{"id":1841695,"date":"2026-03-23T10:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T07:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1841695"},"modified":"2026-03-23T10:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T07:53:00","slug":"billionhappy-is-the-king-of-the-nu-china-rap-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1841695","title":{"rendered":"Billionhappy is the \u2018king\u2019 of the Nu China rap scene"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1069\/0-0-1069-713\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442028.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/music\/article\/69940\/1\/billionhappy-is-the-king-of-the-nu-china-rap-scene-shanghai-spring-2026\" data-article-id=\"69940\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.89\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DC291_SO2_BILLIONHAPPY_RinoQui_DarinDong_02\" class=\"img\" height=\"713\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442028.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Rino Qiu Styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Darin Dong<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-03-23T10:53:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"23 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"23\">23,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - music\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Billionhappy is the \u2018king\u2019 of the Nu China <span class=\"nowrap\">rap scene<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>For our 2026 Spring issue, the Shanghai-based rapper tells us about the hybridising influences that gave way to his radical \u2018Nu <span class=\"nowrap\">China\u2019 scene<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-23T10:53:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"23 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"23\">23,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-23T10:53:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"23 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"23\">23,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/solomonpacemccarrick\">Solomon Pace-McCarrick<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span><em>This story is taken from the spring 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally now. Order a copy of the magazine\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boutiquemags.com\/dpa\/add\/tocart\/id\/14592\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Billionhappy joins our call from a golden throne in his Shanghai home, a velvet hoodie half-pulled over his pink braids. \u201cI bought this chair to remind myself that I am king,\u201d he says. In terms of China\u2019s musical underground, at least, he\u2019s not wrong: the rapper is the figurehead of a radical new movement which international record label Eastern Margins dubs \u2018Nu China\u2019 \u2013 a rallying cry for China\u2019s global-facing, tech-savvy young people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The story of this subculture is one of Chinese society itself. While relative economic stability and sizable middle classes in the US and Europe gave rise to numerous youth cultures rebelling against the status quo in the latter half of the 20th century \u2013 from hippies \u2018tuning in\u2019 and \u2018dropping out\u2019 of mainstream society in 60s America, to ravers inaugurating the advent of electronic dance music in 80s and 90s Britain \u2013 China was quite literally late to the party. For much of the 20th century, it was culturally isolated, with imports of foreign music being outright banned. Early iterations of Chinese pop music in the 2000s, meanwhile, were largely imitations of scenes taking place in neighbouring countries. \u201cChina lagged behind Taiwan, but Taiwan lagged behind Japan, and Japan lagged behind America, you feel me?\u201d 26-year-old Billionhappy tells Dazed. \u201cChina was very, very behind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But everything changed with the arrival of the internet. Early internauts like Chinese cloud rap godfather <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/68917\/1\/bloodz-boi-interview-the-humble-godfather-of-chinese-underground-rap\">Bloodzboi<\/a> began using VPNs to bypass the country\u2019s web restrictions and opened the floodgates to a deluge of international music influences into the country. Music\u2019s past and present were flattened into an infinite scroll of references, from foundational rap artists like 50 Cent and Lil Wayne to EDM revolutionaries like Skrillex and 2hollis. Gradually, Chinese youth began infusing these sounds with their own experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"ALQ8fqKl0ec\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ALQ8fqKl0ec\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cIn Western countries like the UK, you have subculture and history but, in China, it\u2019s all new,\u201d Billionhappy explains. \u201cOriginally, we were a kingdom, and then the communists controlled the country and cut all of our history. Even my parents didn\u2019t have pop music, that didn\u2019t come around \u2018til I was like 19. But now, because of the internet, Chinese kids can look through all this new information and, after four or five years, create something new. They looked at Korean, Japanese, American, European subcultures, but <\/span><em><span>this<\/span><\/em><span> culture is totally Chinese.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A breakthrough moment for the Nu China scene arrived with Billionhappy\u2019s 2024 single \u201cChinese in Europe\u201d, a glitchy, EDM-rap track that has since become an<\/span><span> anthem for the millions of Chinese students and workers living overseas. \u201cEven the most popular Chinese rappers [at the time] were pretending that they were American,\u201d says Billionhappy, who himself studied menswear design at the London College of Fashion during the pandemic. \u201cI would even search on [Chinese social media platform] RedNote and people would say, \u2018I\u2019m a Korean-type or Japanese-type Chinese.