{"id":2965,"date":"2016-09-16T22:08:16","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T22:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2016\/09\/16\/uyghur-rapper-reps-chinas-west\/"},"modified":"2016-09-16T22:08:16","modified_gmt":"2016-09-16T22:08:16","slug":"uyghur-rapper-reps-chinas-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/uyghur-rapper-reps-chinas-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Uyghur Rapper Reps China\u2019s West"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AThree-Arslan is an hour late for his rehearsal. Shanghai has been the young Uyghur rapper\u2019s home for several years now, but he&#8217;s still learning his way around its streets. <\/p>\n<p>Darnell Gardner Jr.<br \/>Sep 16, 2016<\/p>\n<p>AThree-Arslan is an hour late for his rehearsal. Shanghai has been the young Uyghur rapper\u2019s home for several years now, but he&#8217;s still learning his way around its streets. He and fellow hip-hop artist Red Monkey squint at maps on their phones, men at the mercy of an intermittent GPS signal. Minutes later, Monkey gets reception and the two jet off down the road into the fading September sunlight.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cA\u201d in AThree-Arslan\u2019s name stands for A-grade, and three is a Uyghur holy number signifying the same thing: supreme. His real name is Arslan Adil \u2014 or Aresilan Adili according to the Chinese transliteration written on his ID card \u2014 and he comes from Bole, a city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that sits beside the border with Kazakhstan. Out in the far northwest of the country, Bole is almost the farthest point from Shanghai 4,400 kilometers away, where the 21-year-old is studying English at East China Normal University.<\/p>\n<p>AThree, who raps exclusively in the Uyghur language, says violence between ethnic groups in Xinjiang has given the region a bad reputation, people like him sometimes face prejudice. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/docs.uyghuramerican.org\/images\/westside-uyghur-rapper-repping-xinjiang-001.jpg\" width=\"100%\"><br \/><em>Arslan Adil \u2014 or AThree-Arslan \u2014 performs with other members of HA$ at the On Stage live house in Shanghai, Sept. 9, 2016. Darnell Gardner Jr.\/Sixth Tone <\/em><\/p>\n<p>AThree started listening to American rap when he was 12, before he even knew how to speak English. \u201cThe music was just so free,\u201d he says. \u201cYou could say anything over a beat.\u201d As he scoured the web for new music, he began molding his ethos after a seminal American rapper who repped his own west side \u2014 Tupac Shakur.<\/p>\n<p>Almost 10 years on, AThree is churning out solo material, and has his own rap crew called HA$, a fluid collective made up of childhood friends like Red Monkey. When he needs to record, he travels to a producer\u2019s home in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, and then makes the trek back to Shanghai or Bole. Off the strength of some of his earlier songs, he is now represented by GangsaMosa, a hip-hop promotional unit founded by the leader of legendary Xinjiang rap group Six City, who also raps in Uyghur.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>AThree\u2019s online following measures a few thousand people across different social media platforms. At the release party for HA$\u2019s most recent mixtape in Urumqi, he was thrilled when more than a hundred people showed up. \u201cI was so happy, it was crazy!\u201d But it\u2019s not enough for him. He has a lot to say, and he needs more people to listen.<\/p>\n<p>Realness, or truth, is a constant in AThree\u2019s music. He named his 2015 solo album \u201cEng Az, Eng Ras,\u201d which translates to \u201cIt\u2019s Rare, But Real.\u201d The first track, \u201cRealTalk,\u201d mourns a Uyghur kid who is kidnapped, shuttled across the country, and forced to steal for a ring of criminals, speaking to an issue that plagues Xinjiang and&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sixthtone.com\/news\/tears-views-reality-tv-lost-and-loved-ones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">many other poor rural areas<\/a>&nbsp;of the country. Child trafficking in the region continues despite<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinadaily.com.cn\/cndy\/2011-05\/26\/content_12580561.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">heightened efforts<\/a>&nbsp;in 2011 by China\u2019s national Ministry of Public Security to reunite trafficked Xinjiang children living on city streets around China with their families.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Another song, \u201cSowghatliq Ketmen,\u201d focuses on education. The video for the track is a slick friends-and-family production, directed by AThree and SAM, another member of HA$. AThree\u2019s dad, supportive of his son\u2019s music, scouted out locations. In the video Red Monkey plays a Uyghur kid struggling to convince his family to let him go to school in Shanghai. \u201cEducation is important. In Xinjiang, a lot of kids don\u2019t even go to high school. There\u2019s no money for it, and the parents think the kids should just work. It\u2019s not a good thing for us as a people.