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China bans hip hop from television
RnB/Hip Hop | Tuesday 17th April 2018 | David
If you happen to be an up and coming hip-hop artist, you might not want to plan any gigs in China for the foreseeable future, as the country has just issued a nationwide ban on hip-hop culture.
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China, which serves as the country ’s top media regulator, issued a policy stating that television programmes cannot depict hip-hop related culture, sub-culture, and tattoos.
Gao Changli, the director of the administration’s publicity department, issued the following four rules clarifying how the specific aspects of hip-hop are now prohibited in China:
Absolutely do not use actors whose heart and morality are not aligned with the party and whose morality is not noble.
Absolutely do not use actors who are tasteless, vulgar and obscene.
Absolutely do not use actors whose ideological level is low and have no class.
Absolutely do not use actors with stains, scandals and problematic moral integrity.
The ban comes after the rapper Wang Hao, who is known professionally as PG One, was forced to issue an apology after his song Christmas Eve was accused of insulting women and promoting drugs.
As is often the case when the government tries to censor content it deems unsuitable, China’s ban on hip-hop culture has been met with a huge backlash from the general populace, many of whom see it as a major blow to the country’s burgeoning music industry. Even if you happen to not personally be a fan of hip-hop, there is absolutely no denying that China still has a long way to go when it comes to the principle of freedom of speech.
