The Rap of China


The Rap of China, formerly known as, is a Chinese rap competition show produced by iQiyi. The show has been credited for making hip hop widespread and mainstream in mainland China.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2017)

The first episode of season one of The Rap of China aired on 24 June 2017. The producers were Chinese-Canadian rapper-singer Kris Wu, Taiwanese-American singer Will Pan, Taiwanese rapper MC HotDog and Taiwanese rock musician Chang Chen-yue. Notable rappers such as HipHopMan, Tizzy T, PG One, BrAnT.B, Jony J, AfterJourney, VAVA, GAI, Bridge, Ty. and others participated in this season. The finals were competed between the top three contestants PG One, GAI and AfterJourney as well as Jony J, who was resurrected from his earlier elimination. PG One and GAI were announced joint winners after the final round of voting ended up in a draw.

Rounds

Round One : Open auditions were held in Beijing. Rappers would rap without music and if the producers liked it, they would hand the rapper a chain that indicates that they move on to the next round.
Round Two : Contestants that passed would be given 60 seconds each to present their prepared rap to the producers. They only need one producer to pass for them to move on; however, if all the producers fail them, they would be eliminated.
Round Three : Contestants draw a name from a hat to pick their temporary team. Each team takes a turn to freestyle to a beat on a topic that their producer chose. If they don’t get the microphone in the time permitted or their rap is deemed not good enough, they are chosen for elimination.
Round Four : Based on their assessment in the previous round, the contestants chose an opponent to battle against. They choose a beat and create a song together that is performed. When they battle, producers vote on who was better and the loser is eliminated. The 20 contestants who were eliminated in the 1 vs 1 battles return and each producer team chooses one rapper to return.
Round Five : Each producer team performs in front of the contestants and an audience who votes for their favorite. From the votes, the judges earn chances to select rappers to form teams. The producers sit on one side of the doors and contestants enter from the opposite room. If both the producer and contestant stand at the door, the contestant makes it into that producer's team. If not, they will still have a chance at being chosen later on. Each team can have up to 5 members.
Round Six : Each team has a short amount of time after selection to create a team song to a chosen beat. They perform in front of an audience that votes for the member that they think did the worst. That member is then eliminated.
Round Seven : Once again, each team creates a team song; however, they perform for just the producers this time around. The producer of each team chooses a member to eliminate from their team.
Round Eight : A mainstream artist is invited on the show and assesses a member from each team. Both separately perform a prepared song. Representatives from media companies vote on their performances. If the contestant wins, they immediately advance to the top 6. The producers and their teams create a song together and perform it for the audience. The team with the most votes can save a member while the second team is up for elimination. The last team is forced to immediately eliminate one member.
Round Nine : The top 6 are drawn against one another to each perform a song. Renowned music producers then vote on which contestant was better in each battle. The 3 losing contestants battle against each other and 2 are eliminated.
Round Ten : The 4 contestants team up with a guest singer for a performance. The 2 rappers with the lowest votes compete against each other and one is eliminated.
Round Eleven : The remaining 3 rappers as well as one resurrected rapper perform to a live audience. Votes decides who moves on until there are only 2 rappers left. The final 2 contestants each perform a song and the winner is decided by a combination of votes from invited peers and the producers.
RapperRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7Round 8Round 9Round 10Finale
PG OnePASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSCO-WINNER
GAIPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSCO-WINNER
AfterJourneyPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
Jony JPASSPASSPASSELIMINATEDREVIVEDELIMINATED
VAVAPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
BrAnT.BPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
Tizzy TPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
Huang Xu PASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
BridgePASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
HipHopManPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
Gui Bian PASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
OBi & M03 PASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
Sun BayiPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED
BCWPASSPASSPASSPASSELIMINATED-
Ty.PASSELIMINATED

Producer TeamRapper
Team Kris WuPG One
Team Kris WuTizzy T
Team Kris WuBrAnt.B
Team Kris WuHipHopMan
Team Kris WuOB03
Team Will PanVAVA
Team Will PanBridge
Team Will PanLi Daben
Team Will PanGui Bian
Team Will PanHu Xu
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueGAI
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueAfterJourney
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueHuang Xu
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueSena
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueSun Bayi

Season 2 (2018)

The first episode of season two of The Rap of China aired on 14 July 2018. The producers were Chinese-Canadian rapper-singer Kris Wu, Taiwanese-American singer Will Pan, Hong Kong singer G.E.M., Taiwanese rapper MC HotDog and Taiwanese rock musician Chang Chen-yue. Open auditions were held outside of mainland China for the first time in Los Angeles, Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. Notable rappers such as Manshuke, Wang Yitai, KungFu-Pen, Lexie Liu, Vinida, Nick Chou, Li Jialong, Al Rocco, Nawukere, ICE and others participated in this season. The finals were competed between the top three contestants Nawukere, ICE and Lexie Liu as well as Aire, who was resurrected from his earlier elimination. Aire defeated Nawukere in the final round of voting and was named champion.
Producer TeamRapper
Team Kris WuNawukere
Team Kris WuWang Yitai
Team Kris WuBlow Fever
Team Kris WuAl Rocco
Team Kris WuManshuke
Team Will Pan & G.E.M.ICE
Team Will Pan & G.E.M.Aire
Team Will Pan & G.E.M.Nick Chou
Team Will Pan & G.E.M.Wang Qiming
Team Will Pan & G.E.M.Yang Hesu
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueLexie Liu
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueKungFu-Pen
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yuePACT
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueMa Jun
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueJason

Season 3 (2019)

The first episode of season three of The Rap of China aired on 14 June 2019. The producers were Chinese-Canadian rapper-singer Kris Wu, Taiwanese-American singer Will Pan, Hong Kong singer G.E.M., Taiwanese rapper MC HotDog and Taiwanese rock musician Chang Chen-yue. Notable rappers such as Huang Xu, Damnshine, Key.L, KungFu-Pen, L4WUDU, Xiao En'en, NINEONE, OBi, SIO, Yang Hesu and others participated in this season. The finals were competed between the top four contestants Yang Hesu, Huang Xu, Damnshine and Xinxiu. Yang Hesu defeated Huang Xu in the final round of voting by just a single vote and was named champion.
Producer TeamRapper
Team Kris WuDamnshine
Team Kris WuL4WUDU
Team Kris WuFukesi
Team Kris WuDOOOBOI
Team Kris WuLi Kui
Team Will PanHuang Xu
Team Will PanXiao En'en
Team Will PanYang Hesu
Team Will PanTURBO
Team Will PanOBi
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueXinxiu
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueCapper
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueCream D
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueMiko
Team MC HotDog & Chang Chen-yueSIO
Team G.E.M.Key.L
Team G.E.M.Liu Xuanting
Team G.E.M.Vex
Team G.E.M.Wang Dazhi
Team G.E.M.Lil Boo

Impact

The show quickly grew in popularity and reached 100 million views in four hours when its first episode aired. It accumulated 1.3 billion views in a little over a month. The show is credited for making hip hop mainstream in China as several contestants rose to stardom and got signed to record deals.

Controversy

The show has been accused of plagiarizing South Korean rap competition show Show Me the Money. There were rumors that iQiyi bought the rights for the show from CJ E&M; however, Mnet stated "Show Me the Money is not the content which CJ E&M sold the rights."