In short order Duo become a celebrity on campus, and the indifference to his hip-hop group quickly gave way to a flood of new recruits, not only from Tsinghua but from other Beijing universities such as China University of Geosciences and China University of Mining & Technology, and the group now has more than 100 members.
This summer, looking every bit the rapper with the help of a loose-fitting Simpsons T-shirt and over-sized yellow-lensed aviator sunglasses, Duo took his music and the university's hip-hop culture to a much bigger stage by competing in the internet talent quest The Rap of China.
"I come from Tsinghua, the most hip-hop university in China," Duo said as he made his debut on the show on July 14. "In saying I'm from Tsinghua University I don't mean to brag. I just want people to know where my music started."
Though Duo lost a head-to-head contest on the show, he says he achieved his goal of having his voice heard and letting more people know about the thriving hip-hop culture at the university. He is also delighted that he met many Chinese rappers he had been listening to for years, he says.
"The only regret I have about the show is that I didn't get more of a chance to showcase the diversity of my music. But I'm still young and have plenty of time to prove myself."
Duo, born into a family of academics of Mongolian ethnicity, grew up with the influences of both Xinjiang and Mongolian ethnic culture. His hometown, Yining, is located in the Ili River valley, where sunshine is abundant and the landscape is verdant.
Duo immersed himself in music since he was young, his mother being a keen singer and his father playing the Mongolian musical instrument the morin khuur, or horse-headed fiddle. His grandmother is a proficient singer of the Mongolian long song, traditional Mongolian folk music with each syllable of text extended for a long duration.
When Duo was 12 he started listening to hip-hop music by Western and Chinese artists, including the American rapper Eminem and the Chinese hip-hop group Long Jing.
"Hip-hop music is free and the lyrics are straightforward, which suits my personality, " says Duo, who wrote his first verses for a friend's birthday and rapped at the party. "Hip-hop is how I best express myself."
He has released nearly 30 original songs on NetEase Cloud Music.
Duo's songs, such as Young Men, Twenty-One and Lonely Road, touch on issues such as cyberbullying, his personal growth and his reflections on hip-hop music.
He is now taking a gap year from university because he wants to focus on bringing out more original music materials, he says.
With members of the Tsinghua hip-hop group, Duo has established a hip-hop label called T-Hood, which he wants to use to promote hip-hop music at Chinese universities.
"There is no plan to turn T-Hood into a commercial label. It was born on campus, and that is where it will stay. One day when I graduate and leave the university I want the label to continue on. It will be a kind of legacy for me."
