January and February 2020: while normal life was still going on in the West, the newly discovered Covid-19 put China on hold and forced hundred millions of people to stay indoor. Soon after the instruction of Wuhan’s lock-down, Chinese rappers took the microphone and uploaded songs online to express their support, their love and their hopes in a way that reminds us but differs from traditional charity records. At a time where information was scarce, what did this artistic mobilisation tell us of the sanitary crisis and the role of artists in China ? In this webinar we’ll discuss how Chinese rappers navigated between politics and music during the first months of the pandemic and eventually crafted a non-official narration of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Grégoire Bienvenu is a PhD student at the IRMECCEN (Sorbonne-Nouvelle Paris 3) and ICS (Communication University of China). His research interest lies in the political economy of Chine rap, mainly focusing on the Chengdu scene where he has been settled for a few years.

Read Grégoire Bienvenu « current affairs » article on Chinese rappers mobilisation during the Covid-19 pandemic in China Perspectives.