

































 From the birth of hip-hop music in the Bronx, hip-hop lyrics have historically invoked messages of anti-establishment 
protest, but in 2016, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to sanitize and co-opt hip-hop music as a form of 
government propaganda. !is research explores how contemporary Chinese hip-hop artists incorporate nationalist 
and patriotic ideology into the lyrics of hip-hop songs. Previous scholars have debated whether it is possible to 
empirically distinguish between nationalism (belief in the superiority of one’s country) and patriotism (love of one’s 
country). !ough research on the prevalence of nationalism in Chinese hip-hop exists, there is little distinction 
between nationalism and patriotism. !e project utilized thematic coding on pro-China lyrics for nationalist and 
patriotic elements on a purposeful selection of Chinese hip-hop songs’ lyrics. I then examined these codes for 
correlations between occurrences of a thematic code. !is research reveals a tendency for nationalist Chinese hip-
hop songs to emphasize divisions between Chinese citizens and foreign peoples, whereas patriotic songs focus on the 
nation’s own well-being and accomplishments. Given the dangerous consequences nationalism can lead to, such as 
war, distinguishing between nationalism and the less threatening patriotism holds signi"cance when evaluating the 
Chinese government’s push for nationalism in Chinese hip-hop songs.

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  20231

Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and 
Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

by Lily Nguyen

 !ough hip-hop music was originally born 
in the United States to express subversive and 
anti-establishment ideas, some Chinese music 
artists have modi"ed the genre to convey pro-
establishment beliefs. Instead of writing lyrics 
criticizing government behavior, these hip-hop 
artists utilize pro-China lyrics to a#rm the artist’s 
faith and love for the country and to inspire listeners 
to do the same. Che Che, the chief producer of !e 
Rap of China, believes, “!e core of Chinese hip-hop 
is about young people singing about their own land 
and own people…to express the stories happening in 
their country" (Yau, 2020). !e famous hip-hop artist 
and trailblazer GAI—real name Zhou Yan—weaves 
traditional Chinese cultural elements and patriotic 
references to history with a modern beat and rap 
(Lanyon, 2019; Yau, 2020). Another artist featured 
on !e Rap of China, Sun Bayi, has even rapped overt 
lyrics praising the Chinese Communist Party (CCP): 
“!ere won’t be hope unless the party and the people 
can be united; let’s stick to the principle and "rmness 
of the party and go forward” (Vanderklippe, 2018). 
!is subsection of patriotic Chinese hip-hop artists 
greatly contrasts from hip-hop’s original intentions 

of rebelling against authority. !e background of the 
Chinese hip-hop scene in$uences artists’ choices in 
lyric-writing and promoting nationalist ideology.
      !is research examines Chinese hip-hop lyrics for 
explicit expressions of nationalism and patriotism. 
Speci"cally, the project investigates whether music 
artists promote pro-China sentiment in di%erent 
and discernible forms depending on whether the 
sentiment is nationalist or patriotic. !ematic coding 
of a selection of hip-hop songs from mainland 
Chinese artists categorizes pro-China lyrics into 
distinct topics and contexts, such as local foods, 
traditions, politics, and government. !e analysis 
further codes these instances of pro-China language 
as either nationalistic or patriotic to examine 
possible correlations. Existing research analyzing 
the Chinese hip-hop genre does not distinguish 
between nationalism and patriotism within song 
lyrics. Because nationalism may increase violence, 
aggression, and the potential for war between 
nations, an analysis of the bottom-up medium of 
Chinese hip-hop can reveal whether pro-China 
sentiment among the general populace is potentially 
dangerous or merely benign patriotism.



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  20232

Literature Review
Distinguishing Nationalism and Patriotism Debate
 Due to varying histories, cultures, and languages, 
every country associates nationalism and patriotism 
with unique connotations; therefore, within the 
realm of Chinese political science, scholars must 
interpret nationalism and patriotism speci"cally with 
Chinese conceptions of the terms in mind. Despite 
the cultural di%erences, the debate of whether 
researchers can empirically distinguish between 
nationalism and patriotism also exists within 
research on Chinese populations. Some scholars have 
conducted surveys on the construction of national 
identity among Chinese citizens, ultimately "nding 
that nationalism and patriotism are highly distinct 
in China, with nationalism favoring protectionist 
government policies and patriotism aligning with 
a benign internationalism (Gries et al., 2011; 
Sinkkonen, 2013). On the contrary, Wang (2017) 
advocates for a more holistic, multidimensional 
hybrid type of nationalism, viewing nationalism and 
patriotism in China as having overlapping meanings 
and utilizing Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” discourse 
as an example of the hybrid nationalism/patriotism. 
!e current research on Chinese nationalism and 
patriotism disagrees on whether nationalism and 
patriotism are distinguishable; hence, more research 
within the understudied "eld of Chinese hip-hop 
provides further qualitative evidence of whether 
di%erentiating the two terms is possible. If the 
analysis determines Chinese hip-hop songs to be 
simultaneously nationalist and patriotic, this research 
will support the notion of indistinguishable, hybrid, 
and multidimensional nationalism/patriotism.

