China intensifies crackdown on hip-hop
State media regulatory body poised to ban tattoos from television
China’s state media regulatory body appears poised to further restrict the representation of bohemian culture on television following hip-hop’s rise to mainstream prominence last summer with the debut of the hit TV show The Rap of China.
Gao Chang Li, director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television’s publicity department, reportedly announced at a meeting on January 19th that TV shows inviting guests onto their programs must adhere to certain state-sanctioned criteria. Gao specifically advised TV producers against booking tattooed entertainers, as well as those who represent hip-hop culture, “demotivational” culture, or other subcultures that deviate from the mainstream.
The news comes in the wake of the enigmatic withdrawal this week of GAI, one of China’s preeminent rappers, from the popular music competition show The Singer. SupChina reports that video of GAI’s recent appearance on the show, on January 12th, has been scrubbed from the internet. As of this writing, neither GAI’s representatives nor the station that airs the show has offered a reason for the rapper’s forced departure.
Unlike fellow Rap of China winner PG One — whose 2015 song “Christmas Eve” was censured earlier this month by the Communist Youth League for its glorification of misogyny and drug use — GAI has a relatively tame reputation in the Chinese hip-hop landscape. Some have referred to him tongue-in-cheek as “Socialist GAI” since his performance on a CCTV-run show last month, during which he led the crowd in a “Long live the motherland” chant.
Quartz characterizes the removal of GAI from The Singer and of PG One’s music from Chinese streaming services as strong indicators that the CCP is intensifying its campaign against vulgarity in hip-hop. Zheping Huang reports that rappers are already responding to these signals by tempering the language in their lyrics.
Still, the rising popularity of rap in China is undeniable and shows no signs of slowing down, with live shows more in demand than ever and The Rap of China drawing more than 200 million views per episode. iQiyi, the streaming platform that broadcasts the program, plans to invest $231 million in “youth culture, especially hip-hop culture, in 2018,” the The Global Times reports.
By H.A. Platt
