Smart Hip Hopper
Plenty of young Beijingers do the hip hop thing but fail to individualize it. Here, Mr. Shen has given this imported fashion his own smart flair. Beijing has countless, very scrawny, young rich kids who wear baggy jeans below their hips and walk around with huge headphones. These hip hop enthusiasts tend to be so swathed in loads of fabric that one cannot really notice their face or anything else – talk about the clothes wearing the man. This is clearly not the case with Mr. Shen. Describing his style, Mr. Shen shrugged and said “hip hop” and he also said that I probably wouldn’t have heard of the groups he likes. Stylites will be featuring much more on local hip hop culture and style in the very near future – this will include the best stores and analysis of what it means for a Chinese person to live the hip hop lifestyle.
In China, hip hop ranks as an aspirational lifestyle, rather than as a response to some grim reality.
I’m not sure if that last statement will hold up the more you get into the “scene.” While its true about the “young, rich kids in baggy jeans” (who I honestly think are doing it more to “stand out” and piss off their parents than anything else), there are those in the scene, especially outside of Beijing and Shanghai who’ve taken to hip hop because they feel marginalized and are living a life not much different from the ghetto lifestyle, except without the gunplay. I think those who are in it for the aspirational lifestyle (admittedly in the majority) have a similar attitude about hip hop as suburban whites in the US.
Anyways, it will be interesting to see what you find out over the next few months.
No I’ve been talking to some real hip-hop people who live the rough life of hustling, without a dad from the time they are twelve, didn’t go to college, etc. It’s true. There does seem to be a good amount of pot use and the like. The objective then becomes to educate those other fake hip hop kids regarding what they are mimicking. I will have more on this soon. There’s a new shop that opened here in Beijing that is probably the best shop for the lifestyle yet.
Like the roll up style and the showing of bare ankles – a brave move as the temperature drops well below zero at night in Beijing.
Yeah, if you were wondering whether hip hop is genuinely subversive in China, just look at this guy. In a country where tradition has it that the feet and the legs are the most important areas to keep warm, this is defiance at its best. His grandparents would go out and buy him a pair of wool long-johns immediately.
i usually hate hiphoppers, but this one was ute
he can have my number
Great…talk to Asian kids about hip-hop…cos they’re definitely dropping knowledge in this area, right?
FYI – that kid looks like a fucking retard…Where was he off to? Some paddy field? “This is defiance at its best”…You’re kidding me right?? Please tell me you were being sarcastic
Hip-hop and streetwear in Asia has been bastardized by materialistic hypebeasts…If you’re serious about starting some column featuring hip-hop, please don’t use Asia as your testing ground…Are you going to try and tell us how cool Clot is? Maybe when you do, you can present your column in 54 different colorways
You say you’ve talked to “real hip hop” people that aim to educate others on what hip-hop is…Who were these people? P. Diddy?
Stick to stuff you know…ie Leather Italian shoes and male handbags
For a man, the most defiant act is showing ankles!
One thing about hip-hop types (whether they wear the clothes, talk the talk, or do neither but claim knowledge of the profound depths and origins of the culture) is that they are self-important about the lifestyle and themselves. They do not tolerate ignoramuses and poseurs. Meeting either of these types, an opera connoisseur or expert on Italian Renaissance art might use the opportunity to educate, thus reducing the amount of philistinism in the world. For the hip hop aficionado, when others reveal their lack of knowledge, it’s always another chance to show more toughness and street credibility. Those who have properly parsed the complexities and subtleties of this rich culture are the only ones permitted to utter the syllables “hip” and “hop”. Isn’t there a strange dogmatism to initiates of subcultures?
Anyway, forgive for discussing hip-hop as practiced or mis-practiced in China. “In China, hip hop ranks as an aspirational lifestyle, rather than as a response to some grim reality” seems to be more or less in keeping with the main thrust of your tiresome indignation. Yes, hip-hop in China is not the real thing and it is about pretending. Does that mean that are no people here who talk about hip-hop or that it is not an interesting trend?
Your reaction strikes me as in keeping with the “fake” hip hoppers themselves, more self-righteousness and bravado. As long as hip-hop is encased in this insecure and coarse package, the world will probably continue to take it seriously only at gunpoint or as long as some silly suburban kids or little emperors can be sold its products.
And you must admit that if we were going to a paddy field, rolling up his trousers in such fashion would be most appropriate.