Taiwan’s Beat: Present Continuous Tense of Taiwan Hip-hop

Author: 老莫 ILL MO

*Photo Source: Image by Vishnu R from Pixabay

General introduction on Hip-hop in Taiwan

Hip-hop in Taiwan has been rising for quite some time. Through the years, it has been proven that its culturally diverse and vibrant characteristics are what separate Hip-hop in Taiwan from that of other countries. Even though Mandarin is also spoken in China, the freedom of speech granted by democracy is what separates Taiwan from the censorship in Chinese Hip-hop.
Watch: 羅百吉 Jerry Lo【Friday night】Official Music Video

Historic/gradual development of Hip-hop in Taiwan

The first wave of Hip-hop and rap in Taiwan started in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Dating back to 1989, when Harlem Yu (庾澄慶) first applied rap in his Mandopop rap song—“Yes, Sir (報告班長),” the hit not only expanded the soundscape of Mandopop, but also provided possibilities for rap and Hip-hop to grow. After that, artists and groups such as PigHeadSkin (朱頭皮), L.A. Boyz and The Party started to push it forward—trying not just rap, but adding beats and groove of western Hip-hop in their own songs. Most of these songs are arranged by DJ Jerry (羅百吉), whose music production skills played a major part of these dance floor hits. During this first wave, western Hip-hop elements were being applied into pop music in Taiwan. These songs are the early attempts of Hip-hop in Mandopop, it gave a brief introduction of western Hip-hop groove to the audience in Taiwan while hip hop elements were applied in these songs. The seeds were planted.
Watch: Harlem Yu【Yes, Sir】Music Video

However, it was not until the second wave of Hip-hop and rap in Taiwan that artists started to consider themselves Hip-hop artists or rappers in the early 2000s. This is important because the artists identified with Hip-hop and claimed it. The rise of MC HotDog （熱狗）and SWED crew （大馬戲團）marked the beginning of this act. Signed under Magic Stone（魔岩唱片）, which was a sub-label under Rock Records（滾石唱片）, MC HotDog was given very little budget, relying solely on his explosive performance and word of mouth for promotion. His demo was pirated and sold in night markets throughout Taiwan, and because of the usage of foul language, he became teenagers’ favorite. The application of explicit language was barely heard in Mandopop before MC HotDog; thus, this rebellious act clashed with the conservative Mandopop world in Taiwan at the time and brought not only criticism, but also discussion on the language usage in song lyrics. MC HotDog was known for his sharp observation and crystal clear pronunciation, while he displayed his lyrical prowess, creating an unconventional approach to not just Hip-hop in Taiwan, but Mandopop in general. Moreover, his image as a rapper paved a new lane in Mandopop, showing possibilities of the existence of rappers/Hip-hop artists in the music industry. He was the forerunner, and often referred to as the godfather of Hip-hop in Taiwan.
Watch: MC HotDog 熱狗 feat. 大支 Dwagie【讓我rap】Official Music Video

During the same time period, his partner in rhyme, Dwagie (大支, then known as Dog G), was equally important to Hip-hop in Taiwan, if not more. Dwagie was the shadow to MC HotDog, often appeared as featured/collaborative artist in MC HotDog’s early works and performances, they include “Angel thirteen (十三號天使)”, “ Where Are You Going (你要去哪裡)”, “Let Me Rap (讓我Rap)” and many more. And his raspy voice with Taiwanese accent is quite distinctive from the articulative Mandarin of MC HotDog. Sonically they were different, yet complementary. After MC HotDog released several EPs, Dwagie was the second artist by SWED, but he was first Hip-hop artist to release a full-length album Lotus from the Tongue （舌粲蓮花）with only raps. Similar to MC HotDog, his image as a Hip-hop artist stood out. 

Furthermore, Dwagie’s application of both Mandarin and Taiwanese emphasized his identity as a Taiwanese. Based in Tainan, southern Taiwan has long been the cradle for pro-Taiwan supporters, and his political orientation was apparent. The biggest single from his album “Taiwan Song (台灣SONG)” is a song he still performs in 2025, and it is even borrowed by Leo Wang (Leo王, GMA best male Mandarin Singer 2019) during some of his performances.
Watch: 大支 Dwagie【台灣SONG】Official Music Video

MC HotDog and Dwagie showed the Mandopop world that Hip-hop, as an alternative music genre, can also obtain minor commercial success with a very limited budget. And other record labels hoped to emulate the success with some Hip-hop acts as well. These Hip-hop groups that released their debut albums include Machi (麻吉) from Warner Music (2003), Da Xi Men (大囍門) from Forward Music (豐華唱片2004) and Iron Bamboo (鐵竹堂) from Alfa Music (阿爾發音樂2003). They all displayed distinctive styles of Hip-hop. While Machi, led by the original member Jeff from L.A. Boyz, established themselves as an influential Hip-hop group, the two latter acts merely generated some buzz and exposure from a good amount of promotional budgets, but failed to become superstars as the record labels expected them to be. Thus, these examples also made other record labels question whether the Taiwanese market is ready for Hip-hop.　Around the same time frame, indie Hip-hop label KAO!INC.（顏社）was established, and their franchise rapper/producer Soft Lipa (蛋堡) redefined Hip-hop aesthetics in Taiwan with his jazzy beats and delicate rap style. The emergence of KAO!INC. not only displays diversity in rap styles, but also proves there are more possibilities than the hyper-masculine image in Hip-hop, specifically in Taiwan.
Watch: 【顏社】蛋堡 Soft Lipa - 史詩 (Official Music Video)

