Asia's homegrown hip-hop artists are ready for the world

山東臨沂市費縣第一中學 郭 建

亞洲的嘻哈源于日本，主要興于東亞。亞洲的嘻哈，能否走向全球？Only time tells.

體裁 文章詞數 難度 建議用時說明文 341 ★★★ 6′

海詞積累

1.trio n.三人組

2.dominance n.優勢；主導

3.verse n.歌曲的段落

With a population of an estimated two billion people in the 16-34 agerange,numbers alone illustrate the Asian music market's potential.At South By Southwest（SXSW）2018,a number of hip-hop and R&B artists are out to demonstrate the region's commercial promise.

Hip hop first took root in Japan.According to Ian Condry,a professor of Japanese Cultural Studies at MIT and author of Hip-Hop Japan,the country's homegrown scene took root after Rapper's Delight made the rounds at discos in 1979.

Hip hop grew through dancing—in both the higher-class clubs and with the breakers in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park. “You have a couple of breakthrough hits in 1994,”Condry says.“Up till then the record companies were skeptical（不相信的）.”The success of rap trio Scha Dara Parr in the 1990s helped Japan's grassroots hip hop grow,and the genre is represented at SXSW by Rude-a and PRANKROOM.

What started in Japan spread to Seoul,R.O.Korea,which has asserted（聲稱）itself as a music hotspot with a well developed industry promoting K-pop to a worldwide audience.More recently,hip hop and R&B have challenged the K-pop establishment for commercial dominance.

“Before its rise,there were only a handful of artists that were able to make a living through hip hop and R&B music,”explains Jessica Oak,Editor-in-chief of Billboard Korea.

“The influence has been big in fashion as well.Street brands are performing far better than other lifestyle brands.Also,there's always a rap verse in most pop songs in the R.O.Korea.”

Among the most outstanding artists in the R.O.Korea at SXSW 2018 is Jay Park.The Seattle-area native started as a member of K-pop band 2PM before breaking out on his own.Since then,Park has become a major star,even signing with Roc Nation.

Rappers have also emerged （出現）from Indonesia and Vietnam.It remains to be seen whether hip hop in Asia will turn into a global phenomenon.This week,music fans at SXSW can catch some of the artists trying to make it happen.

Reading Check

1.What is the first country that hip hop took root in?（1 word）

2.Which year was very important in the development of hip hop in Japan?（1 word）

3.What are the two fields where hip hop has big influence?（no more than 5 words）

4.Will the East Asian hip hop and R&B turn into a global phenomenon?Why?

Language Study

Sentence for writing

“It remains to be seen whether（or not）...”……尚待分曉

亞洲的嘻哈是否會變成一種全球性的現象，這還有待觀察。

主題應用·語庫構建

I.熱詞積累

1.專業術語

hip hop 嘻哈樂

rap 說唱音樂

freestyle 即興說唱

rapper 說唱歌手

the hip-hop culture 嘻哈文化

graffiti 涂鴉

MCing 說唱；說唱音樂

Bboying 霹靂舞；頂尖街舞；在舞臺上跟著節奏跳街舞

DJing（電臺、電視臺、夜總會）唱片節目主持人

check this out 快看這個;瞧瞧這個（說唱歌曲中的常用語）

sampling technology/sampling technique 取樣技術

2.起源與發展

the root/origin of hip hop 嘻哈的起源

be traced back to 被追溯到

become one of the most popular music genres around 成為世界最受歡迎的音樂形式之一

be widely regarded as the birth date of the hiphop genre 被廣泛認為是嘻哈音樂的誕生之日

come a long way 有長足的發展

put forward the term break dancing 提出霹靂舞的術語

make one's way to the stage 走上舞臺

become more widely accepted as a recognized art form worldwide 被更廣泛地認為是世界公認的藝術形式

be referred to as a culture 被當成一種文化

infiltrate mainstream culture 滲透到主流文化中

enter everyday communication 進入日常的交際中

3.表演

showcase one's skills 充分展示某人的技巧

record one's songs 錄制某人的歌曲

employ the services of small bands 利用小樂隊的服務

come up with the right sounds 產生正確的聲音

afford the necessary equipment 買得起必要的設備

gain the applause of the crowd 贏得群眾的掌聲

the center of attention 關注的焦點

wear loose fitting jeans or tracksuits 穿寬松的牛仔服或運動服

4.受眾感受

sense of beauty 美感

be popular with 受……的歡迎

be crazy about 對……狂熱

be addicted to 沉迷于……

appeal to sb 對某人有吸引力

abandon oneself to 沉溺于……

be fascinated by 對……著迷

be worth studying 值得研究

5.影響

hip-hop therapy 嘻哈療法

have a far-reaching influence 有著深遠的影響

have a negative effect on the perception of the young people 對年輕人的認知有負面影響

promote a culture of violence 促進暴力文化

have a space to digest sad/traumatic events 有空間消化悲傷的/創傷性事件

open sb up more 使某人更加開朗

prove to be controversial 證明是有爭議的

allow students to earn credits for their study 允許學生給自己的學習贏得學分

expand one's vocabulary 擴大某人的詞匯量

Ⅱ.美句背誦

1.Gangsta rap,a sub-genre of hip hop,has often been criticized for sexual images of women,guns and a gang lifestyle，which have hurt the genre.岡斯特說唱，一種嘻哈音樂的亞流派，經常因女性的性形象、槍支和幫派生活方式而受到批評，這些都傷害了這一流派。

2.Hip hop has had a notable influence on fashion,art,language and the politics of mainstream in Western society.嘻哈對西方主流社會的時尚、藝術、語言和政治產生了顯著的影響。

3.Hip hop has the power as a culture to reach out to people and speak to certain people through a mixture of different urban art forms.嘻哈作為一種文化力量，可以通過各種不同的城市藝術形式與人們接觸，與特定的人交談。

4.Hip hop is a subject worthy of serious study and reflection.嘻哈是一個值得認真研究和思考的課題。

5.Some hip-hop works not only offer us joy and excitement，but also encourage us to face the challenge bravely.一些嘻哈作品不僅能讓我們喜悅和興奮，而且還能鼓勵我們勇敢地面對挑戰。

6.In my opinion,we students should inherit excellent culture and abandon inferior culture.在我看來，我們學生應該傳承優秀文化、摒棄劣質文化。

7.It is important to cultivate our sense of beauty and awaken our artistic feeling.培養我們的美感和喚醒我們對藝術的感受是重要的。

8.Good hip-hop works can bring people happiness and hope.好的嘻哈作品給人們帶來愉悅和希望。

9.We should take a positive attitude towards the problem of hip hop.我們應采取積極態度面對嘻哈問題。

10.It remains to be seen whether hip hop in Asia will turn into a global phenomenon.亞洲的嘻哈是否會成為一種全球現象，這還有待觀察。

Ⅲ.情境應用

假定你是李華。 你所在的班級就“What attitude should we take towards hip hop?”開展了一次主題班會。請根據下表，寫一篇報道。

贊成 反對1.令人興奮，給人勇氣；1.反映的有些內容十分2.讓人變得開朗； 消極；3.培養審美意識。2.易促進暴力文化；3.表演缺少禮貌。你的觀點：……

注意：

1.詞數150左右，開頭不計入總詞數；

2.可以適當增加細節，以使行文連貫。

Recently，a heated discussion about“What attitude should we take towards hip hop?”was held in our class.