Chinese rapper criticized over vulgar lyrics

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Chinese rapper PG One has kicked up a storm of controversy after his 2015 track Christmas Eve resurfaced online.

The track, which features explicit insults about women and references to drug use, has been hotly debated on Chinese social media.

In the controversial song, the singer describes forcing himself on a woman whom he calls a "bitch". He also raps about "sleeping in the day, shouting at night, pure white powder walking on the board", a reference to either heroin or cocaine.

The song was reported by users on social media platform Weibo. On Thursday, China Women's News, published by the All-China Women's Association, posted an opinion piece pointing out that PG One's lyrics were "instigating juvenile drug use and humiliating women".

The 24-year-old rapper, whose real name is Wang Hao, responded later the same day, saying that he will remove any inappropriate songs from the Internet and promised to pay more attention to "positive energy" in his future music.

He blamed the track on his "early influence of hip-hop culture and black music".

"Thanks for the public supervision. The spirit of hip-hop should always be peace and love," he wrote.

However, some users on social media weren't entirely convinced by his explanation.

"What does insulting women have to do with black music?" @qiridechan asked on Weibo.

"I don't know much about hip-hop, but I know swear words cannot be a symbol of any culture," another user @fengyanpiaohuo commented.

On Friday, Xinhua News Agency responded with an online post saying "The singer who disrespects the industry and the audience doesn't deserve to own the hip-hop stage."

The post has been reposted more than 20,000 times and attracted more than 68,000 likes.

Another magazine warned that if PG One had used drugs like he claimed in the song, then he has already broken the law.

Xiami Music, a popular online streaming platform, announced on Friday it had removed the song due to its indecent lyrics.

PG One is setting a very bad example for his fans, especially impressionable young people, who are the main followers of hip-hop music.

Since becoming a public figure, he seems to believe that his stardom gives him the license to say anything even if it challenges public decency and social order.

The cultural and showbiz administrative departments have every reason to strengthen their regulation of the entertainment business to prevent the transmission of wrong and unhealthy messages.

But it is not just PG One, some internet and entertainment companies should take the blame as well, because their promotion of him helps spread the unhealthy content of his works. Were it not for individuals' reporting him to the authorities, these companies would be still trumpeting him as a godfather of Chinese hip-hop.

However, fans of the rapper showed support for their idol on Weibo.

They mentioned a new track Fearless in which PG One looks back on his path to fame and contains inspiring lyrics.

PG One won first place in China's first ever rap reality show, The Rap of China, last summer.

The Internet-based show accumulated more than 2.68 billion online views and saw dozens of Chinese rappers shoot to stardom.

Why do some fans still support PG One?

Source: CGTN