Chinese rapper's Lingnan-rooted hip-hop a big draw in US

A Chinese rapper has drawn packed audiences on his North America tour, marking a rising wave of China-to-global cultural exchange as his Lingnan-rooted hip-hop reached new listeners across borders.

Lingnan mainly refers to South China, including Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. Lingnan culture is a significant constituent part of Chinese civilization.

The 27-year-old rapper Lan Lao, also known as Skai Isyourgod, has rapidly become one of the most-streamed Mandarin-language singers overseas, topping major global platforms with billions of monthly plays.

Fresh off a tour organized by "Friends from the East" that brought him to more than 10 cities across the United States and Canada, many of which sold out, the Chinese rapper is introducing new audiences to a distinctly Chinese sound shaped by Lingnan culture.

"I was born there, so I'm telling the story of the place," Lan Lao told China Daily. "I'm an ordinary guy. I grew up like most kids: going to school, doing part-time jobs, just living a normal life. Maybe that's why I talk about everyday social stuff in my songs. Whether you're in China or abroad, people deal with similar things. Human nature's basically the same."

In 2024, Lan Lao released his second album Ba Fang Lai Cai, or Stacks from All Sides, which gained widespread attention for combining Memphis rap elements with his accented Mandarin flow and culturally specific references. Building on influences rooted in Cantonese traditions while adapting American hip-hop, the album generated multiple hits and prompted fans across borders and age groups to share dance videos and creative remixes on social media.

Lan Lao said it was luck. With the internet booming, he feels more amazing work can now be shared and seen by much larger audiences.

"Whether people think I'm 'good' or 'not good' honestly doesn't matter that much. What matters is that more people hear the music and get curious about it. Hip-hop came from America anyway — I'm just taking that form, adapting it and putting my own stuff on top," he said.

Cultural confidence

"For me, real cultural confidence has to feel genuine, not something people hype up online. Using my own language already shows our cultural confidence," he said.

"China is really influential internationally now, and making Chinese hip-hop at this moment feels pretty cool. Some cultural elements show up in my music, and I think that's part of what makes the world diverse. In the end, I just hope more people are willing to speak a little Chinese," he said.

B Dowling, a Chinese hip-hop fan from Madison, Wisconsin, said what drew him most to Lan Lao was his voice.

"I like his voice the best — the pitch range he has, how he can go from low to high and stretch it out almost like a singer, even though he's rapping," he told China Daily.

Dowling is also a researcher in Chinese linguistics. He said he listened to Chinese music first as "just a hobbyist", someone who listens simply to whatever catches his ear.

"Lan Lao's style is a fusion of global hip-hop and US hip-hop, and he took it and localized it. He made it Chinese, and he did it really well. It's great music that everyone should at least give a try," he said. "Chinese hip-hop is going strong and is at a point now where it's getting worldwide attention."

"Music is a universal language. From the 1950s Shanghai scene all the way to now, every decade has its leaders in Chinese music. And in the past decade or two, Chinese hip-hop has really moved to the forefront. It deserves more listeners."

"I know he speaks Cantonese, and that he uses a lot of regional expressions in his lyrics," Sierra Flournoy of New York told China Daily. "Everything connects back to where he's from. He's very specific about that, very grounded in reality. I'm just here to hear what that sounds like live."

Victoria Ramirez, also attending her first Chinese hip-hop show, said she came along because a friend invited her. She had seen several of Lan Lao's clips go viral online and decided it was worth checking out.

mingmeili@chinadailyusa.com