\u2019 That song says, \u2018Whatever style I dress in, I\u2019m still Chinese.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It was a simple yet revolutionary thought, and formed a coming-of-age moment for Chinese youth culture as a whole. In its wake surfaced the likes of Taiwanese pluggnb princess <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69420\/1\/rrriot-is-taiwan-s-pluggnb-princess-winter-2025-issue\">R!R!Riot<\/a>, Surf Gang\u2019s first Asian signee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/66520\/1\/jackzebra-is-the-auto-tuned-voice-of-post-industrial-china#:~:text=The%20mysterious%20small%2Dtown%20rapper%20has,hide%20a%20deep%20social%20significance\">Jackzebra<\/a>, and Billionhappy\u2019s own Shabby Club collective, each articulating Gen Z Chinese experiences through a pastiche of global and local influences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Below, Nu China pioneer Billionhappy further unpacks the origins and sounds of this radical new movement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How would you describe this moment in Chinese youth culture right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>It\u2019s a revolution. It\u2019s based on the internet, but it\u2019s also super local. The Chinese youth don\u2019t know what real Western subcultures are; they just know them from the internet. They don\u2019t know the history or what the original versions are; they don\u2019t give a fuck! They just do it in their Chinese way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I grew up in a small city, and I got a lot of inspiration when I was based in the UK. I started to have a more Western view, but then I went back to China, and I thought, \u2018Damn, China is so sick!\u2019 I got even more inspiration. I grew up in China but listened to a lot of Western music, and tried to find myself in that mix. I think that\u2019s what gave me something new.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Would you describe this scene as underground or mainstream?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>Underground, but now the underground is getting more popular in the mainstream, because mainstream people think it\u2019s funny. Chinese people really like jokes and memes. I think China is the most \u2018meme\u2019 country. Memes are everywhere. Mainstream is memes, underground is memes. So, if you do stupid stuff, it becomes a meme and, in mainstream clubs, they\u2019ll copy it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"18f9cfc9-a165-4336-b950-b41200f7e1d8\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442029.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.89\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DC291_SO2_BILLIONHAPPY_RinoQui_DarinDong_01\" class=\"img\" height=\"713\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442029.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Rino Qiu Styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Darin Dong<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>I remember reading about a trend of Chinese young people refusing to go to work, and declaring \u2018bai lan\u2019 (let it rot) a couple of years ago. How does that connect to the Nu China scene?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>It\u2019s because, now, a lot of kids have graduated [university], but they don\u2019t have a job. Either they don\u2019t want to work, or they can\u2019t find work. Now, Chinese finances are getting worse, so a lot of teenagers are hopeless. They just choose to do weird stuff and have fun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you think this connects to your music?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>I\u2019m doing real local, Chinese stuff. Deconstructing those experiences. A lot of Chinese people were doing this mix of hip-hop and electronic music, but they wanted to do it in a Western way. I said, \u2018What\u2019s real to you?\u2019 I let people feel confident about their own culture and share my spirit with them. I say, \u2018We are Chinese, there\u2019s no need to hide\u2019. Now, loads of underground artists are finding their own way and being themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Where did your EDM influences come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>When I was in the UK, I really liked going to raves. In 2020, Chinese people didn\u2019t understand what I was doing with electronic music; they thought it was kind of weird. Now, because of 2hollis, Chinese people think electronic music is cool. It\u2019s a new era. Thank you 2hollis!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve also worked with artists across East Asia, like South Korean rapper Effie and Japan\u2019s Keg\u00f8n on \u201cTESLA\u201d. How do these scenes relate?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>It\u2019s very natural because we all know each other through the internet. Kegon is a really good guy who wants to connect the Asian nations, because, be it Japan, Korea, or China, we all actually look kind of similar and have a similar culture. We\u2019re all yellow people who are doing cool stuff and have the same goal. I think our future is together, which will help more people [find us]. Asian power.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You have a strong presence on Chinese social media. For readers in the West who can\u2019t access these platforms, what is Billionhappy\u2019s online persona like?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: There are<\/strong><span> a lot of jokes that only Chinese people know. I really love talking bullshit, but I don\u2019t know how to talk bullshit in English. That\u2019s actually the reason why I called my family \u2018Shabby Club\u2019 [a play on the English word \u2018shabby\u2019 and \u2018sha-bi\u2019 meaning stupid in Chinese]. My family are stupid, but in a good way. We\u2019re stupid together, and we just have fun. This year, I want the world to know my stupid, that\u2019s my goal. I want to be high-level stupid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. 