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WUKLMwyx4e4\" width=\"620\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>On its face, \u201cSowghatliq Ketmen\u201d might appear autobiographical. But AThree says his parents are different from&nbsp;most. When he started rapping six years ago, they complained he wasn\u2019t studying enough. It took the release of \u201cEng Az, Eng Ras\u201d to convince them he had a gift truly worth pursuing, and that his culture needed his voice. His cousin Shayda Tayir, who is studying in Xian in China\u2019s northwestern Shaanxi province, believes his fans see themselves in the music. \u201cHis songs are like stories, they express our feelings,\u201d she tells Sixth Tone. \u201cHe talks about our culture and customs. He loves his country, and he loves his people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Back in Shanghai on rehearsal night, AThree and Red Monkey are done practicing and are hungry for a late night snack. \u201cNo&nbsp;<em>lamian<\/em>,\u201d AThree says, referring to the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sixthtone.com\/news\/beef-between-noodle-rivals-unravelled-mediation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dish of pulled noodles<\/a>&nbsp;originating from northwestern China that is served in Shanghai\u2019s ubiquitous halal eateries. \u201cI get so tired of that stuff,\u201d he says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a patois blending their native Uyghur, English, and Chinese, he and Monkey go back and forth with each other about the options available to them, settling eventually on McDonalds. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s halal, but what can you do?\u201d AThree says he\u2019s \u201calmost Muslim,\u201d a believer but for now not a committed practitioner. He says the subject is too sensitive to talk about in his music.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the popularity of Muslim-inspired cuisine in China, AThree says Xinjiang people remain unwelcome in some corners of Chinese society. Over burgers and fries, he launches into a story about being turned away from a hotel after a late night performance. After checking his ID, he says, the hotel\u2019s receptionist&nbsp;refused to check him in and disappeared somewhere in the back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can they do that?\u201d AThree asks. \u201cThis is our country too. This is why we do this music.\u201d He faces the same kind of scrutiny and rejection at home, where he says police stop him and check his ID regularly. Shanghai is a much more welcoming host for his music than his home however, a telling paradox considering the linguistic barrier between him and his non-Uyghur audiences. \u201cPeople at home think rap is weird, like it\u2019s something Satanic,\u201d he says. \u201cI rap in Uyghur for them though, so they can know about something outside of their world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/docs.uyghuramerican.org\/images\/westside-uyghur-rapper-repping-xinjiang-002.jpg\" width=\"100%\"><br \/><em>Arslan Adil gestures as he rehearses at a studio in Shanghai, Sept. 8, 2016. Darnell Gardner Jr.\/Sixth Tone <\/em><\/p>\n<p>That night\u2019s rehearsal was for a gig the following day&nbsp;at a cramped live house in Shanghai\u2019s bustling Xuhui district. AThree, Red Monkey, and SAM walk into the venue all smiles. Throughout the evening AThree keeps a pack of cigarettes within arm\u2019s reach, but not for his nerves. \u201cThe only time I get nervous is when I\u2019m speaking in English,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n<p>After an almost two-hour delay, the trio take to the stage in front of an impatient audience. The three share the spotlight equally, switching places to hype the crowd while the next man leads. Not one to miss a chance to rep Xinjiang, AThree twists his fingers into a \u201cW\u201d to signify \u201cwest\u201d as he zips across the stage, just like his idol Tupac. The crowd eats it up. There are excited whoops, and people in the back stand on chairs to get a better look.<\/p>\n<p>Sometime after 1:30 a.m. SAM is leaned back in a seat at the rear of the venue, trying to catch sleep through the last few performances. Monkey is chatting up a fan who\u2019s forced her way by his side. AThree, standing on the dance floor, has just softly rejected a dance partner. \u201cMy dancing is ugly,\u201d he confesses later. He won\u2019t dance but he\u2019s still buzzing, and wants to go to an after-party across town. The rest of the crew, ready to call it a night, take a lot of prodding, but eventually AThree\u2019s energy wins out, and they\u2019re off.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In the months following the performance, AThree says he\u2019s going to put that seemingly&nbsp;boundless energy into writing lyrics for his next mixtape, which he plans to release in four to five months. He wants his music to go bigger, and hopes the next release will help that happen, but he\u2019s under no illusions about success as a rapper putting food on the table. After graduating he wants to put his English to good use and \u201cgo home and teach some Uyghur kids, let them know what\u2019s happening in the outside world.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know how long I\u2019ll be a rapper, but I\u2019ll feel hip-hop forever,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd maybe one of my kids will do it next.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>(Header image: Arslan Adil (left) \u2014 better known as AThree-Arslan \u2014 performs at the On Stage live house in Shanghai, Sept. 9 2016. Darnell Gardner Jr.\/Sixth Tone)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AThree-Arslan is an hour late for his rehearsal. Shanghai has been the young Uyghur rapper\u2019s home for several years now, but he&#8217;s still learning his way around its streets. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-2965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2965"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=2965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}