!e Chinese Government’s Use of Music as Propaganda
 Researchers of Chinese media are examining the 
tactics the Chinese state uses to co-opt popular hip-
hop culture for nationalist propaganda purposes. 
!ough hip-hop is a foreign musical import from 
the United States, the genre is localized and sanitized 
into pro-China directives through censorship and 
incentivizing artists to self-censor. While exploring 
the conceptions of political leaders in China, 
Lagerkvist (2008) coined the term “ideotainment” 
as the “juxtaposition of images, symbolic 
representations, and sounds of popular Web and 
mobile phone culture together with both subtle 
and overt ideological constructs and nationalistic 

propaganda” (p. 121). Zou (2019) used this notion 
of ideotainment while performing a case study of 
the Chinese hip-hop group CD Rev’s most popular 
music videos to showcase how “state-centric ideology 
is aesthetically evoked by co-opting popular cultural 
formats” (p.178). Amar (2018) further investigated 
the roots of propaganda in hip-hop and summarized 
the history of China’s attempts to censor and shape 
the messages of hip-hop artists. !ough research 
exists on nationalist propaganda in Chinese hip-hop, 
scholars make little distinction between nationalism 
and patriotism. !is project uses established 
de"nitions of nationalism and patriotism to code 
pro-China hip-hop lyrics and determine whether the 
government’s co-option of hip-hop has in$uenced 
the frequency of nationalist versus patriotic lyrics.
 Scholars have found the government’s 
relationship with the hip-hop genre varies from 
periods of acceptance to suppression. !e state’s level 
of censorship is largely contingent upon hip-hop’s 
alignment with CCP (Chinese Communist Party) 
values like obedience and loyalty. Nathanel Amar 
(2018) explains the government’s contradictory 
behavior by recounting the history of Chinese hip-
hop from its underground roots in the 1990s to 
more recent commercial successes. !e Chinese 
government initially accepted the hip-hop culture, 
incentivizing hip-hop artists to promote positive 
values, such as "lial piety and respect, but scandals in 
2018 accusing hip-hop artist PG One of “encouraging 
young people to take drugs and humiliate women” 
caused the state to swi&ly ban hip-hop artists or 
tattooed persons on television programs (Amar, 
2018, p. 110). Because the scholarship has shown 
the Chinese government’s propensity to incentivize 
music artists who promote the Party’s social values, 
an analysis of modern Chinese hip-hop lyrics may 
reveal an increase in pro-China lyrics for the purpose 
of being promoted by the Chinese government. 
Financial incentives and fear of punishment may 
motivate artists to write lyrics promoting social 
values in alignment with CCP values.
      
Research Design
 To collect the data, I used the Chinese search 
engine Baidu (https://www.baidu.com/) in 
conjunction with an established set of criteria to 
create a purposeful sample of pro-China Chinese 
hip-hop songs and lyrics. I limited the sample 



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  20233

to hip-hop songs created by mainland Chinese 
artists from 2010 to 2021. If the artist or artist’s 
company had not already released an o#cial English 
translation of the lyrics, I utilized Google Translate 
(https://translate.google.com/) to translate the lyrics 
from Chinese into English and emailed unclear 
machine-translated lyrics to research mentor and 
$uent Mandarin-speaker Dr. John Kennedy to 
check for accuracy. First, I typed “China Hip-Hop 
Artists” in Chinese into Baidu’s search bar to obtain 
links to Baidu’s biographies and discographies of 
recommended hip-hop artists and then eliminated 
songs published before 2010 and songs by non-
mainland Chinese artists from further examination. 
I determined whether to include the remaining 
songs in the "nal dataset by scanning each song’s 
lyrics for terms highlighting China in a positive light, 
eliminating songs without nationalistic, patriotic, or 
pro-China lyrics. A&er locating a total of 16 songs, 
I recorded citation information and lyrics and then 
translated English lyrics for each selected song into 
Microso& Word documents. Because these artists 
appear in Baidu’s search results, the artists are not 
only accessible to Chinese audiences, but the artists 
have a signi"cant following in China. I selected 
hip-hop artists from mainland China to ensure any 
nationalistic/patriotic lyrics were directed towards 
mainland China, and I only utilized songs from 2010 
to 2021 to gather data relevant to the current day. 
!e use of Google Translate is a su#cient method of 
translation because I am looking for overt pro-China 
references in the lyrics; however, the majority of 
artists already provided an English translation of the 
lyrics, ensuring the artist’s message was translated 
properly.
 For the data analysis, I performed thematic 
coding on each of the translated hip-hop lines by 
"rst locating and highlighting pro-China song 
lyrics in the Word document and then typing 
relevant codes, e.g., “nationalism, government” or 
“patriotism, history,” in bolded text next to each 
pro-China term. To collect quantitative data, I 
recorded the frequency (number of terms) of both 
nationalism and patriotism in each song in an Excel 
spreadsheet. For the qualitative analysis, I created 
separate Word "les for each code containing a list of 
every occurrence of the code identi"ed throughout 
the Chinese hip-hop songs by thematic coding. A&er 
reading the entirety of each song’s lyrics, I coded 