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class=\"card-latest__title\">Kim Gordon selects: What to listen to, watch and read<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69755\/1\/7-of-beabadoobee-s-best-collabs-all-i-did-was-dream-of-you-new-single-2026\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"beabadoobee, \u201ctalk\u201d youtube still\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/312-134-2178-1449\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/9\/1439180.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">7 of beabadoobee\u2019s greatest collabs<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/gallery\/36835\/0\/universal-music-s-brit-awards-afterparty-in-manchester\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Olivia Dean and Lola Young\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-2-3000-1995\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441441.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Photos from the Universal Music\u2019s BRIT Awards afterparty in Manchester<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span><em>This story is taken from the spring 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally now. Order a copy of the magazine\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boutiquemags.com\/dpa\/add\/tocart\/id\/14592\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Billionhappy joins our call from a golden throne in his Shanghai home, a velvet hoodie half-pulled over his pink braids. \u201cI bought this chair to remind myself that I am king,\u201d he says. In terms of China\u2019s musical underground, at least, he\u2019s not wrong: the rapper is the figurehead of a radical new movement which international record label Eastern Margins dubs \u2018Nu China\u2019 \u2013 a rallying cry for China\u2019s global-facing, tech-savvy young people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The story of this subculture is one of Chinese society itself. While relative economic stability and sizable middle classes in the US and Europe gave rise to numerous youth cultures rebelling against the status quo in the latter half of the 20th century \u2013 from hippies \u2018tuning in\u2019 and \u2018dropping out\u2019 of mainstream society in 60s America, to ravers inaugurating the advent of electronic dance music in 80s and 90s Britain \u2013 China was quite literally late to the party. For much of the 20th century, it was culturally isolated, with imports of foreign music being outright banned. Early iterations of Chinese pop music in the 2000s, meanwhile, were largely imitations of scenes taking place in neighbouring countries. \u201cChina lagged behind Taiwan, but Taiwan lagged behind Japan, and Japan lagged behind America, you feel me?\u201d 26-year-old Billionhappy tells Dazed. \u201cChina was very, very behind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But everything changed with the arrival of the internet. Early internauts like Chinese cloud rap godfather <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/68917\/1\/bloodz-boi-interview-the-humble-godfather-of-chinese-underground-rap\">Bloodzboi<\/a> began using VPNs to bypass the country\u2019s web restrictions and opened the floodgates to a deluge of international music influences into the country. Music\u2019s past and present were flattened into an infinite scroll of references, from foundational rap artists like 50 Cent and Lil Wayne to EDM revolutionaries like Skrillex and 2hollis. Gradually, Chinese youth began infusing these sounds with their own experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"ALQ8fqKl0ec\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ALQ8fqKl0ec\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cIn Western countries like the UK, you have subculture and history but, in China, it\u2019s all new,\u201d Billionhappy explains. \u201cOriginally, we were a kingdom, and then the communists controlled the country and cut all of our history. Even my parents didn\u2019t have pop music, that didn\u2019t come around \u2018til I was like 19. But now, because of the internet, Chinese kids can look through all this new information and, after four or five years, create something new. They looked at Korean, Japanese, American, European subcultures, but <\/span><em><span>this<\/span><\/em><span> culture is totally Chinese.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A breakthrough moment for the Nu China scene arrived with Billionhappy\u2019s 2024 single \u201cChinese in Europe\u201d, a glitchy, EDM-rap track that has since become an<\/span><span> anthem for the millions of Chinese students and workers living overseas. \u201cEven the most popular Chinese rappers [at the time] were pretending that they were American,\u201d says Billionhappy, who himself studied menswear design at the London College of Fashion during the pandemic. \u201cI would even search on [Chinese social media platform] RedNote and people would say, \u2018I\u2019m a Korean-type or Japanese-type Chinese.\u2019 That song says, \u2018Whatever style I dress in, I\u2019m still Chinese.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It was a simple yet revolutionary thought, and formed a coming-of-age moment for Chinese youth culture as a whole. In its wake surfaced the likes of Taiwanese pluggnb princess <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69420\/1\/rrriot-is-taiwan-s-pluggnb-princess-winter-2025-issue\">R!R!Riot<\/a>, Surf Gang\u2019s first Asian signee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/66520\/1\/jackzebra-is-the-auto-tuned-voice-of-post-industrial-china#:~:text=The%20mysterious%20small%2Dtown%20rapper%20has,hide%20a%20deep%20social%20significance\">Jackzebra<\/a>, and Billionhappy\u2019s own Shabby Club collective, each articulating Gen Z Chinese experiences through a pastiche of global and local influences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Below, Nu China pioneer Billionhappy further unpacks the origins and sounds of this radical new movement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How would you describe this moment in Chinese youth culture right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>It\u2019s a revolution. It\u2019s based on the internet, but it\u2019s also super local. The Chinese youth don\u2019t know what real Western subcultures are; they just know them from the internet. They don\u2019t know the history or what the original versions are; they don\u2019t give a fuck! They just do it in their Chinese way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I grew up in a small city, and I got a lot of inspiration when I was based in the UK. I started to have a more Western view, but then I went back to China, and I thought, \u2018Damn, China is so sick!