BEIJING — It might be a few decades late, but hip-hop is huge in China. There’s just one hitch: none of this should be happening.
It’s all thanks to a show called “The Rap of China.” Imagine American Idol, except full of rappers, and everyone is Chinese, and you’ll get the general idea.
It’s slick, it’s dramatic, and a bit goofy. It’s also massively popular, pulling in 3 billion views on IQiyi, China’s answer to Netflix. It’s only in its first season, but the show has already pushed a few rappers into superstardom.
All this, despite a January order from the Chinese government, which banned hip-hop from being shown on TV.
And yet, somehow, “The Rap of China” is still on the air — and in its second season.
VICE News went to a live taping in Beijing to find out how an entertainment company is building a fortune on a genre that wasn’t supposed to popular — and to see how local rappers are keeping both audiences and censors happy.
This segment originally aired Sept. 20, 2018, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
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