each song as nationalistic, patriotic, or both (coded 
as 1, 2, and 3 respectively) in Excel depending on 
whether nationalistic or patriotic terms consisted of 
over 60% of the pro-China terms. For reoccurring 
thematic codes, I created additional columns in the 
spreadsheet to record the number of times each code 
occurred in each song. !en, a&er compiling direct 
quotes of lyrics with coded themes into separate 
documents for each theme, I performed a second 
round of coding looking for correlations, trends, 
and discoveries about the thematic code. !ematic 
coding isolates the nationalist and patriotic elements 
of each song and establishes a framework of common 
themes to compare across multiple songs. !e coding 
of frequency determines whether Chinese hip-hop 
songs can be wholly patriotic or entirely nationalist. 
!e qualitative method of coding key phrases for 
connections reveals what pro-China themes occur 
frequently over a broad number of songs, adding 
context to the research question of how Chinese 
hip-hop artists express nationalism or patriotism in 
Chinese hip-hop songs.
      
Analysis
Frequency of Nationalism
 !e most common nationalist thematic codes 
featured across the widest range of songs included 
battle/enemies, defense, territory, history, and world 
respect. !e most common nationalist codes in 
number but not in breadth referred exclusively to 
China’s outgroups, including anti-West, anti-Korea, 
anti-Japan, anti-Taiwan, anti-Hong Kong, and One-
China codes. As Table 1 shows, the nationalist code 
battle/enemies appeared in almost half of the sample 
and across four artists. !e codes history, territory, 
and world respect also appeared in four artists’ songs. 
Because of the relatively large number of outgroup-
themed codes in nationalist songs, these songs and 
codes invoke a sense of war against other nations 
who are enemies to China’s territory and culture. 
!e artists use the codes to call for Chinese citizens 
to defend the nation against foreign in$uences and 
ideas.



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  20234

 !e state-sponsored group CD REV’s discography 
may indicate a coordinated government e%ort to 
create nationalist hip-hop songs. CD REV receives 
"nancial and technical support from the Communist 
Youth League of China (CYLC) to create pro-China 
hip-hop songs and music videos. Out of the sample 
of eight Chinese hip-hop artists, the state-sponsored 
group CD REV produced the greatest number of 
nationalist songs (Table 2). With the support of 
the CYLC, CD REV has also created songs with no 
patriotic language and solely nationalist rhetoric, 
namely, “!e Force of Red” and “Hong Kong’s Fall” 
(CD REV, 2016a; CD REV, 2019). !ese songs both 
explicitly promote the Chinese government’s e%orts 
to politically unite Taiwan and Hong Kong with 
mainland China, while simultaneously insulting 
Western nations against these goals. By actively 
supporting nationalist hip-hop groups, the Chinese 
government can bene"t from songs that strengthen 
the population’s inwardness and love of country. 
If CD REV is a successful group, the government 
may continue to invest in songs as a tool to spread 
political propaganda beyond anti-West and anti-
Taiwan initiatives.

 However, non-state-sponsored artists have 
also written nationalist hip-hop songs, similarly 
portraying foreigners as enemies or unwanted pests. 
!ese songs have a high frequency of nationalist 
terms, with almost no patriotic language, indicating 
a focus on China’s relationship with other nations. 
Frustrated by foreign tourists and immigrants 
using public resources, artist Fat Shady wrote 

a song insulting foreigners for being impolite, 
having improper decorum, and being a burden 
on Chinese society (Fat Shady, 2017). As seen in 
Table 3, only 2 codes referring to Chinese wealth 
and women in “Stupid Foreigner” are patriotic, 
paling in comparison to the 22 nationalist coded 
lyrics relating to xenophobia, politics, history, and 
enemies. Additionally, a&er studying abroad in the 
United States, Chinese student Wang Yifan wrote a 
song addressed to Americans and Chinese American 
students, admonishing the students’ dog-like 
worship of the United States (Yifan, 2018). Because 
non-state-sponsored artists also promote nationalist 
ideas, the government’s push for nationalism may be 
succeeding in convincing the Chinese population 
to adopt nationalist attitudes. !is bottom-up 
nationalism can be violent and strongly xenophobic, 
as these two songs illustrate, causing diplomacy and 
cross-cultural communications between China and 
other nations to su%er.

