In a show taped in May, Kaiser chats with New York–based rapper Bohan Phoenix, who has gained audiences in both the U.S. and China, and Allyson Toy, his manager, a Chinese American who has worked on cross-cultural music promotion and lived in Shanghai for a few years before returning to the U.S. in 2018. In a wide-ranging discussion, they look at hip-hop’s development in China, its relationship with African-American culture, and the travails of bridging two worlds as a Chinese-American hip-hop artist. 

5:36: An introverted immigrant becoming an American hip-hop artist

21:30: Inclusion and the changing hip-hop landscape in America

23:52: The early days of China’s hip-hop scene

32:54: Rap and racism in China

54:05: There’s no such thing as “Chinese hip-hop” 

Recommendations:

Allyson: Asian Not Asian Podcast, hosted by the two New York City–based comedians Fumi Abe and Mic Nguyen.

Bohan: Jay Chou’s third studio album, The Eight Dimensions (八度空间 bā dù kōngjiàn), by Jay Chou.

Kaiser: An article in The Atlantic, titled the Prophecies of Q, by Adrienne LaFrance.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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