Female MCs remix rap music in China

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US rapper Cardi B, who this month became the first solo female rap artist to top the Billboard charts since Lauryn Hill in 1998, put the spotlight onto women taking the lead in what has traditionally been a male-dominated genre.

Now as rap music moves from the underground to the mainstream in China, female MCs are taking center stage.

"I think men and women are equal, of course, there are fewer women in rap, it is easier to become a bright spot," Beijing-based rapper MC Sprite told CGTN.

MC Sprite /MC Sprite

With the rise of rap and hip-hop culture in China, women are staking their claim in the burgeoning music genre.

"There's roughly no difference, I feel that loving hip-hop is not divided into men and women," she said. "The biggest difference is boys usually rap hard, girls' rap is maybe softer and sexy, but the original intention is the same."

"These are real stories in my lyrics," the 22-year-old said, explaining that she first started listening to rap music about five years ago.

"Before I liked to rap, my boyfriend, who is also a rapper, took me to shows and also taught me a lot of things," she explained, "Mainly after the touch of rap, what rock, pop songs and so on other types of songs I do not listen to because I really love rap."

MC Sprite Freestyling:

The 'soft and sexy' side of rap

One of China’s most acclaimed writers of rap lyrics is a woman named SIC from southern city of Guangzhou, DJ Yuki from northern municipality of Tianjin is paving the way for females to create new sounds on the turntables, while fan-favorite VaVaMiss appeals to the masses.

The challenges facing female MCs in China are similar to those faced by women in hip-hop around the world. To be an MC one has to be able to pick up the microphone and command respect and attention from an audience that will be scrutinizing what you say and how you say it.

Female MCs are also operating in a creative community of mostly males, which can be isolating and frustrating.

"I have had a bad time with a girl because many people are willing to communicate with people who are worse than themselves, and do not want to help others," Sprite said. "Before I made a personal appeal to another female rapper in her work, and then she scolded me, it was very unpleasant, but now we have reconciled.”

MC Sprite hopes to continue spreading her lyrics across China...and possibly the world.

"Hip-hop's origins are in the United States," she said, "If there is a chance I would like to go there myself."

Rapper VaVaMiss /Weibo @VaVaMiss

Battle of the sexes

The recent Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal is eerily similar to some of the experiences females breaking into the rap industry have faced.

And with rap music often labeled as a boys-only club, female artists have gone head to head in battles with the men who run the rap game to earn a spot for themselves on the charts and win their respect.

As a result, for years women have struggled to thrive and receive recognition in a genre mainly dominated by males but female MCs have given their male counterparts some stiff competition since the beginning.

In 1984, during the early days of rap music, 14-year-old Roxanne Shante burst onto the hip-hop scene in the US. Her debut single, "Roxanne's Revenge" sold over 250,000 copies establishing her as one of the original hip-hop celebrities.

And no one can deny the influence of Queen Latifah, who debuted as a rapper back in 1988 and has since gone on to have successful singing and acting careers. She is arguably one of the most successful rappers of all time thanks to her expansive film credits and makeup line with CoverGirl cosmetics.

Rise of rap in China‍

Like it or not, rap music is one of the biggest genres in the world. Since the mid-2000s, the Chinese hip-hop scene has quickly grown. The number of hip-hop music venues and clubs has grown over the years, and national TV competitions such as "The Rap of China" have helped ignite the scene in many cities as thousands of raps and music videos by Chinese MCs spread across the Internet.

Produced by video platform iQiyi, "The Rap of China" styles itself as the first music show in China to focus on hip-hop and aims to promote the genre to the mainstream.

With hundreds of millions of views since its launch in late June, the show has quickly put these artists, as well as the genre, into the limelight.

But despite its success, the show has also had its fair share of shade thrown its way with people bashing the credibility of the four judges.

/Weibo

MC Sprite Music Video:

Chen Wei, senior vice president of iQIYI and chief producer of the show told CGTN, "We think it is on the threshold of becoming really big and mainstream. So we think we can give it a bit of a push and let Asia, and the world, know that, hey, we've got great rising Chinese hip-hop. And we did just that."

Chen says he had a rough idea of the show's success when he realized that everything hip is also everything hip hop.

"In China today, hip-hop culture is synonymous with fashion, and it's synonymous with the whole 'It' culture. That's one special thing about China's hip-hop," he said.

One thing is for sure, the rise of rap music in China is here to stay and seems to be thriving thanks to its female game-changers.