Frequency of Patriotism

 None of the artists producing patriotic songs in 
the sample are "nancially sponsored by the Chinese 
government, but some hip-hop artists are still 
motivated to include nationalist language in song 
lyrics. Although the majority of these song lyrics are 
highly patriotic, some artists might make an e%ort 
to promote nationalist and government values for 
either personal bene"t or for a desire to support the 
government. !ree of the songs in the sample are 
solely patriotic songs; three additional songs’ codes 
are over 90% patriotic (Table 4). However, CD REV’s 
“!is is China” and GAI’s “!e Great Wall” include 
at least 10% nationalistic codes. “South China Sea” by 
CD REV even features 50% of both nationalist and 
patriotic codes (Table 4). CD REV’s motivations for 



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  20235

creating pro-China songs are clear: direct monetary 
support from the government; the same motivation 
does not apply to GAI. Perhaps GAI truly does 
believe in supporting the spread of nationalism, but 
another likely reason for the inclusion of nationalist 
lyrics is a desire to seek out approval and support 
from the government. Other patriotic artists can 
avoid censorship by creating patriotic songs or by 
not including negative lyrics towards China, but a 
song with nationalist lyrics might be evidence of an 
attempt to garner stronger government promotion.

 

 Among the patriotic codes of the lyrics, the most 
common themes were history/ancestors, Chinese 
virtues, hard work/perseverance, nature, and 
prosperity/wealth. Although other themes appeared 
more frequently in song lyrics, usually because one 
song repeated a particular theme multiple times, 
these themes were reoccurring in the greatest breadth 
of songs. By far, history/ancestors was the most 
reoccurring patriotic theme across songs, appearing 
in over half the songs in the sample, and the most 
coded patriotic theme in general (Table 5). Patriotic 
songs used this theme to invoke within listeners 
pride in China’s 5000-year history. !e other themes 
of Chinese virtue, hard work, wealth, and nature also 
referred exclusively to Chinese citizens’ remarkable 
personal qualities or the beauty of China’s land. 
Because these themes occur most frequently in 
patriotic lyrics, most Chinese artists believe China’s 
history, geography, and hardworking nature are 
reasons to love the country. !ese reasons focus on 
unique Chinese qualities, rather than a comparison 
to other nations, suggesting that patriotic songs do 
not pose as a violence-inducing threat to foreign 
countries.

Characteristics of Nationalist Songs
 Nationalist lyrics in hip-hop songs o&en center 
themes of violence, war, and battle, creating a divide 
between the Chinese people and foreign nations. !e 
battles can either be literal references to history or 
abstract and ideological in nature but always uphold 
the superiority of the Chinese perspective. In Table 6, 
GAI’s “!e Great Wall” tells a story of “indomitable 

China” and reminds the listener of heroes of Chinese 
history who defended the motherland (GAI, 2018). 
Additionally, CD REV’s “!e Force of Red” focuses 
on an ideological battle against the West and a 
territorial battle with Taiwan (CD REV, 2016a). 
!e hip-hop group raps in English, aiming to reach 
an audience in the West, while including Chinese 
captions in the music video in hopes of persuading 
Chinese citizens as well (Table 7). !e artists attempt 
to persuade audiences of the importance of defending 
Chinese civilization, even to the point of war. !is 
importance has been prevalent since ancient times, 
as in GAI’s “!e Great Wall,” and continues to be 
relevant in modern times, as CD REV claims.  

    
 Nationalist political songs o&en advance China’s 
political aspirations regarding other nations, such 
as the One-China policy. !ese songs also tend to 
directly attack countries which oppose the policy. 
For example, CD REV’s songs actively promote 
Chinese nationalist foreign policies, such as the 
One-China policy, the Diaoyu Islands or Senkaku 
Islands territorial dispute, the South China Sea 
territorial dispute, anti-democracy movements in 
Hong Kong, and anti-American Terminal High 
Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense 
system deployed in South Korea (CD REV, 2016a, 
2017a, 2017b, 2018, 2019). !ese songs use negative 
language against nations and territories such as 
South Korea, Japan, the United States, Taiwan, and 
Hong Kong to discredit the countries’ political 
stances (see Table 8). By defaming the reputation 
of China’s foreign opponents, nationalist political 
songs may be attempting to persuade neutral nations 
to become allies with China rather than the United 
States, Japan, South Korea, or Taiwan. By promoting 
speci"c policies in favor of China’s development and 
foreign policy, these songs might encourage listeners 
from neutral nations to support national policies in 
line with Chinese political goals.



