Yin Ts'ang 010

http://www.myspace.com/yintsang

www.hiphop.cn

Yin Tsang was founded in late 2000 when MC Webber (PRC) and Foenix XIV (USA) met and discovered they had a mutual interest in promoting hip-hop culture. Over the next year YT inundated Beijings established party spots with live freestyle sessions bringing the hip-hop movements music & culture to an eager audience. In early 2001, they took their freestyles to paper and started writing songs over commercial beats. Due to a lack of formal production training and a severe shortage of qualified urban producers in Beijing the team went to work learning how to create beats. Later that same year Yin Tsang recruited a Chinese-Canadian rapper from Toronto, Sbazzo, and an Irish-American rapper from Chicago, Heff and in late 2003, Scream Records released their first CD, Yin Tsang, For the People, featuring the hit single Welcome to Beijing.

The release of the CD established the Yin Tsang Crew as leaders of the hip-hop movement in mainland China. MC Webber succeeded in his quest to be the best MC in China by winning the National Iron Mic Freestyle Competition in Shanghai three years in a row. This brought both fame and street credit and led to MCing alongside San Franciscos Ugly Duckling and rap legends The Jungle Brothers. In addition to doing collaborations and concerts with Hong Kongs famous LMF crew and DJ Tommy, Toronto native, MC Vandal and Beijings Dragon Tongue Squad, MC Webber continues to be the most recognized MC in China. Foenix XIV continued to DJ in Beijings biggest and hottest clubs (Vics, Mix, Solutions, Orange, Tango), until he opened Lush, voted #1 new live venue among students in the university district of Beijing, in early 2004 and landed major roles in two television series, Admirers Fate and Dazzled. Sbazzo, with his unique flow and rhyme style, wrote and recorded commercials for Nike, White Rabbit, TaiShan Beverage Company and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) In addition, making guest appearances on Dragon Tongue Squads #1 single The Game is On, and CMCBs Put Your Hands Up. Heff held it down on the business side lining up Yin Ts'ang to open for Canadas DJ Kid Koala, and, with the help of Society Skateboards, bringing together the hip-hop community on every last Saturday of the month for Section 6, Beijings only real hip-hop party, featuring Yin Tsang on the mics and Shanghais DJ V-Nutz, and Beijing DJs Shorty-S and Wordy (all national DMC finalists) on the cuts.

In addition to pursuing individual interests, Yin Tsang has traveled China as a group performing in major cities across the mainland. Making appearances at The Pepsi Music Awards, where they were nominated for Best New Rock-Rap Group of 2003 and the China National Radio Music Awards, where they won Best New Group of 2003. In addition to full length articles by the LA Times, the China Daily and Music Magazine (China) the group also made special appearances on CCTV-1, PBS, and Stir TV (cable).

Looking at the continuing development trends of hip-hop in Asia, paying special attention to Japan, Korea and Taiwan, it is apparent that there is a big future for hip-hop culture in China and Yin Tsang is at the forefront. Whereas five years ago there were only two hip-hop nights in Beijing, now there are at least 4 venues that exclusively play hip-hop and almost every bar has at least one urban music night per week. Oversized team jerseys and baseball caps can be found in most boutiques. Hip-hop now takes up one whole rack at the local CD stores. People between the ages of 15 and 45 can be found dancing to rap music at Tango, the most successful new high-capacity super club in Beijing. There are encouraged associations to hip-hop through street basketball (Nike and Reebok) extreme sports (Society Skateboards, NanShan Ski Resort, Siemens X-treme Games) and even major corporations (McDonalds advertising campaign, Meters Bourn, Nokia). Hip-hop culture has taken hold in China.

Yin Tsang recently recruited two new members to increase their versatility and to make the crew even more well-rounded. Chen Mingyu, the pianist and vocalist who was featured on For The People track 2 C Understanding, helps to add an R&B feel to many of the new songs and Young Kin AKA Kinetic Raw, who recently returned from a concert tour with superstar Jay Chao, is the new link to the streets. Yin Tsang encompasses Chinese hip-hop from the underground to the charts, where their last single Welcome to Beijing hovered in the Top 20 for 16 weeks. Yin Tsang is not just unique to China but to the world, and with their first album selling over 70,000 copies locally, the first multi-national Mandarin rap group in history plans to go international with their next releasecoming soon to a store near you.