Words by Nick Slay


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In a stunning move, China has banned hip-hop culture and actors with tattoos from appearing on television.

According to the country’s top media regulator the: State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China (SAPPRFT), all traces of hip hop culture or tattoos are prohibited from being shown on television. The SAPPRFT “specifically requires that programs should not feature actors with tattoos [or depict] hip hop culture, sub-culture and dispirited culture,” as reported by China’s new media outlet Sina.

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There are four “don’ts” that the media must now abide by, according to Gao Changli:

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

We don’t know the total effect how this will change the cultural exchange of music from the states to China and vise versa, however it will affect Grammy winning artists who Chinese promoters wish to bring to the country to tour. It also directly affects local rappers and hip pop artists who some have even apologize for their sound and depiction of character in the public eye. Chinese Citizens quickly reacted with anger to the ban, flooding Chinese social media (Weibo,China’s equivalent of Twitter. with negative comments and outrage. The same reaction could also be measured on Twitter in the states.