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  20236

 Nationalist song lyrics utilize vulgarity and 
swear words more o&en than patriotic songs. !e 
vulgar language includes English curse words and 
derogatory language towards foreigners and enemies 
of China. Table 8 showcases lyrics by the group CD 
REV, insulting speci"c politicians of foreign countries 
and “anybody trynna split up PRC the leader” (CD 
REV, 2016a). !e patriotic songs in the sample did 
not utilize vulgar language in any pro-China lyrics. 
!ough the Chinese government attempts to censor 
Chinese music for both anti-government sentiment 
and vulgarities, the government seems to be more 
lenient with nationalist hip-hop artists who use 
vulgarity to promote the nationalist ideology. !e 
contradictory behavior of the government reveals 
the tendency for government sponsored groups to 
be able to bypass the censorship of swear words.

Characteristics of Patriotic Songs
 A trend in artistic and cultural imagery 
exempli"es patriotic songs’ pride in China’s unique 
characteristics and accomplishments. In the sample, 
more patriotic songs utilized more themes of 
Chinese art, architecture, culture, food, technology, 
and philosophy than nationalist songs. For example, 
GAI’s song “!e Great Wall” refers to the Great Wall 
of China 28 times to compare one of China’s most 
iconic and lasting creations to the undying spirit of 
the Chinese people (GAI, 2018a). GAI additionally 
praises the magni"cent construction of Taoist 
temples in the Wudang Mountains and compares 
the miraculous work of the Chinese to “precious…
blue and white porcelain” in the song “Huaxia” (GAI, 
2018b). In the song “Made in China,” the Higher 

Brothers also wrote about inventions and concepts 
from Chinese culture, including the philosophical 
ideas of yin and yang and feng shui, the martial art 
tai chi, the classic text I Ching, and the architectural 
wonders of the Terracotta Warriors, the Great Wall 
of China, and the Forbidden City (Higher Brothers, 
2017). When artists write about famous aspects 
of Chinese culture, such as art, architecture, and 
philosophy, without encouraging conformity to 
Chinese culture, both artists and listeners can feel a 
healthy sense of pride in sharing this culture with the 
rest of the world. !e cultural exchange can improve 
rates of tourism, leading to greater diplomatic 
relations and interactions with foreigners. Ingroup 
and outgroup relationships may improve among 
patriotic individuals, but nationalist individuals may 
resent increasing contact with foreigners.   

 Hip-hop artists use the theme of unity in patriotic 
songs in conjunction with imagery of a family’s 
continual growth and progress. In stark contrast 
to the nationalist use of unity, artists do not make 
mention of politics relating to the One-China policy, 
Taiwan, or Hong Kong. GAI in “!e Great Wall” 
presents an image of a uni"ed Chinese community, 
working hard to create progress, without mentioning 
any other nations (GAI, 2017a). !e song “Brilliant 
China” compares the nation to a home and the people 
to a large family working to take care of each other 
“with a shared future for mankind” (Bayi, 2018a). 
!e patriotic usage of unity allows artists to promote 
the idea of a country united in values and purpose, 
strengthening ingroup relations without the need 
for weakening outgroup relations. !e progress and 
development mentioned in these songs can actually 



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  2023

bene"t foreign nations when China shares its 
advancements and prosperity through international 
trade.
 In contrast to nationalist political songs, 
patriotic political songs usually support the Chinese 
Communist Party in general without mention of 
speci"c policies, aiming to unify the population 
under one government party. When referring to 
the government, the artists express approval for the 
Party’s actions and structure, with no criticisms. For 
example, as seen in Table 10, Sun Bayi’s (2018a) song 
“Brilliant China” is patriotic because Bayi recounts 
the Chinese Communist Party’s development of 
the nation, while avoiding nationalism by not 
mentioning other countries. !e artist emphasizes 
the relationship between the government and the 
people, believing the government brings “happiness 
for the people and rejuvenation for the nation” (Bayi, 
2018a). Because political issues can vary over a wide 
breadth of national interests, both nationalist and 
patriotic artists focus on certain aspects of politics to 
best suit the motives of the song. Patriotic political 
songs simply promote the people’s general trust in 
government, improving in-group relationships, 
without mention of international a%airs.

!emes in Both Nationalist and Patriotic Songs
 Both nationalist and patriotic hip-hop songs 
re$ect traditional Chinese beliefs borne out of 
Confucianism, such as a respect for hierarchy, 
ancestors, and history. Many Chinese hip-hop artists 
are proud to be part of China’s long 5000 years of 
history and traditions, drawing from their heritage 
to inspire feelings of patriotism in listeners. Tsinghua 
University’s hip-hop song created to promote the 
university’s prestige and wisdom frequently refers 
to the ancient Chinese Emperors Yan and Huang; 
the rappers say, “!e talents’ origin from sages 
that comes not afar / And to the predecessors we 
bow” (Gang & Han, 2017). CD REV’s nationalist 
“!e Force of Red” upholds China’s “5000-year-old 

history” while saying of the West, “You the fresh kid,” 
(CD REV, 2016a). In the dataset, references to history 
are typically patriotic, but nationalist artists may use 
these values to justify violence against other nations. 
When taken too far, a respect for ancestors and the 
past can lead to replicating the violent conquering 
nature of empires and capturing territory.
      

