Are You Too Old for Bilibili's New Rap Show?

Over the course of summer 2020, three rap-centric variety shows have been airing on three different platforms. There's underground-leaning show Rap Star on Mango TV, the ever-popular The Rap of China on iQIYI, and now a new, Generation Z-oriented show called Rap for Youth on Bilibili.

Rap for Youth started airing on Bilibili one week after The Rap of China, where co-winner of the show's first season, GAI, has essentially replaced MC Hotdog this year. Hotdog, who left The Rap of China for the new show, raps about his decision in the mentors' cypher:

“New Journey / the train arrives at B Station [B站 — Bilibili’s nickname]/ all I want is something real / I don’t care about anything else / whose verse got substance / who has a real life / who has real respect / don’t force me to egg you.”

Also featuring Higher Brothers’ Masiwei and KnowKnow, their Indonesian label mate at 88rising, Rich Brian, as well as former member of K-Pop group EXO, Huang Zitao, Rap for Youth’s mentor cypher “New Generation” not only flexed about money and power, but called for more Chinese rap artists aged 18 to 35 to express themselves in their own way.

The show’s slogan “You can rap about everything” echoes the cultural environment of Generation Z’s most beloved website Bilibili, where young people have tended to share whatever they are passionate about, especially on a newly-added rap channel.

Moreover, in the build-up to the show’s launch, it seemed quite obvious that Bilibili was determined to make a Chinese rap show in a pretty down-to-earth style, building out some trendy promo videos for Rap for Youth, some of which you can see below:

While the word “real” as a descriptor for rap music has been a bit overused in recent years, it’s certainly becoming more difficult to make variety shows on mainstream platforms that remain “real.” In the first episode of Rap for Youth, however, we saw and heard something exciting, new, and real.

For more background on the show, click "Read More" at the bottom of this message.

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