在北京

The New York Times recently ran an article on Chinese hip-hop. I thought it was fascinating how there was a "poppy" version of hip-hop and a more grass roots, "authentic" version of hip-hop. So I started looking for this song and came across a lot of mp3s that were Chinese opera. But I finally found this song both in mp3 format and on Youtube. The other interesting thing was that this version on Youtube is a cleaned up version of the, I'm assuming, original song. Here's my translation of this version. The whole rap reads like a commercial advertisement for Beijing. Which is really interesting because I took a look at the lyrics for the "dirty" version, and it seemed way more real. For instance there's a line in the dirty version that says, "In Beijing, there's dog poop everywhere." And the line in this version that says "Everyone rides a bike" is "Everyone has had their bike stolen." This probably had to do with getting their rap approved to be broadcast, but still, in translation, there was a lot I didn't understand. A lot of it had to do with being unable to differentiate whether something was the name of a place or it was actually trying to describe an object. Language is so interesting… So, I don't really feel like these lyrics are so awesome but I do think the song is catchy and I like the way they filmed their video. The original lyrics are probably better. (On a side note, I feel weird translating this. There are a lot of Chinese phrases that just sounded stilted in English. I can see why a lot of signs get translated so weirdly; even if your English ability is high, it's hard to find a good translation…)

Intro: Have you heard of Yin Cang? (隐藏) Uh…I'm not sure. Have you heard of Yin Cang? What was that? Uh…no. Have you heard of Yin Cang? Where is Yin Cang? [pause…] In Beijing, word… (the funny part of this is that the guy literally uses the Chinese word for "word") In Beijing, you're walking on the capital streets. In Beijing, there's tons of hot girls. In Beijing, incense sticks are in the temples. In Beijing, cruising in your hood in the HuTongs. In Beijing, go to the Forbidden City to study history. In Beijing, there's stuff to buy like a t-shirt. In Beijing, Tiananmen square is too big. In Beijing… You don't understand. My house is right on the eastern gate, Their house is on the college street, All of us go everywhere so you better hide cuz there's nothing in BJ we don't know. The whole ocean is a school with a computer store. [I have no clue what this means] At the intersection of the fifth road is where all the foreigners buy their CDs. At night you can go into the ocean, go to a village three miles away to drink a little, Both places have karaoke, [something that I reveals my lack of knowledge in Chinese] At night, not only is there dancing, drinking, talking but there's other stuff to do too. On the next day, when you get up from bed you'll [feel like you're walking on air?] Taxis have two prices: 1.20 and 1.60. Traffic is usually ok, but sometimes there is traffic. No need to tip at the restaurants. Roast duck and noodles, on Gui street you eat hot pot, oh my god there's too many choices! When you get up you smell the mountain fragrance, you feel the immensity of nature Don't forget when you come back to go to the Summer Palace. BJ University has friends and really hot girls, On ChengFu street there's a train you can go into downtown on. In Beijing, that's where the 2008 Olympics will be. In Beijing, it's getting more and more pretty. In Beijing, there are lakes and rivers. In Beijing, everyone rides bikes. In Beijing, China's capital. In Beijing, winter's a little cold. In Beijing, there's the People's Heroic Memorial. In Beijing, you know it now! You can buy cellphones at the gate. You can buy clothes at [another location somewhere in BJ] You can get lost at BJ's west train station. From [some place] to [my poor Mandarin again reveals itself]. At SanYuan bridge they sell old electronics. Fifth Ring Road, you'll get through traffic soon. The Fourth district has so many roads, I can't tell them apart. Zhaoyang district has the embassies, the street has big trees. Long distance bus stop busses are on the expressway. The royal well is really clean. The Eastern Frontier Art Gallery is really peaceful. [Some other places and how great they are] BJ welcomes everyone to come back.