  

  

7



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  2023

 Additionally, both nationalist and patriotic 
songs have emphasized the desire for foreigners 
to view China in a positive light. Although artists 
believe China is meritorious of praise from its 
own achievements, some artists believe other 
nations should acknowledge China’s great works. 
Higher Brothers’ (2017) patriotic song “Made 
in China” includes the lyrics, “Even Arizona 
State University teaches Chinese,” in order to 
acknowledge the importance of world respect 
and popularity. Simultaneously, the same song 
includes the nationalist lyric, “!e responsibility 
I feel is like the Chinese national team winning 
respect in swimming,” comparing China to other 
nations (Higher Brothers, 2017). !ough wanting 
the nation and culture to be respected and well-
known throughout the world can be solely patriotic, 
nationalist artists can manipulate world respect into 
anti-foreign sentiments. A nationalist artist believes 
that not only should other nations respect China, but 
other nations should conform to Chinese values.

Negative Language Towards China
 Chinese hip-hop artists have gradually self-
censored lyrics for negative language towards China 
or lyrics against the values of the Party throughout 
the years, opting for lyrics in line with the values 
of the government. When hip-hop artists are not 
well-known, the artists can take greater risks with 
subversive, anti-establishment lyrics, but as the 
artists become famous, the government is more 
likely to take notice of and ban any music against 
Party values. !ough hip-hop artist GAI "rst gained 
notoriety through songs with violent, gangster, 
and trap imagery, GAI has begun to incorporate 
traditional Chinese instruments and themes into 
songs since appearing on television show “!e Rap 
of China” (Amar, 2018). Similarly, CD REV initially 
included negative aspects of China in their premier 
song “Made in China,” but the group now exclusively 
produces songs with no admittance of China’s 
wrongdoings (CD REV, 2016b). Artists are fearful of 
government intervention in hip-hop songs and must 
self-censor to avoid penalties. !ese examples may 
reveal the patriotic/nationalist sentiment in certain 
discographies is not honest or genuine.

      
 Because the purpose of “!is is China” was to 
disprove negative falsi"cations about China, CD 
REV may have chosen to include both positive 
and negative facts about China to preserve a sense 
of credibility. Hip-hop artists are concerned with 
maintaining a sense of credibility and authenticity 
with listeners, as the hip-hop genre prides itself on 
portraying the realistic feelings of common people. 
CD REV (2016b) begins the song by rapping, “Today 
I wanna restore the impression you have on my 
country / You guys can know better about what the 
truth is and how Chinese people assess their own 
country.” As seen in Table 13, the song then explains 
that China is a developing country with problems of 
corruption, pollution, poor medicine, and famine, 
but China is continually developing improvements 
(CD REV, 2016b). !e artists have faith in the 
country’s future. In patriotic and nationalist songs, 
negative language can be used to add credibility 
to the artists’ claims of patriotism/nationalism. 
However, the Chinese government may not continue 
to allow such uses of negative language, depending 
on the context and severity of the negative language.
      
Discussion
Social Identity !eory
 According to social identity theory, because 
group membership creates a distinction between 
the ingroup and the outgroup in an individual’s 
mind, Chinese hip-hop artists’ group membership of 
nationality may exert pressure on artists’ behavior to 
create songs in conformity to the ingroup or nation’s 
values. !is distinction also leads to individuals 
feeling personally threatened when outsiders 
challenge ingroup values, and an individual’s self-

8



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  2023

esteem increases when the individual views the 
ingroup as superior to outgroups (Druckman, 1994; 
Leaper, 2011). 
 !e nationalist Chinese hip-hop songs in 
the sample always attacked foreign nations and 
contrasted the superiority of Chinese life, culture, 
and politics to outside countries like the United 
States, Japan, and South Korea, supporting social 
identity theory’s claims of an ingroup viewing an 
outgroup as inferior. Social identity theory states 
individuals tend to view the ingroup less critically 
and with favoritism in comparison to outgroups 
(Leaper, 2011). !e analysis revealed a connection 
between nationalist lyrics in six songs and the 
degradation of foreign nations’ capacity to carry out 
international initiatives. Nationalist artists chose to 
attack the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, 
and Hong Kong speci"cally because these countries 
opposed mainland Chinese values or government 
initiatives (e.g., One China policy); artists exclusively 
contrasted foreign nations with China, choosing to 
avoid any commonalities these countries had. Social 
identity theory’s understanding of ingroup positive 
bias explains Chinese hip-hop artists’ social drive 
to write songs with pro-China lyrics, and outgroup 
negative bias explains artists’ tendency to write 
negative lyrics directed towards outside nations and 
political "gures. Because the act of categorization 
into ingroup and outgroup also reenforces biases, 
listeners of these hip-hop songs are likely to 
negatively stereotype foreigners without critically 
re$ecting on self-bias. !e theory suggests that in 
the future nationalist artists may even depict any 
foreign country, not just countries actively opposing 
Chinese initiatives, as lesser and in need of reform to 
be more like China. 