After that, MC HotDog was discharged from military service as he joined True Color Music (本色音樂) and released his first full-length album Wake Up. His biggest hit “I Love Taiwanese Girls (我愛台妹)” featuring Chang Chen-Yue (張震嶽) earned him great commercial success, and also the GMA award in the most crucial category—album of the year. The song was catchy and radio-friendly, and it showed the potential of Hip-hop in the mainstream. This period of time is when Hip-hop started to be seen and noticed by more audiences in Taiwan as many groups and solo artists released their music one after another. Their music, sometimes cross-genre, being released slowly constructed the imagination of Hip-hop for the audience in Taiwan. And some of these artists began to gain popularity as rappers, and this identity had gradually become less odd for them to claim.
Watch: MC HotDog 熱狗&張震嶽 A-Yue【我愛台妹】Official Music Video

The third wave of Hip-hop and rap in Taiwan was initiated by rap competition TV show The Rappers (大嘻哈時代). However, this trend of rap competition on TV emerged with Show Me The Money from South Korea in 2012. The show is not only a huge success, but also a long-running show (soon to air its 12th season). After that, the concept was borrowed by Rap of China (中國有嘻哈), a similar rap reality competition show in China in 2017. The show was an instant hit, what is worth noting is that the mentors/judges were mainly Taiwanese: MC HotDog, Chang Chen-Yue, Will Pan (潘瑋柏), while the only Chinese was Kris Wu (吳亦凡). 

What is more interesting is that MC HotDog was prohibited from performing in China in his early days because of his use of profanity in his lyrics. Yet his early work still influenced numerous rappers and Hip-hop artists from mainland China, which made him the perfect candidate to be the mentor due to the authenticity and credibility he had earned. As the show gains popularity, the contestants become new stars of not only the Hip-hop world but the entertainment industry in general. While the rap competition shows helped popularize Hip-hop, they also flattened the aesthetic of Hip-hop. If a Hip-hop artist does not make music that is similar to what is on the show, or is not in the show, then their music can be easily ignored. Moreover, the censorship of content from China is heavy; thus, the artists are often limited to subject matters as they write lyrics, and the depth of these songs is questioned at times.
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On the other hand, The Rappers encouraged diversity and welcomed challenges. Rappers incorporated not only Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English, but also aboriginal languages and Hakka into their rap. In Hip-hop, the idea of “represent the hood” is embedded in the rappers, and it is manifested through the application of different local languages. For example, the champion of season 2 from The Rappers, Aquaman (阿跨面) applied traditional Taiwanese, and some of the phrases are deeply rooted and are rarely heard. He mentioned in an interview that these sayings are nothing new to him because he communicates with his family in Taiwanese, and he had learned the expressions without noticing they were uncommon. Such an embrace of cultural diversity and preservation of local languages is an outstanding characteristic of Taiwan Hip-hop.

Hip-hop has already become a force that can’t be ignored in Taiwan. Rappers like SHOU (婁峻碩), OSN (高爾宣) are both able to sing catchy melodies and spit sharp rhymes, and both have a large following. In addition, 頑童MJ116 is the biggest hip hop group in Taiwan, who has earned not only the recognition of GMA (Golden Melody Awards, 金曲獎) many times, they have also sold out 7 shows at Taipei Dome consecutively, which set a new record as the only hip hop act who is able to do so in Taiwan. They have built their fans from the ground up, after being signed to True Color (本色音樂), they performed numerous shows, interacted with fans on social media,  and years of hard work paid off. The high demand to see their performance explains their current dominance in the music industry. 

On the other hand, the focal point of hip hop in Taiwan is the GIMA (Golden Indie Music Awards, 金音獎) nominated song “Rule Men Freestyle (Rule男Freestyle)” by Yang Shu-Ya (楊舒雅). The song was a diss against male superiority or chauvinism, and it initiated fierce discussions on gender issues within the Hip-hop community on the internet. Moreover, the song is criticized for its profanity against male and the rough quality of its mix, thus, the qualification of her nomination was questioned. However, Yang Shu-Ya took action and criticized the monopoly of discourse power and double standard of men. It was a fresh effort of Mandarin feminist rap. And such a song reflected not only the precious freedom of speech in democracy, but also a Hip-hop artist’s courage to challenge the norm, knock down barriers and expand. These virtues in such highly commercialized music genres like Hip-hop should not be taken for granted, and the country that breeds these incredible artists is Taiwan. These talented rappers are able to showcase their skills through music, and the styles of Hip-hop have become more diverse, while the audience are able to find the type of Hip-hop they resonate with. The growth and diversity are obvious and evident in the present continuous tense of Hip-hop in Taiwan.