Another World（11）

Teachers and fellow schoolmates, we hope all of you are well. With this familiar melody, the sound of our campus radio station begins now.

Welcome to Another World, another wonder.

Today, I would like to share with you a exciting theme--hip hop.

The Rap of China is a Chinese rap reality show produced by IQiyi. The show has four celebrity producers whose job is to train and guide the rappers participating in the competition. The producers are Chinese-Canadian singer-songwriter Kris Wu, American-Taiwanese singer Wilber Pan, Taiwanese rapper MC Hotdog and Taiwanese rock musician Chang Chen-yue.The first season of The Rap of China was aired on 24 June 2017.

A hugely successful internet reality show has put hip hop music into the national spotlight for the first time in China. With more than 2.5 billion views on China's largest online video hosting website, iQiyi, the Rap of China has seen dozens of Chinese rappers shoot to stardom. Showcasing young and feisty contestants locked in rap battle in front of a panel of celebrity judges, the show sparked debate, memes and catchphrases across the Chinese-speaking web. “Can you freestyle?" became a buzzword, after one of the celebrity judges, Kris Wu, used it to repeatedly grill contestants as he was questioned over his own hip hop legitimacy. Hip hop terms like "diss" - to put someone down - have crept into everyday conversation.

The genre started gaining momentum in the early 2000s, influenced by American rappers like Eminem and Jay-Z.Rappers who did well might be signed to labels, music festivals and fashion brands. Some got to perform in clubs. The number of hip hop music venues and clubs has grown over the years, and national competitions like the China Iron Mic helped to spur on the scene in many cities. For most rappers it has remained a hobby - some would even pay out of their own pockets to record albums. Rap of China, therefore, was a game changer. It was said to be the most expensive reality show in history with an investment of 200 million Yuan. Some 700 aspiring rappers auditioned.

Al Rocco mainly raps in English. He was eliminated in Rap of China in the first round because he didn't rap in Chinese. But the criticism that matters most to rappers and diehard underground hip hop fans in China is whether going mainstream would mean the end of what they see as "real hip hop".Wang Bo, or MC Webber, who many consider to be China's hip hop authority, was one of the many underground rappers who tried to steer clear of the show. Wang thinks even Xi Ha, the Chinese translation of "hip hop", was created to help make a quick profit. Over-commercializing hip hop will drain the creativity of young people and reduce the songs to "fast food music", he wrote on his micro blog.

However, MC Hotdog, who now has his own hip hop business managing rappers and performances, says he's hopeful about the new changes. “Now that the money problem is solved, hip hop artists don't have to worry about their livelihood. They will have more room to keep it real. “Real hip hop", MC Hotdog says, is for those underdogs in society to have a voice of peace, love, independence and unity. “We are not highly commercialized like in the US where hip hop is just about money and sex," MC Hotdog says. "What China offers is our long history and deeply cultured literature. “Like Chairman Mao said, borrow what's good from the West and use it in China," says one of the contestants MC Sun Bayi, who is known for performing in formal business attire. "The Chinese invented gunpowder and the Westerners made firearms with it. Now they have hip hop, and we will make it Chinese."

Would you look at that, once again, time has flown. Thanks for listening, my friends. Have a pleasant week.

Another World, another wonder. See you next Wednesday. Bye！

节目制作：雷佳欢、李庚桐、李翰麒

        编辑：夏志道