Distinguishing Nationalism and Patriotism
 !is research agrees with previous literature 
linking nationalism and patriotism to a greater 
intolerance and tolerance of minorities respectively. 
!e analysis found nationalist Chinese hip-hop 
songs divide Chinese audiences from the outgroup 
by claiming China’s superiority to other nations, 
whereas patriotic songs emphasize the inherent 
beauty of China’s nature, art, and culture. !is 
research concurs with Blank and Schmidt’s (2003) 
panel study on East and West German national 
identity which correlated nationalism with the 

denigration of outgroups, similarly to how nationalist 
Chinese hip-hop songs in the sample insult foreign 
outgroups and tourists. !e study also found 
patriotism to be correlated with a higher tolerance 
of outgroups, supported by patriotic hip-hop songs’ 
desire for foreigners to see the beauty of China in 
person (Blank & Schmidt, 2003). Additionally, 
the analysis’ distinction between nationalism and 
patriotism supports previous surveys on Chinese 
citizens’ construction of national identity because 
the previous studies concluded nationalists favored 
protectionist government policies and patriots 
supported friendly internationalism (Gries et al., 
2011; Sinkkonen, 2013). Despite the ongoing debate 
as to whether Chinese nationalism and patriotism 
are distinct, this analysis added further evidence to 
support discernibility between Chinese nationalism 
and patriotism. Previous studies analyzed Chinese 
citizens’ opinions on speci"c national issues, but 
this research analyzed lyrics already written by 
artists, allowing for greater representation of types 
of nationalism and patriotism. !e research presents 
a bottom-up analysis of nationalist/patriotic views 
of Chinese citizens, "nding distinct uses of thematic 
codes among nationalist and patriotic songs.
      
Conclusion
 Nationalism and patriotism are distinguishable 
in Chinese hip-hop because nationalist lyrics create 
a divide between Chinese nationals and foreign 
peoples, whereas patriotic lyrics focus on China’s 
prosperity, nature, and unique culture. Nationalist 
songs encourage violence against the outgroup 
through lyrics encouraging battle and defense of 
China’s ideology, but patriotic songs instill Chinese 
listeners with pride for their country and a desire 
to share the culture with outsiders. In the sample 
of songs, the most common nationalist codes 
referred to battles, defense, and territory, but the 
most common patriotic codes talked about Chinese 
art, history, and culture. Lyrics referring to history 
were usually patriotic, but nationalist artists used 
history to justify modern day violence against other 
nations to reclaim China’s property and territory. 
Additionally, artists used the theme of unity 
di%erently in nationalist/patriotic songs, with unity 
being used as imagery of a family in patriotic songs, 
and in nationalist songs, unity was almost exclusively 
used to refer to the One-China policy. !is research 

9



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  2023

is signi"cant because nationalism can be potentially 
dangerous, leading to war and violence. Politicians 
should pay close attention to bottom-up nationalism 
in Chinese citizens because a growing nationalist 
sentiment indicates that the Chinese government’s 
push for nationalist propaganda is leading citizens to 
self-produce nationalist propaganda. !is realization 
will also help policy makers to prepare for the 
potential consequences of nationalism and combat 
propaganda control.
      
References
Althusser, L. (1971). Lenin and philosophy and other 

essays. Monthly Review Press.

Amar, N. (2018). “Do you freestyle?” !e roots 
of censorship in Chinese hip-hop (D. Buchanan, 
Trans.). China Perspectives, 1-2(113), 107–114.

Bayi, S. (2018a). Brilliant China [Song]. https://
baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%BE%89%E7%85% 
8C%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/57970151

Bayi, S. (2018b). Singing the Middle Kingdoms 
[Song]. http://www.geci131.com/geci/255098 
1.html

Blank, T., & Schmidt, P. (2003). National identity 
in a united Germany: Nationalism or patriotism? 
An empirical test with representative data. 
Political Psychology, 24(2), 289–312.

