Chinese music censorship constitutes a multifaceted and enduring phenomenon that has wielded a substantial influence in molding the cultural milieu of China.
Chinese music censorship has evolved over the years, with different eras marked by varying levels of control, specific ideologies and policies, as well as the advancement in technology.
[2] During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), practically all forms of music deemed not communist and upholding the PRC was banned in efforts to purge capitalistic messaging, with some artists even facing imprisonment and violence.
[4] After the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 and the replacement of his successor Hua Guofeng with Deng Xiaoping in 1981, a series of economic/market reforms were pursued, with the aim of 'opening up' China and liberalizing.
[3] As the influence of digital platforms and the internet has grown, the Chinese government has encountered new challenges in regulating music content and the methods of censorship have shifted within the increasingly interconnected world.
[9] Additionally, there is a renewed emphasis on the promotion of traditional Chinese culture and nationalist sentiments within music, underscoring the extent of ideological conformity expected during this era.
Chinese TV shows, particularly variety and singing competitions, have imposed a ban on discussing themes related to death, sorrow, loneliness, decadence, and supernatural beliefs.
[10] Recent examples illustrate this phenomenon, such as when the feminist song "母系社会" 'matriarchy' were performed with drastically altered lyrics, replacing potentially sensitive words with more innocuous ones, such as changing"着床" to "擦窗" 'Going Bed Turns into Window Cleaning' to remove any counter narratives.
Cui visited the student protestors at Tiananmen Square, giving a concert to support the hunger strikes fifteen days before the government crackdown.
[14] In 2014, China Central Television refused Cui Jian permission to sing 'Nothing to My Name' on the state broadcaster's annual gala show celebrating the lunar new year.
[17] Hip-hop has existed as an underground subculture in China since the 1980s, and the 2000s onwards saw the integration of 'soft' hip hop sounds and aesthetics in popular music, including propaganda promoting Xi Jinping's political doctrines in a 2016 animation published by Xinhua News Agency.
[18] GAI, the other co-winner of The Rap of China in 2017, survived the hip-hop censorship by "sacrificing artistic independence and subjecting to public acceptability and political correctness," releasing three patriotic songs after the ban, such as 2019's 'Long!
[19] GAI's pre-mainstream music and image, exemplified in songs such as 2015's 'Gangsta', was rapped in Sichuan dialect that reflected the authentic reality of his troubled experiences as a poor, marginalized migrant growing up in Neijiang and depicts drug use, prostitution, gambling, gang warfare, police brutality, human trafficking, and in the intense music video shows the bodies of several tattooed men, including GAI, smoking.