lareviewofbooks:The Golden Age of Hip Hop: An Interview with...

lareviewofbooks:

The Golden Age of Hip Hop: An Interview with a Beijing Rapper
by Alec Ash

Nasty Ray, 25 years old, is a Beijing rapper straight out of the hutong. He lives in the west of Beijing with his mum, in building 22. (“Welcome 2 da hood, this is Tuanjiehu, I live in 20Two”, goes one lyric.) His walls are covered with basketball posters and his own hip hop sketches, and one room is a shedload of vinyls and decks. He greets me in baggy clothes, padded jacket and a Yankees baseball cap. I...