B#2 Hip-Hop's Multicultural Movement and China's Average Lifestyle

          The Hip-Hop movement has overrun the world.  Rap, b-boying, DJ-ing, and graffiti, the four elements of this artistic form, reach as far as the winds blow.  Although predominantly associated with African Americans, Hip-Hop has always had a multiethnic facet within its history, sometimes veiled and sometimes explicit.  The advent of the Internet has added fuel to Hip-Hop’s movement introducing a plethora of cultures to its ways of expression, and we can see rap in many different languages today.  The world is sharing this “revolutionary aesthetic…about unleashing youth style as an expression of the soul, unmediated by corporate money, unauthorized by the powerful, protected and enclosed by almost monastic rites, codes, and orders.” (Chang 111)  Socially conservative countries seem to be especially drawn to this movement with the youth using Hip-Hop as a way to rebel against outdated institutions and ideas.  Let’s use China as an example.

          Although there is good freedom of expression in China, some outdated ways of life aren’t easy to kill.  To illustrate this point, here is a rap that is a satirical social commentary on China’s people by the Taiwanese rapper MC Hotdog:

差不多先生 (Cha Bu Duo Xian Sheng) – MC Hotdog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrqKvu-rqIc

This song repeats the phrase ‘差不多’meaning “almost” or “good enough” many times.  Referencing the 20^th century poet Hu Shi, MC Hotdog is talking about how everything the Chinese do is just “good enough.” (ReadChinese)  He laments how this mentality still persists to this day to the extent that people eat dishes that are “good enough,” have sex in “good enough” positions with a “good enough” partner, and live another year that is just “good enough.”  Describing a man who is innately average or “good enough” in his song, he goes on to say that this man is “naïve” to think that there is any worth in this average life, and because he’s naïve he is “scum.”  Using Hip-Hop as a medium to express his frustration with this human condition, MC Hotdog attempts to inspire his peers so that they won’t live an average life.

          The Hip-Hop movement inspired MC Hotdog.  In the music video you can see how he imitates the styles of Hip-Hop in the way he dresses, moves and flows.  Using the context of his own culture, he has innovated the Hip-Hop art form into his own style.  This development can be seen all over the globe.  First, Hip-Hop inspires, making people want to imitate, ultimately causing people to innovate, eventually creating a style that is personal and unique.  Hip-Hop is a global movement that is incorporating multiple ethnicities and multiple cultures, and today, it’s observed on every continent because I bet you there is a scientist in Antarctica listening to some 50 Cent, or rap in their own language.

References:

Can’t Stop Won’t Stop – Jeff Chang

http://www.readchinese.net/chabuduoxiansheng

A. Tao