Hip Hop Hullay....

My last night in Beijing I met up with Star and Chris.

Star is a fashion designer who I conscripted into our band of merry men on the last shoot. She speaks excellent English and is smart - so I got her to come in and be a translator. Now I'm trying to get her hired to help out more.

She just recently married Chris - a Canadian - although I don't hold that against him. Like most of the Canadians I have met - outside of the French Canadians - he is a smart, well mannered guy who is pretty cool. She did well for herself.

Star was designing a dress for my wife - and had it finished - so we met for drinks. Bar Blu in Beijing is where I go for quiz night on most Wednesdays - so it was an easy place to hook up. But I hadn't been to the roof - which is open in the warmer months - where you can sit outside under the stars and above most of the smoke and pollution. It was great.

Then they asked me:

Would I be interested in going to a hip hop show?

Like - A Chinese hip hop show?

Yeah.

Hell yeah, boy.

What some of you may not know is that I am a big rap fan. And Hip Hop. Most definitely R and B. But I am way down with most things having to do with Black Music. I love it. Can't get enough of it. And to have a chance to watch Chinese people interpret it?

Priceless.

When we did our first TV show here in 99 - we hung out with the Veejays from Channel V. Since we knew them - I watched a lot of the Channel. I still do. They used to have an hour a day devoted to Korean Hip Hop.

There was something strange and amazing about it. It was as if they took the whole of rap videos from here and replaced it with a glossier stranger Korean version. There wasn't much of the same spirit - as far as I could tell from something that I can't understand a word that they are saying - but the clothes and the poses were the same.

I love rap - and I don't really know why. Cause a lot of it makes me laugh?

There is angry rap. Rap with a message. Rap about money. Rap about fat butts. Just like any other music. But for some reason - rap just is more to the point. With really funny ways of talking about things. And a killer beat.

I am a huge fan of rap. So I jumped at this chance.

It really was amazing.

A tiny little smokey club. Full of people - a mix of foreigners and Chinese - all dressed in a junior high school version of what they think hip hop is. Caps twisted to the side, over sized shirts and jeans, hoochie momma chic on the ladies... it was really fascinating.

But the DJ's were pretty awesome.

Blackaliscious. Jurrasic 5. Tribe Called Quest. Dialated Peoples. Nas. All my favorites.

Then they brought out the freestylers. And they weren't as good.

But it was an exciting evening. While it is sad and pitiful to see White Guys play black - it was even more interesting to see Chinese guys play black. Not sad - just interesting.

Music is all about expression. And there is no just white or just black style of music - it is fascinating to see something taken out of its cultural context and placed in something altogether new - and not always successfully.

There were also a few standouts. The Chinese guy who looked like he wanted to be in the Strokes. The Chinese girl who looked like she wanted to be Amy Winehouse. And me - the old white guy looking like he should be somewhere else entirely.

But it was a great evening. One I won't forget. And one I would like to repeat.