What timeline are we in? Who knows anymore. But yeah, you read the headline, so here’s the video below.
We love Mandarin-language trap songs here at RADII, but this is getting out of hand. Nonetheless, if mayor of Taipei Ke Wenzhe is looking to get young people more involved in the city’s political activity, it seems to be working.
The song is called “Do Things Right”, featuring Taiwanese rapper Chunyan, who has a history in the city’s battle and hip hop scenes. The music video opens up on shots of the bus stop where Ke Wenzhe commutes to work each day, then takes viewers through the Taipei City Government offices and some municipal engineering sites.
As for the rapping, Ke Wenzhe keeps it one hundred by limiting his lyrics to a few hypnotic chants in the hook and pre-chorus: Do the right thing, do things right. Now as far as rap choruses go, that is so wholesome. And we love it.
The rest of the hook sees Mayor Ke rapping the phrase “怪怪的” over and over, loosely translating to “weird”. Maybe it’s a reference to his atypical approach to political promotion, but he leaves the more serious rapping to Chunyan. Sampled dialogue from his city council meetings echo throughout the beat.
Mayor Ke wrote a statement about the project:
Now, I’m going to try to be a rapper.
First of all, I would like to thank Yan KAO! INC. Studio, who is willing to let a 50-year-old who’s never succeeded with music start from scratch and learn the music production process from step one.
From understanding hip-hop culture, to learning the different elements of rap songs and the beats behind them, actually getting into the studio to record, and finally recording a music video — it’s a lengthy process, and I realized that the music industry is not as simple as singing karaoke. Each step is really professional.
If you want to do something you don’t understand, it’s OK to give it a go. The opportunity is reserved for those who are willing to try. Some may laugh, and everyone must bravely pursue their own lives.
Do the right thing, do things right! This is what I want to tell you, and it’s my first official release. I welcome advice and feedback.
So adorable.
And this isn’t Mayor Ke’s first act on YouTube. His channel is actually popping. Dude has 190,000 subscribers, and releases multiple videos per week. He dropped a video three hours ago about restructuring the city’s management team to serve the needs of the people. It’s already got 22,000 views.
No matter how you look at it, we can all agree on one thing: that shot of Mayor Ke throwing ripped up political papers into the air is badass. We’re waiting on the full EP.
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