\u2019 I got even more inspiration. I grew up in China but listened to a lot of Western music, and tried to find myself in that mix. I think that\u2019s what gave me something new.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Would you describe this scene as underground or mainstream?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>Underground, but now the underground is getting more popular in the mainstream, because mainstream people think it\u2019s funny. Chinese people really like jokes and memes. I think China is the most \u2018meme\u2019 country. Memes are everywhere. Mainstream is memes, underground is memes. So, if you do stupid stuff, it becomes a meme and, in mainstream clubs, they\u2019ll copy it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"18f9cfc9-a165-4336-b950-b41200f7e1d8\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442029.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.89\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DC291_SO2_BILLIONHAPPY_RinoQui_DarinDong_01\" class=\"img\" height=\"713\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442029.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Rino Qiu Styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Darin Dong<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>I remember reading about a trend of Chinese young people refusing to go to work, and declaring \u2018bai lan\u2019 (let it rot) a couple of years ago. How does that connect to the Nu China scene?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>It\u2019s because, now, a lot of kids have graduated [university], but they don\u2019t have a job. Either they don\u2019t want to work, or they can\u2019t find work. Now, Chinese finances are getting worse, so a lot of teenagers are hopeless. They just choose to do weird stuff and have fun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you think this connects to your music?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>I\u2019m doing real local, Chinese stuff. Deconstructing those experiences. A lot of Chinese people were doing this mix of hip-hop and electronic music, but they wanted to do it in a Western way. I said, \u2018What\u2019s real to you?\u2019 I let people feel confident about their own culture and share my spirit with them. I say, \u2018We are Chinese, there\u2019s no need to hide\u2019. Now, loads of underground artists are finding their own way and being themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Where did your EDM influences come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>When I was in the UK, I really liked going to raves. In 2020, Chinese people didn\u2019t understand what I was doing with electronic music; they thought it was kind of weird. Now, because of 2hollis, Chinese people think electronic music is cool. It\u2019s a new era. Thank you 2hollis!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve also worked with artists across East Asia, like South Korean rapper Effie and Japan\u2019s Keg\u00f8n on \u201cTESLA\u201d. How do these scenes relate?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: <\/strong><span>It\u2019s very natural because we all know each other through the internet. Kegon is a really good guy who wants to connect the Asian nations, because, be it Japan, Korea, or China, we all actually look kind of similar and have a similar culture. We\u2019re all yellow people who are doing cool stuff and have the same goal. I think our future is together, which will help more people [find us]. Asian power.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You have a strong presence on Chinese social media. For readers in the West who can\u2019t access these platforms, what is Billionhappy\u2019s online persona like?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Billionhappy: There are<\/strong><span> a lot of jokes that only Chinese people know. I really love talking bullshit, but I don\u2019t know how to talk bullshit in English. That\u2019s actually the reason why I called my family \u2018Shabby Club\u2019 [a play on the English word \u2018shabby\u2019 and \u2018sha-bi\u2019 meaning stupid in Chinese]. My family are stupid, but in a good way. We\u2019re stupid together, and we just have fun. This year, I want the world to know my stupid, that\u2019s my goal. I want to be high-level stupid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69940\/1\/billionhappy-is-the-king-of-the-nu-china-rap-scene-shanghai-spring-2026&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1069\/0-0-1069-713\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442028.jpg&#8221;] Photography Rino Qiu Styling Darin Dong March\u00a0 23,\u00a0 2026 Music \/ Q+A Music \/ Q+A Billionhappy is the \u2018king\u2019 of the Nu China rap scene For our 2026 Spring issue, the Shanghai-based rapper tells us about the hybridising influences that gave way to his radical \u2018Nu China\u2019 scene March\u00a0 23,\u00a0 2026 March\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1841695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1841695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1841695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1841695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1841695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}