Say goodbye to the rough and the different, rap is becoming the living voice of Gen Z to express their thinking

Reporter Huang Qizhe

In China, the popular music style of "rap" is taking on a new look. Not long ago, at the Tanabata Gala, the "Phoenix Legend Mountain and River Map Human High-quality Stage" was on the hot search. Many people were amazed by this magnificent rap work - the Phoenix Legend has long been no longer the "square dance accompaniment exclusive" of that year. As everyone knows, in the B station where Generation Z gathered, searching for the rap song "Mountain and River Map", incomplete statistics of nearly 800 related videos. One of the most popular is the version of the original Phoenix Legend, which has already exceeded 10 million hits. "Look at this mountain of thousands of rocks and rivers and rivers, let this river star run to the river and the river knot one bay after another, and compose this picture of luan back to the phoenix dance heavy and unclimbable, splashed ink and ink to moisten my splendid rivers and mountains." The grand vision and magnificent momentum make people's blood boil, and many young netizens leave a bullet screen of "listening to it once a day before going to bed", which shows the degree of love.

The level of variety shows focusing on rap and hip-hop has also improved. Bidding farewell to the "China Has Hip Hop" full of hostility, "Rap New Generation" has received a super high reputation of more than 9 points in both B station and Douban. The reason is that the rap works presented in the program, "wide topic" and "deep", have become high-frequency words.

Bidding farewell to the childishness of "Keep Real" under the banner of "Keep Real" but only contributing to the "counting of treasures" and the vulgarity of "money desire", the new generation of Chinese rap is trying to inject the cultural connotation and social thinking belonging to Chinese youth into this foreign music style.

Strive to become a recorder of Splendid Mountains and Rivers and the struggle of China

It is hard to imagine that the lyrics of the Phoenix Legend's "Mountain and River Map" are from the hand of Dong Gem Gem, the singer of the "Divine Comedy" "Wild Wolf Disco". From the small love of "the flowers in my heart, I want to take you home", to the mountain and river spirit of "drawing my mountains and rivers with a pen, painting this majestic sword and blade, walking with the gushing river and water, and painting me In China", such a change is surprising and also reflects the expansion and sublimation of domestic rap music in expression.

Fans who are familiar with Dong Gem know that this is not the first time he has created a narrative around a grand theme and theme. Dong Baoshi has written two songs, "Expedition" and "Liter" in order to fight the epidemic. The former was written at the time of the epidemic, showing the determination and courage of the white-clad angels to "go backwards" - "Let me turn my head and walk resolutely, wipe away the tears and let go of my mother's hand, the enemy and the same hatred of Shenzhou at a critical juncture, a loud roar comrades all have", becoming the BGM (background music) of many war "epidemic" videos on the Internet, making netizens sigh "tears and blood". "Sheng" was written at the beginning of this year, China's fight against the epidemic has achieved a stage of victory, looking back at the road ahead, the lyrics say the voice of Chinese: "There is no winter that cannot be crossed, there is no spring that cannot be expected, there is no pass that cannot be broken, there is no sail that cannot be raised, there is no river that cannot be crossed, there is no mountain that cannot be climbed, Chinese is full of guts, and this road will be a flat river." ”

This year, in order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Gem Gem launched "One Hundred", which counts the major events such as the Long March of the Red Army, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the successful launch of atomic bomb satellites, reform and opening up, the return of Hong Kong and Macao, the accession of the WTO, and the fight against the epidemic, and reviews the vicissitudes and great changes experienced by the Chinese and the people under the leadership of the Centennial Party.

Gem gems are not alone, but rappers are constantly adding to the record of contemporary China. Another post-90s rap group, "Tianfu Incident", is more sharp than the Phoenix Legend and Gem, and they are committed to rapping in English to show the world the face of contemporary China and contemporary Chinese youth. Over the years since its establishment, they have repeatedly used rap music to bravely speak out against events such as racial discrimination in the United States and western media distorting China's image, and have unremittingly used rap to introduce China's history and culture and present the real contemporary Chinese society. "From the 1990s when we were born to the present, it is a 30-year Chinese legend. With the rapid development of the economy, the society has undergone earth-shaking changes. We can feel the interaction between China and the world at any time, and rap music is only a carrier to express our own personal feelings. In the face of the "not rebellious enough" prejudice from the outside world, member Wang Zixin believes that the reason why rap initially showed resistance was because black people were oppressed in the United States. Growing up in China and witnessing the great process of China, if you rebel for the sake of rebellion, "that is a diseaseless groan." Another member, Luo Jinhui, once said that rap culture has always been inclusive, and the team cares more about singing their true thoughts than whether the subject matter is cool enough and rebellious.

