From Underground to Mainstream and Then What? Empowerment and Censorship in China’s Hip-Hop Music

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tensions between artistic production and state policy have attracted scholarly attention for more than half a century, especially in the subcultural field. In 2017, a hip-hop talent show—The Rap of China brought Chinese hip-hop music and rappers to the spotlight. Hip-hop was a marginal subcultural form in China where the right form of culture should positively influence the society. However, direct censorship towards hip-hop music is not ideal and even ends up with an opposite effect. The hip-hop talent show is a touchstone for an alternative cultural policy from the central government. When media and the market call for more personalities, hip-hop music finally gains power and becomes mainstream. Nonetheless, its legitimate position is not secured and confronts continuous struggles from the state policy and accusations of not “keeping real”. Syncretizing arguments on power, empowerment, and censorship of media and politics in China, this article examines the dynamic and nuanced position of hip-hop music and rappers around 2017. This paper argues that conditioned incorporation and commercialization are alternative forms of censorship for hip-hop music in China.