CD Rev

{{Short description|Chinese government-sponsored gangsta rap group}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = CD Rev | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | landscape =  | alt = | caption = | alias = Chengdu Revolution | origin = Chengdu, Sichuan, China | genre = | years_active = {{start date|2016}}–present | label = | associated_acts = | current_members = Wang "Chuckie" Zixin (王梓鑫)<br /> Li "Pissy" Yijie (李毅傑)<br /> Tan "N.O.G." Yunwen (譚鈞文)<br /> Luo "Roy" Jinhui (羅錦輝) | past_members = | module = | module2 = | module3 = }}

'''CD Rev''', also known as '''Chengdu Revolution'''<ref name="gao">{{cite magazine |last=Gao |first=George |date=8 March 2017 |title=Why Is China So ... Uncool? |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/08/why-is-china-so-uncool-soft-power-beijing-censorship-generation-gap/ |magazine=Foreign Policy |access-date=10 October 2017 }}</ref> or '''天府事变''' (tiān fǔ shìbiàn), is a Chinese Communist Party-sponsored gangsta rap group<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Tom |date=30 June 2016 |title=Chinese officials hire gangsta rappers to boost China's image abroad |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/30/chinese-officials-hire-gangsta-rappers-to-boost-chinas-image-abroad |work=The Guardian |location=Beijing |access-date=10 October 2017}}</ref> whose nationalist-themed music has been described in the West as propaganda.<ref name="beech">{{cite magazine |last=Beech |first=Hannah |date=30 June 2016 |title=This Chinese Propaganda Rap Is the Most Painful Song Ever Recorded |url=https://time.com/4388991/china-rap-propaganda-cd-rev/ |magazine=Time |location=Shanghai |access-date=10 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="hernandez">{{cite news |last=Hernández |first=Javier C. |date=31 December 2016 |title=Propaganda With a Millennial Twist Pops Up in China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/world/asia/china-propaganda-communist-party-millennials.html |work=The New York Times |location=Beijing |access-date=10 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="linder">{{cite web |url=http://shanghaiist.com/2016/06/30/this_is_china_rap.php |title=WATCH: Godawful propaganda rap song attempts to spit the truth about China to foreigners |last=Linder |first=Alex |date=30 June 2016 |website=Shanghaiist |publisher=Gothamist |access-date=10 October 2017}}</ref> The group's music videos have been viewed online millions of times partly due to the support of state media in China<ref name=hernandez/> and widely discussed in Western media.

==Background== CD Rev's four members—Wang "Chuckie" Zixin, Li "Pissy" Yijie, Tan "N.O.G." Yunwen, and Luo "Roy" Jinhui—are from the south-western Chinese city of Chengdu,<ref name=guardian/> a city with an emergent American-style rap music scene.<ref name="huff">{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chinese-rappers-hip-hop_us_55ca6009e4b0923c12be783e |title=Meet The Chinese Rappers Bringing Hip-Hop To The Middle Kingdom |last=Sheehan |first=Matt |date=11 August 2015 |website=HuffPost |access-date=10 October 2017}}</ref> The group claims to have been formed on 1 October 2015, the anniversary date of the foundation of the People's Republic of China.<ref name=guardian/> The group is one of a number of nationalistic media projects sponsored by the technology entrepreneur Rao Jin; other endeavours include the website April Media which produces Chinese-themed talks in the style of TED.<ref name=hernandez/>

The group claims to draw inspiration from American hip-hop artists such as Eminem and Dr. Dre,<ref name="mullany">{{cite news |last=Mullany |first=Gerry |date=12 May 2017 |title=Chinese Rappers Take Aim at American Antimissile System in South Korea |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/world/asia/china-south-korea-thaad-rap-video.html |work=The New York Times |location=Hong Kong |access-date=10 October 2017 }}</ref> though their lyrics express "more affection for law enforcement than is customary for gangsta rappers".<ref name=guardian/> The band's members believe that CD Rev's music is a modernization of traditional Chinese patriotic education.<ref name=hernandez/><ref>See also: The Patriotic Education Campaign</ref>

==Music== CD Rev have released a number of singles, frequently accompanied by music videos, on topics ranging from China's disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea to the legacy of Mao Zedong.<ref name=mullany/>

