As hip-hop music and culture continues pushing beyond America’s borders and landing on foreign shores from South Africa to France, different countries are responding in new ways to the movement.
China, which has seen a sudden burst of hip-hop talent break through is now attempting to ban hip-hop culture from its mainstream media.
This report comes from SupChina, by way of Sina Entertainment (in Chinese), with the piece claiming that certain guidelines are set to be handed out to prevent images of tattoos or “demotivational culture.”
Four main points are said to be outlined by the Chinese government, reported by SupChina:
“Never use actors who are at odds with core values of the Party and lack high moral standards.
Never use actors who are indecent, obscene, or vulgar.
Never use actors who have low ideological level and no class.
Never use actors who have stains, affairs, or moral issues.”
SupChina also reported on the apparent reaction by the Chinese public on message boards:
“‘I firmly oppose tattooed artists on television. I don’t have any issues with someone’s personal preference, but they shouldn’t be on TV shows to have a bad impact on the young generation,’ one internet user wrote. However, some people found the new rules ill-advised and ridiculous. One person commented, ‘Having tattoos means no class? Chinese culture is horrible.'”
It’s clear that the Chinese government is trying to stifle the rise of countercultural youth movements like hip-hop and tattoos (?), but if we’ve learned anything over the years, these efforts will only make the kids more excited about hip-hop.
Yeah, China, this ain’t gonna work.
