Yes people, I’m jumping on the meme bandwagon again. This time it’s music. By this point we all know the truly terrible song by Rebecca Black called Friday and some of the quite hilarious covers of the song (I like the Colbert/Kimmel one myself). Well, here’s a new one you might have not seen. A Chinese-American named Dawen translated the oh-so intelligent lyrics to Chinese and actually came up with a pretty catchy version of the song. Plus, the fact that he is cute makes the whole thing a lot more bearable then the original.
Watching that video kind of sent me down the YouTube rabbit hole of Chinese rap music. I think listening to music is a really good way to keep your ear attuned to a language your learning, and when you got a good video to go along with it, it makes it even better.
I guess you can’t talk about Chinese rap and not mention Jay Chou. Jay is a triple threat (and now in a theater near you thanks to a role in The Green Hornet) and so popular even I’ve heard about him. (Yes, it’s true, I know sadly little about Chinese music, which I want to change.) Anyway, this song will melt your heart. I chose it from the dozens of video’s ’cause the kid’s rockin’ the Batman shirt.
This video is not actually standard Mandarin, but the local language of Wuhan. Still, you gotta give this girl some props for looking and acting so tough.
I’m not exactly sure what is going on in this video, but I wish I did. I’m thinking this is China’s answer to the Lonely Island or something.
And lest you think I’m being too fair to Chinese people, showing them in too positive a light, I found this boy band rap video complete with kung fu clips and dancing. That’s right, everybody in China knows Kung Fu. This video proves it.
I hope you enjoyed this little forey into some Chinese rap. And remember, yesterday was thursday and today it is Friday. So have a ball today.
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Hey Becky your blog is terrific and inspiring.It is very interesting and well-written!
Thanks Ruth! Hopefully you’ll be in China soon and be blogging about your own China adventure!