CD REV. (2017a). Chinese Rappers Say No to 
THAAD [Song]. https://www.youtube.com/ 
watch?v=9p0nQdvHOOo

CD REV. (2017b). Diaoyu Islands Belong to China 
[Song]. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1 
ix41127XD/?spm_id_from=333.788.videocar

CD REV. (2016a). !e Force of Red [Song]. https://
music.weibo.com/t/i/100349608.html

CD REV. (2019). Hong Kong’s Fall [Song]. https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1us-0SVKcg

CD REV. (2018). South China Sea [Song]. https://
www.bilibili.com/video/av7677638

CD REV. (2016b). !is is China [Song]. https://
www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ps411 Y7mg/?spm_
id_from=trigger_reload

Druckman, D. (1994). Nationalism, patriotism, and 
group loyalty: A social psychological perspective. 
Mershon International Studies Review, 38(1), 43-
68.

Fat Shady. (2017). Stupid Foreigner [Song]. https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5z10P6qX-g

GAI. (2018a). !e Great Wall [Song]. On !e Great 
Wall. JWC Entertainment.

GAI. (2018b). Huaxia [Song]. JWC Entertainment.

Gang, D.L. & Han, S. (2017). Tsinghua Tao [Song]. 
Tsinghua University. https://www.you tube.com/
watch?v=zpb6uKQDK1s

Gao, Z. (2015). When nationalism goes to the 
market: !e case of Chinese patriotic songs. 
Journal of Macromarketing, 35(4), 473–488.

Gries, P. H., Zhang, Q., Crowson, H. M., & Cai, H. 
(2011). Patriotism, nationalism and China’s US 
policy: Structures and consequences of Chinese 
national identity. !e China Quarterly, 205, 1–17.

Higher Brothers. (2017). Made in China [Song]. On 
Black Cab. 88rising.

Ho, W.-C. (2017). !e power of popular music in 
China’s music education: From the Chinese 
dream and personal dreams to Confucianism. 
Journal of Popular Music Education, 1(1), 25-42.

Huddy, L., & Khatib, N. (2007). American patriotism, 
national identity, and political involvement. 
American Journal of Political Science, 51(1), 63-
77.

Kosterman, R., & Feshbach, S. (1989). Toward a 
measure of patriotic and nationalistic attitudes. 
Political Psychology, 10(2), 257–274.

Lagerkvist, J. (2008). Internet ideotainment in the 
PRC: National responses to cultural globalization. 
Journal of Contemporary China, 17(54), 121–140.

10



Don’t Fight the Power: Expressions of Nationalism and Patriotism in Chinese Hip-Hop Lyrics

Aisthesis      Volume 14,  2023

Lanyon, C. (2019, June 8). From Gai to Vava: Five 
Chinese rappers who became famous (or 
infamous) a&er !e Rap of China. South China 
Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com

Larson, D. W. (2017). Social identity theory: Status 
and identity in international relations. 
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. 
Oxford University Press. https://
o x f o r d r e . c o m / p o l i t i c s / v i e w / 1 0 . 1 0 9 3 /
acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-
9780190228637-e-290

Latcheva, R. (2010). Nationalism versus patriotism, 
or the $oating border? National identi"cation 
and ethnic exclusion in post-communist 
Bulgaria. Journal of Comparative Research in 
Anthropology and Sociology, 1(2), 187–216.

Leaper, C. (2011). Chapter 9 - More similarities 
than di%erences in contemporary theories of 
social development?: A plea for theory bridging. 
Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 
40(1), 337-378.

Li, H. (2018). From red to “pink”: Propaganda rap, 
new media, and China’s so& power pursuit. 
American Journal of Chinese Studies, 25(2), 89-
105.

Sinkkonen, E. (2013). Nationalism, patriotism and 
foreign policy attitudes among Chinese 
university students. !e China Quarterly, 216, 
1045–1063. 

Vanderklippe, N. (2018, February 17). China's hip-
hop uprising, beat by beat: While rebellious 
rappers are having a moment in the country, 
a crackdown by the ruling Communist Party 
challenges the genre’s focus on protest and 
resistance. !e Globe and Mail. https://www.
theglobeandmail.com

VaVa. (2016). Eazy Life [Song] On Eazy Life. Warner 
Music China.

Wang, J. (2017). Representing Chinese nationalism/
patriotism through President Xi Jinping’s 
“Chinese dream” discourse. Journal of Language 
& Politics, 16(6), 830–848.

Yaping, M. (2017, July 23). !e Rap of China turns 
underground music into mainstream hits. 
CGTN. https://news.cgtn.com

Yau, E. (2020, September 27). !e rise of Gai, Chinese 
hip hop icon and !e Rap of China winner who 
went from contestant to judge on the hit reality 
show. South China Morning Post. https://www.
scmp.com

Yifan, W. (2018). Chinese Daddy [Song]. https://
www.bilibili.com/video/av23376598/

Zou, S. (2019). When nationalism meets hip-hop: 
Aestheticized politics of ideotainment in China. 
Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies, 
16(3), 178–195.

11


