Rapping Up Life in Beijing with Jason Chu

Beijing has a bumpin’ music scene, as I’m sure you all know. But it’s also transient. So the guy who’s tearin’ it up at any one of the city’s music venues one night will be leavin’ on a jet plane the next. Case in point: rapper Jason Chu. Lucky for us, he isn’t blowing dodge without paying tribute to our town. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s his new video “City of the North”:

Mr. Chu was also kind enough to have a chat with us about his time in Beijing, his nerdy past and his exclamatory future.

What brought you to Beijing in the first place?
An airplane.

Ok, so what's taking you away?
A similar, but different, airplane.

Right, this is gonna be one of those interviews …

Is Beijing a good scene for aspiring rap artists?

If you're trying to reach international ears ... not so much. On the other hand, if you want to draw a crowd of curious aunties in the park, the world is yours.

Let's be honest: Asian-American kid who studied Philosophy at Yale University doesn't really scream "street cred." How does a nerd become a rapper?

HOW DOES A NERD BECOME A BEIJINGER BLOGGER?! HOW BOUT DAT?!
Hahaha, no really though ... hip-hop is so beyond street cred right now. Consistency and passion (with a dash of self-awareness and humor) in your personal vision/mission is what reaches people – whether you're a theater geek from an upper-class performing arts school (Tupac) or an Asian-American kid who ... you get the point.

What does it take for a wannabe emcee to look like a real one? Clothes? Kicks? Facial hair? 

As much and many of those as possible, all at the same time.

You've got some smart lyrics. What's your trick to coming up with good rhymes? 

I listen to a lot of rappers' underground songs, and then I steal their verses. "City of the North" is originally a Drake song about Toronto, for example.

What's the easiest thing to rap about?

Anything that has a lot of words that rhyme with it.

What's the hardest?

That's what she said. (I've been watching a lot of old The Office seasons recently. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.)
The most difficult (notice phrasing) thing to EVER put out there is anything that is real, genuine, honest, vulnerable. Anything that comes from a place of hurt or real healing. Like look at how I just deflected up there with humor before saying something that I actually really deeply believe in. It's gonna get laughed at or ignored and then that's you out there being hurt. But it's the best way.

On that note, in your intro to “City of the North,” you say, “For two years, Beijing has challenged me, hurt me, helped me grow, and sheltered me.” Tell us more.
Being young and single – and Chinese American – in Beijing, in 2012, is a very unique thing. Beijing is developed and raw at the same time; I know four LV stores within biking range of my house, and I also see fights on the subway on a weekly basis. Being confronted with the naked realities – and discrepancies – of race, money, gender and more is difficult. But it’s caused me to think more about how I personally feel about these issues and how I should respond to them not just here but in my life at home.

Do you have a favorite rhyme of yours to share?

"It's a mockery, the raucous way these amateurs be jockin’ me / Thinkin that we're even like the sides of an Isosceles" #MathLeagueComeAtMeBro.
On a less self-centered note: "Hope / it's small enough to fit in the spaces between / It's so tall, that it towers over man-built machines"

Who's the best rapper ever?
I'm not even trying to joke with this one, this is actually very important – this guy named Rakim. Long Island, New York. No one outside hip-hop knows him now but he is the most important rapper in the history of rap. Every rapper today has his style in their DNA. Please Google him.

If you weren't doing rap, what other roles in the music industry would you want to play?

Quincy Jones seems like a cool guy to be. Or Carl Choi (the man behind MC Jin, Van Ness Wu and Jaeson Ma). Does Barack Obama have anything to do with the music industry? He has to, right?

Any projects you have coming up next?
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A LOT of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once you’ve recovered from Jason’s egregious use of exclamation points, get ready to party with the rapper one last time on Apr 21. The night will include performances from his newest Beijing-based EP, Goodbye, Beijing (available on his online music store starting Apr 21) as well as pizza from Kro’s Nest to send him off, back to the land of thick crusts and heavy sauce.

To watch some of Jason’s other videos (including, of course, one about Jeremy Lin), check out his YouTube channel.

Apr 21
Goodbye, Beijing
EP launch and farewell performance
RMB 20. 7-9pm. Top Red Art, 798 Arts District (5978 9633), http://topredart.com

Photos: Courtesy of Jason Chu