Cyphering in Nanjing

Rap spanning halfway across the world

Eight men hailing from the likes of Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, and the United States of America, gather together in Nanjing, China to spit 7 minutes of bars. Their performance is in the video below.

Behind the production of the cypher is Francisco Bilendo. Bilendo is the creator of the platform Reglr.tv, where he hopes to promote young artists of different cultural backgrounds. Bilendo’s goal with the cypher was to introduce his platform and what it stands for.

Bilendo contacted rappers he knew in Nanjing to form the cypher. The eight that showed, ended up in the final video. For the seven artists from Africa, they came to China for their studies, mostly involving engineering or business. For Jon, from the US, he ventured to China as part of a work program with Disney.

The beat is fairly minimal, as it should be, in order to put the sole focus on the lyricists. The beat is driven by a low bass, a ringing hi hat, and an ever-present horn throughout. With a classic dirty grimy beat, what better than a black and white video inside a tunnel?

With a diverse cast, a diverse set of styles shine through each emcee’s verse. The flows, the vocal inflections, the timing, the cultural references, all vary the from performer to performer.

For Maudlin Schmaltz, it was hearing Nas, Be a N**** too, in middle school that got him into hip hop. Nas’ verbal breakdown of the n-word drove Schmaltz to further his own self-expression. Schmaltz steps to the plate as the first performer in the cypher.

J.I.K fondly remembers his uncles playing 2Pac while he was growing up. When Hit Em Up came on, he had to run to the radio to shut it off in fear of his mom hearing.

2Pac’s ability to represent life as a lover, a thug, a black activist, and a poet, helped inspire J.I.K to start rapping himself.

In my running for the most impressive four bars of the cypher, J.I.K goes:

Couple pussy n****s got shot

I’m the murderer

They say I’m too real

Roger that, like Federer

While Sona also credits 2Pac and Nas as two of his early inspirations, for him, it started with Lil Wayne at his peak. Sona saw Wayne in his early Carter days as the personification of swagger.

When Sona was eight, his father bought a desktop computer and Sona used the computer to download lyrics to impress the girls at school with his lyrical knowledge.

Influenced by hip hop culture, in his teens, Sona thought he could create better raps than the ones he was hearing through the airwaves. He started writing in class, but it wasn’t until he felt the euphoria of winning a rap battle in 9th grade before he was convinced to rap for more than just the fun of it.

Sona’s verse is a fun one to pick out because of how his easily distinguishable low gravelly voice carries on the beat. Lyrically Sona is crafty, not only in his wordplay, but his ability to go from Busta-like speed into complex rhyme schemes.

Marvellous felt himself born into the game when he was featured on Mastermix Masta’s, Out Here. Marvellous and Sona are featured on the track that has over 10k plays on SoundCloud.

Marvellous is influenced by a fellow young South African rapper, Nasty C. Marvellous was introduced to Nasty C by his friends when he returned home for the holidays. Marvellous also mentions Cassper Nyovest and AKA, also South African hip hop artists, as influences.

When talking to Prnz, he was certain he didn’t have a great story of what got him into hip hop and writing rhymes. After he took a moment to think, he realized that it took him leaving his home before he could invest in himself as a hip hop artist. Like so many young artists, “I want to be a rapper”, is not something you often can tell mom or dad. Prnz reflected that sentiment. Prnz’s literal journey across the world also began an internal one.

Prnz first related to the therapeutic harmonies of Eminem’s Mockingbird and 2Pac’s Ghetto Gospel. He recalled memorizing Mockingbird in full at the age of 12. Prnz didn’t start writing himself until four years ago he was 21.

Prnz laments that western culture doesn’t quite know how much influence has been brought to Africa through American hip hop.

I would be remiss to not mention the lone American who lays the final verse. Jon Boyd is a colleague of mine from Tampa, Florida, and dropped his first solo project (Before I’m Gone) before making the trip to China.

Boyd opens with: Prnz hit me on the line, said you finish yet?

Boyd wrote his verse for the cypher on the day of the shoot whilst riding the metro.

As Prnz describes it, “That n**** wrote the verse on the way to my place.”