Asian hip hop

Asian hip hop is a heterogeneous

The Philippines is known to have had the first hip-hop music scene in Asia since the early 1980s, largely due to the country's historical connections with the United States The intimate relationship between hip-hop culture and the large Filipino American community along the United States West Coast naturally resulted in the exportation of rap music back to the Philippines. Numerous cassette tapes, videos, books and magazines concerning hip hop issues and popular rap artists would be sent out by Filipinos to family members back in the islands.

The towns and barrios surrounding the numerous American military bases that were scattered throughout that country such as Clark Air Base in Angeles City and Subic Bay Naval Base in Olongapo were among the earliest to be exposed to the culture; as contact with African-American, Filipino American and Latino servicemen resulted in some of the earliest exposure the locals had to the new musical genre.

In 1980, singer and stand-up comedian

Hip hop films such as Wild Style (1982), Breakin' (1984) and Krush Groove (1985) were also major influences; and as early as 1982 local break-dancing crews were starting to emerge. Local parks and malls in and around the Metro Manila area became mainstays and training grounds for future recording artists.

Taiwan

The first Mandarin rap song was done by singer-songwriter Harlem Yu in Taiwan, who is known for being one of the first artists to experiment with R&B and rap in the Mandopop music industry, in the early '80s which was parallel to the early New York '80s rap songs.

Japan

In Japan, early hip-hop was not led by corporate interests, but rather was largely ignored by large record companies and performance venues. The first known Japanese group to experiment with hip hop was

The arrival of hip hop films in Malaysia, started the emergence of the genre. The biggest local movie of 1984 Azura had a breakdancing scene in it.^[6] It spawned some local B-Boys and B-Girls but the development of the hip hop scene as a whole wouldn't happen until much later.^[7]

In 1989, DJ and owner of Valentine Sound Production, Joe Siva began with KL deejay/rap-based group Krash Kozz, who went on to be the first major hip hop act of Malaysia.^[8]

United States

Fresh Kid Ice of 2 Live Crew 1984 to 2017

In the meantime (1984) in the US, three members of the U.S. Air Force, while stationed at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California, formed the rap group

The 2 Live Crew's debut album The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are (1986), and their second Move Somethin' (1988) both went Gold and were comedic albums with sexually explicit lyrics. Fresh Kid Ice and his group mate became American rap superstars of that area.

The group became notorious, influential, and legendary in 1989 with their third album

Various reunions of the 2 Live Crew would occur. All the albums produced from that point would chart, but all them would have one or two members of the original line up missing, however Fresh Kid Ice was the only one always present until the last official 2 Live Crew album The Real One in 1998.

In the early 2000s, Fresh Kid Ice released three albums Still Nasty (2000), Stop Playin' (2003), and Freaky Chinese (2004). Due to the graphic sexual nature of his lyrics, his music video could only be platey on

Circa 2006–2007 Fresh Kid Ice and Brother Marquis decided to relaunch 2 Live Crew. They toured together and released many singles. Fresh Kid ice would leave 2 Live Crew in 2016, and died in 2017 due to health issues.

Korea

In Korea, following the end of authoritarian military rule in Korea, the loosening of state censorship of popular music in the late 1980s and the arrival of

The Burmese hip hop scene started in the lately 1980s with the famous rapper Myo Kyawt Myaing. His songs were more like plain rapping music rather than stereotypical hip hop. However between him and the next generation there would be a long gap.

1990s

Philippines to present day

In 1990,

1992 marked a turning point for Pinoy rap with the release of Francis Magalona's influential second album, Rap Is Francis M, which is highly regarded as one of the greatest Pinoy rap albums ever. Ushering in a socially awoken wave. He and would make six more albums through this decade.

In 1993, Death Threat who are known to be the fathers of the gangsta rap subgenre in the Philippines, released their debut Death Threat:Gusto kong Bumaet and would make five more albums through this decade.

From that point many local charting artist would emerge these include

By the early 1990s major American artist started to tour and their release saw the light in Japan.[22]^[23][24]

The years 1994 and 1995, marked the beginning of hip-hop's commercial success in Japan. The first hit was

From 2000 on, the hip hop scene in Japan has grown and diversified. Hip-hop style and Japanese rap has been enormously commercially successful in Japan. In a 2003 interview with the BBC, Tokyo record-store owner, Hideaki Tamura noted "Japanese hip-hop really exploded in the last two, three years. I never thought there would be a time when Japanese records could outsell American ones but it's happening."^[25] Additionally, a huge number of new scenes have developed. These include "rock rap to hard core gangsta, spoken word/poetry, to conscious, old school, techno rap, antigovernment, pro-marijuana, heavymetal-sampled rap, and so on.”

Tamura points to a shift in Japanese hip hop, when artists began to focus on issues pertinent to Japanese society, versus previous styles and subjects that were copied from US hip hop culture. For Japan, the style of hip hop was much more appealing than topics popular in American hip hop, such as violence. Ian Condry, on the other hand, focuses on an interplay between local and global hip hop within the genba of Japan. For Condry, Japanese hip hop was born out of simultaneous localization and globalization of hip hop culture, rather than a shift between the two binary factors.^[26]

Malaysia cont. 1990s to present day

In 1990, Krash Kozz, releasing the group's debut Pump It!. With their mix of New Jack Swing melodies and Run DMC-influenced rap, Krash Kozz became a sensation in their home country, and even managed to chart on the Asia Billboard charts, one of the first Asian hip hop acts to do so. Siva later joined the group as their DJ.^[27]

From that point many local charting artist would emerge these include KRU, K-Town Clan, Chakra Sonic, Poetic Ammo, Mizz Nina, Too Phat, and many more.

