Local scene finds its beat

For all the musical variety to be found in Beijing, easily the most prevalent genre is hip hop. Unfortunately, it only seems to come in a form more diluted than a bottle of whiskey from a Sanlitun bar. Britney Spears, J-Lo, Blue and any number of gay 80’s disco hits spill out of Beijing bars, and finding a club throwing genuine underground hip hop is harder than finding a man with dignity in Maggie’s. You know things are bad when the best hip hop around is coming from the loudspeakers outside 3+3. Sure, crowds at the big clubs want to hear “Sexy Back,” but what about serious nights for true hip hop fans? My own musical snobbery aside, it would be unfair to paint a picture of our fair city being utterly devoid of decent hip hop.

DJ Wordy won the China DMC championship when he was 22, and now at the age of 24, he is an integral part of the local hip hop scene. Born in western China, raised Xi’an and now permanently based in Beijing, Wordy’s love for hip hop came from listening to bootleg copies of Public Enemy and NWA. “I think the main problem lies in what is available to the audiences in the clubs he says. They don’t know what hip hop is, their opinion is shaped by the songs they hear on the radio, on MTV and music you can find in record stores.” Even in this age of record collections measured in gigabytes, non-commercial music still has a hard time getting airtime in clubs. Foreign hip hop publications aren’t widely available either, so even knowing the names of underground artists can be difficult. Hopefully The Roots’ visit to Beijing on April 17 will deepen local appreciation of genuine hip hop.

“We do have real hip hop in Beijing continues Woody, but it’s not big enough yet, these things take time.” The scene is slowly gathering steam with events like the Section 6 parties held every last Saturday of the month at Yugong Yishan featuring live hip hop MCs alongside DJs spinning a deep selection of both foreign and local hip hop. Also, recently opened Arena is poised to make a difference with Beijing resident MC Four performing live on stage alongside DJ Edmund Huang. The music is still mainly party anthems, but MC Four throwing down lyrics in English and Chinese makes Arena a worthwhile stop for hip hop fans.

No music scene can sustain itself alone. Compared to all the foreigners who skulk around the Beijing rock scene, Chinese hip hop doesn’t get nearly as much attention. Most laowai here have never heard a single local tune. About the lack of Chinese hip hop being played in Beijing clubs, Wordy voices cautious optimism: “Hip hop is still very new in China, once it starts getting bigger and better you’ll start hearing it being played out. People like Webber, Yin T’sang and Yogkin mark Beijing out as the center for Chinese hip hop, in a few years time I’m sure you’ll hear them in the big clubs.” Throw your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care for that, yo.