Refusing to "entertain to death", serious rap hides the way Gen Z sees the world

At one point, because of the ignorance, arrogance and worship of a singer, the rap-flaunted "Keep Real" became an irony of this subculture by the outside world - the so-called "truth" should not be a fig leaf to promote primitive pleasures and desires. Rendering the superficial product of "entertainment to death" is doomed to be difficult to "break the circle".

In recent years, through the iterative dissemination of variety shows, domestic rap music has gradually entered the mainstream vision of the public, and has continued to grow and transform. Some of these young singers have tried to use rap to actively respond to social issues, giving Generation Z serious thoughts, and allowing the public to understand what young people think. For example, Feezy, an Asian international student, wrote about her struggle against injustice abroad into "Asian Kid".

The new works of the young rap generation also carry more ambitious themes. "Rap New Generation" sings in the song "We We": "I hope that the great love of a mother can envelop the world, although I know that there are many places that have not yet been realized." Suffering is still there, flowers are blooming at the same time, and I still love everything around me with anticipation. The lyrics start from tiny individuals, and the power conveyed crosses regional races, thus winning the bullet screen of "hundreds of millions of times again". Xia Zhiyu, one of the singers, explained the work, "Xiao Qiang represents the African people's belief in nature and land; I represent the war trauma suffered by the people of the Middle East after the Gulf War; shark fin soup represents the negative impact on people's lives under the Japanese financial crisis; Shengfan represents the determination of the Chinese people to unite in the 1998 flood; Dimu represents the reflection on the problem of youth violence among the Latin American people..." People found that the original cool-looking Generation Z hid behind the sharpness and sharpness. It is a clear love and hope for this world.

Rap goes forward, and must also turn "resentment" and "banditry" into "righteousness" and "chivalry"

In addition to digging deeper into the meaning of the lyrics, young rappers have also further developed their understanding and development of musical forms. They are no longer satisfied with the simple techniques of so-called "single bet", "double charge" and "improvisation". Instead, it combines elements such as local Chinese music and traditional opera to play new tricks with various styles such as retro, jazz hip hop, trap rap, and hardcore rap.

However, domestic rap music, which is gradually growing and developing, should still face up to its shortcomings and shortcomings in order to truly "go out of the circle" and win the "greatest common denominator" recognized by the public. Compared with other music categories, the threshold for rap is relatively low, which causes the quality of singers and the level of works to be uneven. Blindly emphasizing "fast mouth" and "rhyme", so that some works are blunt in content, there is a suspicion of patchwork, and even just stay at the "shouting wheat" level in the live broadcast room. The excessive promotion of these works has caused a deviation in the aesthetics of the public. In fact, while taking into account the connotation of the lyrics, it is possible to show the rhythmic changes of the clouds and the flowing water in the same rhythm, and only then can we see the real kung fu. This requires practitioners to think about how to improve their professional level and cultural literacy, and transform the "resentment" of blind catharsis and disease-free groaning into a "righteous qi" that has something to say and warms people's hearts.

At the same time, we need to be wary of the "fetal disease" of rap, which has been underground for a long time - the lyrics are vulgar, and some singers mistakenly equate "dark" with the "cool" and "trend" of the musical style. The endless variety shows will intuitively present the rough and fierce side of rap, so that many young audiences like this direct expression. However, because the platform does not screen the contestants' art and battle (duel) content, some players with private morality and "derailed" works that lead to values have a negative impact on teenagers. This requires practitioners to think about how to purify the ecology, guide creation, and transform the "bandit qi" of Bo out of place into the "chivalrous spirit" of the homeland.

In "This is our generation", which brings together rappers from Sichuan, Zhejiang, Shandong, Xinjiang and Guangdong, a new generation of musicians gives a proud declaration - "Let me open the heyday of Chinese pop music". If you can get rid of its dross and take its essence, maybe this day will not be too long.

Source: Wen Wei Po