceremony of the festival, and sit with the pop stars of the pop.
Hidden combination
At the time, cmcb was particularly confident. In their 2002 first rap album “Kung Fu”, they claimed to be China’s first rap band, and their era is coming soon. They are about to pick up the Chinese hiphop revolutionary fire. They thought they would become China’s 2puc. But it turns out that they are only Li Lisan in the era of the Great Revolution. Before the arrival of the revolutionary fire, it swayed and fell again.
Only old albums that old fans will remember
Because even though the record companies packed them in the way of idol bands. Give them a manuscript and a fan club. But no market is no market. The things ahead are not sold. Just as you came to the Victorian era with the iPhone 7, you will be popular with people. But others will only be sick when you are.
And at the beginning of 2000, it was the winter season of the record industry. At that time, even popular music was affected by pirated music. Extremely sluggish, even Song Ke and Gao Xiaosong were both stunned, saying that the recording industry had finished. As a niche of music, there is no market for rap. Therefore, the rap music situation at that time was fully shrunk after a small-scale market promotion. There are a large number of combinations with great potential and talent. After an album, there is no more. One of the things that I am most sorry about is the black band from Shanghai. They launched “The First Bar of Hip Hop.” It is like a meteor. It only left a trace in the hearts of our old fans.
Trap music is a variant of rap music that can be easily understood as a fusion of rap and electronic music with a psychedelic taste.
No one has made it clear that when Chinese rap began to change from the old school style to the current trap, such changes have really been too small in China’s social reforms for more than a decade, and no one has studied it with heart.I believe in the future.