Hey guys, it’s Dolly here with Goldthread.
2018 has been a year of surprises for us.
We covered the reggae scene in Shanghai
and watched a man master the art of balancing on bamboo
in the middle of a lake.
Let’s take a look back at some of the most creative
and talented people we met this year,
from dancers to artists and more.
This Beijing dance crew, 36th Chamber,
surprised us all with how much they knew about hip-hop,
black American history,
and how racial injustice in America
contributed to the creation of this crew’s passion:
breakdancing.
36th Chamber is one of the original b-boy dance crews of Beijing.
They blend their passion with their culture,
combining hip-hop and kung fu
to create a unique style of dancing.
Growing up with hip-hop
was one of the biggest influences for them.
36th Chamber had their biggest break yet in 2017,
after a talent scout saw one of their battles
and invited them to attend a TV show
that was like Beijing’s "Best Dance Crew."
36th Chamber’s understanding of the history of hip-hop
has shaped the way they see its development in China,
especially in light of the government’s recent censorship
of controversial hip-hop content.
There was a lot we had to leave on the cutting room floor,
but one thing that really amused me is
how most of this dance crew discovered hip-hop
and b-boying the old-school way:
through VHS tapes.
This DJ from the megacity of Chongqing
gets local Chinese aunties and uncles moving
by playing their favorite songs
in their favorite old ballroom.
Xiong Wei is a DJ at the Xiaoman dance hall,
a famous club in the southwestern city of Chongqing.
Clubs like these used to be big in the '90s and early 2000s,
but dance hall culture is in sharp decline today,
due to rising costs and competition.
Each day, Xiong Wei travels to Chongqing from the outskirts
of the city to play the top hits for the club’s most loyal members.
Despite the decline in popularity,
this dance hall maintains a loyal fan base,
running three shifts a day:
in the morning, the afternoon, and at night.
The Xiaoman dance hall can see up to 800 visitors a day.
We had a lot of fun putting this piece together,
especially going through all the footage of the uncles
swaying their hips and smoking to the rhythm of the music.
Last but not least,
one of the most surprising artistic encounters we had this year
was Jado,
a Shanghainese musician bringing reggae to China.
A city where you would not expect to find reggae music
But in the underground scene,
the traditionally Jamaican sound is taking root.
Jado is an artist who has led the reggae movement
in China for a new generation of music lovers.
And JStar, Jado’s producer from the UK,
has witnessed the artist’s and reggae’s growth in China.
So Jado has got a great flow, like a traditional Jamaican MC.
He’s got his own unique flavor to it,
he’s from here, that’s the Shanghai flavor.
But reggae’s influence on Chinese artists is not new.
The Chinese-Jamaican connection started
back in the mid-19th century, when Chinese coolies
and laborers ended up in the British West Indies for work.
Some stayed and came to influence
the future of Jamaican music.
There were recording artists and producers like Byron Lee,
who was of Chinese descent.
It was quite interesting to look at this connection.
Byron Lee, born in Jamaica in 1935,
was a Jamaican-Chinese musician and producer
who blended ska, reggae, calypso, and soca
into his music, forming one of the most popular
Jamaican bands of that era,
At the height of the band’s career,
their track “Jamaica Jump Up”
was featured in the Bond film “Dr. No.”
Byron Lee went on to produce and record music
for other Jamaican and Chinese artists,
including this rocksteady rendition of a Taiwanese classic
sung by Stephen Cheng.
Centuries after the end of the coolie trade,
the island’s influence on Chinese artists
can be still heard
through reggae musicians like Jado.
Today, Chinese reggae takes a new form,
like in Jado’s latest track, "Champion Lover,"
about chasing love in modern Shanghai,
showcasing the everlasting influence
of Jamaican rhythms on global culture.
Brand-new version, JStar production,
"Warrior," you better know!
Researching the links between Jamaica and China
led us down a rabbit hole of reggae history
and the discovery of legendary Chinese-Jamaican musicians
like I Kong and Clive Chin.
So, going into 2019,
what types of artists and musicians
would you like to see more of?
Who do you want to hear from on this side of the world?
Comment below,
and don’t forget to like this video
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for another year of eye-opening stories.