The group's first single, "The Force of Red", appeared in January 2016. The song, performed in English, espouses pro-One China sentiments and attacks Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen,<ref name=guardian/> describes Western journalists as "media punk ass white trash fuckers",<ref name="buzzfeed">{{cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/beimengfu/red-rap |title=This Chinese Propaganda Video Is Absolutely Everything |last=Fu |first=Beimeng |date=1 July 2016 |website=BuzzFeed |access-date=10 October 2017}}</ref> and declares that "the red king's coming back".<ref name=beech/> Group member Wang Zixin later called these lyrics "a little extreme".<ref name=mullany/>

In June 2016, CD Rev released a single sponsored by the Communist Youth League, a government-backed Communist youth movement. The song, called "This is China", was also performed in English,<ref name=guardian/> as it was aimed at Westerners with the intent of changing their perceptions of China.<ref name=mullany/><ref name=beech/> The song's lyrics trumpet Chinese achievements such as the work of Nobel Prize-winning chemist Tu Youyou and the ancient philosopher Confucius.<ref name=gao/><ref name=hernandez/> "This is China" acknowledges many of China's problems, including air pollution and political corruption<ref name=guardian/><ref name=linder/> but also suggests that these problems have been exaggerated by foreign media.<ref name=guardian/><ref name=buzzfeed/> The song was characterized as "cringe-worthy"<ref name=gao/> and "wooden".<ref name=beech/> Social media users noted that the music video for "This is China" was very similar to an earlier video from South Korean rapper San E,<ref name=buzzfeed/> and the video has since been removed due to copyright claims from San E's production company, Brand New Music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ug6hehTyY|title=- YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

CD Rev released the song "No THAAD" in May 2017, again sponsored by the Communist Youth League. Performed in a mixture of English and Chinese, "No THAAD" criticizes the South Korean government of Park Geun-hye for authorizing the installation of the American THAAD missile defense system, which the Chinese government had objected to.<ref name=mullany/><ref name="SCMP">{{cite news |last=Zhen |first=Liu |date=18 May 2017 |title=THAAD? No thanks, say officially sanctioned Chinese rappers |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2094747/thaad-no-thanks-say-officially-sanctioned-chinese-rappers |work=South China Morning Post |access-date=10 October 2017}}</ref> The song's lyrics refer to South Korea as China's "little brother" and warn that "[the] things you're doing now are gonna rip you apart".<ref name=SCMP/>

In December 2018, CD Rev released "F*** Lil Pump", a diss track against American rapper Lil Pump. That month, Lil Pump had previewed Butterfly Doors, a song containing anti-Asian lyrics such as "ching chong" and "they call me Yao Ming cause my eyes real low".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2178577/chinese-rappers-hit-back-lil-pumps-racial-slurs-amid-backlash|title=Chinese rappers hit back at Lil Pump's racial slurs amid backlash|date=December 18, 2018|website=South China Morning Post|access-date=December 18, 2018|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112011040/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2178577/chinese-rappers-hit-back-lil-pumps-racial-slurs-amid-backlash|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 15 April 2020, CD Rev released a single named “Mr. Virus”, sponsored by the Communist Youth League.

The content of the song includes:

# Expressing support for Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is the Director-General of the World Health Organization. # Laughing and insulting Taiwan. # Laughing at Western politicians and the media.

These three points are also the most important propaganda views of the Chinese Communist Party after the COVID-19 pandemic{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}. CD Rev sang the propaganda views of the Chinese Communist Party in the form of hip-hop rap. People's Daily, Ziguang Pavilion, and the Communist Youth League jointly praised the song.<ref>{{Cite web|title=人民日报、紫光阁、共青团联合点名了这首说唱！ {{!}} 嘻哈中国|url=https://www.xihachina.com/47372.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-26|website=www.xihachina.com|language=zh|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218185044/https://www.xihachina.com/47372.html |archive-date=2022-02-18 }}</ref>

==See also== {{portal|China}} * Chinese hip hop * Revolutionary opera * Propaganda in the People's Republic of China

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== * {{YouTube|9p0nQdvHOOo|Chinese rappers say "No" to THAAD}}

Category:Gangsta rap groups Category:Chinese hip-hop Category:Chinese propaganda organisations