Chinese Man


Chinese Man is a collective French trip hop band created in 2004 and originally from Aix-en-Provence. They are influenced by hip-hop, funk, dub, reggae and jazz.
Chinese Man is composed of DJ Marseille Zé Mateo and High Ku and beatmaker SLY. Beatmakers Leo le Bug and Le Yan also revolve around the group and participate in the composition of several pieces. Frequent live additions to the crew include Taiwan MC and MC Youthstar. The group became known through the song "I've Got That Tune" which was chosen by Mercedes-Benz for its promotional campaign and by the French Film Festival in Hong Kong as its theme.
Chinese Man Records label is based in Marseille, France.

Controversy

Chinese Man have received criticism for their name. The group is primarily composed of three Caucasian men, High Ku, Sly, and Zé Mateo, and are frequently joined live onstage by Youthstar and ASM. The audiovisual content for which they are well-known is produced by Fred&Annabelle, and VYZ Team. The titular character for their music video "Miss Chang" is portrayed by Caucasian actress Clémentine Baert.
There were protests in Canada during their 2018 North American tour. The group has explained that Chinese Man is the name of the first track the collective produced together in 2004. The track got its name from a vocal sample saying Chinese Man, and they kept that name for the band and for the related label Chinese Man Records.
According to the band, they also kept this name because the CMR collective express a keen general interest in Asian culture, and have publicly stated their intention to keep the name as a tribute to what they consider a deep, rich, and varied culture.
Like other bands such as IAM in France and the Wu-Tang Clan in the US, the CMR collective have created a graphic universe around a mythical character. Their Chinese Man character sends his disciples all around the world with a unique mission "to spread music around the world".

Discography

Albums