US cont.

Turntablists

By the 1990s, hip hop

apl.de.ap of The Black Eyed Peas 1992 to present day

In 1992,

In 2000,

From 2012 to present, apl.de.ap started solo ventures, with a music video called "Jump In" featuring Jessica Sanchez.^[32] In March 2013, apl.de.ap was confirmed to be one of the four coaches of the inaugural season of The Voice of the Philippines.^[33] He released several singles: "Balikbayan", "Going Out", and "Be".

Mountain Brothers 1990s to 2003

Mountain Brothers are considered cultural pioneers, being one of the first Asian American hip-hop groups and also for the lack of sampling of other music in construction of their own.^[34] Mountain Brothers released two critically acclaimed albums, Self Vol 1(1999) ^[35] and Triple Crown(2003), the first of which is widely considered to be an independent hip-hop classic.^[36]

Korea cont.

In 1990, Hyun Jin-young is considered to be the first Korean hip hop artist. That year he debuted with the album, New Dance.^[37][38]

In 1992, Seo Taiji and Boys, who are known to be the fathers of K-pop, debuted with the song, "Nan Arayo,". They incorporated American-style hip hop and R&B into their music, their popularity paved the way for both pop and hip hop artists in Korea.^[39]

In 1993, the duo Deux debuted with their self-titled album which featured the hit song, "Turn Around and Look at Me". They helped introduce hip hop and new jack swing to Korea, the duo is also notable for popularizing hip hop.^[40] After releasing three more albums, they broke up in 1995 to pursue solo careers.^[41]

In 1994, the group

Toward the end of the 1990s, the Korean hip hop scene grew considerably, while K-pop groups continued to incorporate rap into their songs, this time period also saw the emergence of pure hip hop groups, notably Drunken Tiger. They released their first album, Year of the Tiger in Korea in 1999. At the time, the album was controversial given its explicit lyrics and rejection of mainstream k-pop norms. Unlike their k-pop counterparts, Drunken Tiger wrote their own lyrics, expressed anti-establishment views, and did not perform choreography.

Indian hip hop 1990s to present day

Hip Hop music in India had started at around 1990 and

Hong Kong hip hop can be traced in Hong Kong from the early 1990s with singers such as Sandy Lam and Shirley Kwan.^[42]

Sandy Lam's first EP for Warner Music, Getting Mad in 1991, had hip hop influences and was one of the few EPs in Hong Kong to go platinum in the 1990s. The other is being Shirley Kwan's Golden Summer in the same year, that a song called Dear had rapping from Softhard.

The Hong Kong hip hop scene developed in 1991 with Softhard and in 1999 with the formation of LMF, the first rap/rock group signed by a major record label

China

The first Chinese language song to feature rap style content was by rock artist Cui Jian in the early 90s, though viewed as experimental.^[43] Mainstream American hip hop started to emerge in clubs, as well as the influence of Taiwan and Hong Kong hip hop.

Indonesia 1990s to present day

Hip hop music began to be produced in Indonesia in the early 1990s, with the first Indonesia artist to release a full-length hip hop album being the rapper Iwa K, who has released five albums to date. Other Indonesian rap groups include Boyz Got No Brain and Neo. Many Indonesian rap groups rap in the Indonesian language, but there are also groups which rap in English. Variously, rap songs often combine formal Indonesian with street slang, youth code, regionally colored pronunciations, and even expressions from regional languages (typically Javanese, Sundanese, or Betawi).

Indonesian rapper, Rich Brian (formerly "Rich Chigga') gained internet popularity through his single, "

The Singapore hip hop scene has grown to become a major component of Singapore's music scene.^[45] Due to Singapore's diversity the country's rap encompasses many languages including English, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay.^[46][47]

Shigga Shay and Grizzle Grind Crew are examples of popular rappers/groups in Singapore's hip hop scene.

2000s

Taiwan cont. 2000s to present day

In 2001,

In 2002, Dwagie released Lotus from the Tongue (舌粲蓮花), and is described as a "pro-Taiwan rapper".

Ever since many Taiwanese rappers have emerged, this includes Jae Chong, Aziatix, Machi, Nine One One, and many more.

USA cont. 2000s to present day

cont.

MC Jin

In 2001, MC Jin had a break came when the BET program 106 & Park began inviting local rappers to hold battles in a segment known as Freestyle Friday. After he had signed a deal with the Ruff Ryders label.

In October 2004, Jin released his debut album, The Rest Is History, which reached number 54 of the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.^[48]

In 2005, he released The Emcee's Properganda. Following this he released many singles.

Mid-2008 saw Jin relocate to Hong Kong, initially for three months, to promote his first all-Cantonese language album ABC. ABC debuted at #1 and achieved gold status in Hong Kong. He is since a very successful rapper in this part of the world.

New generation of rappers

Ever since many Asian rappers have emerged in the USA this includes

Bengali hip hop differs from Bengali Hip Hop mainly from the language. Bengali is more "formal" than Bengali and use less slang than Bengali.^{[clarification needed]} Bengali is based mostly on Dhaka, Barisal, Sylhet, Chittagong, Comilla.

Nepal 2000s to present day

Nepalese hip hop or NepHop includes elements of