Apply Now: This Program Wants to Send You to China to Make Beats

Cross-cultural musical flows between China and the States are at an all-time high. We have Kris Wu hopping on tracks with Travis Scott, Higher Brothers putting Chengdu’s trap scene on the map, and Bohan Phoenix pulling in fans from New York to Beijing and everywhere in between.

And here’s some good news for you, aspiring cross-cultural beat makers: Found Sound Nation wants you to get in on the action.

Lijiang Studio

The Found Sound China Music Diplomacy Fellowship is every musician/adventurer’s dream. Chosen applicants will be flown out to China, where they’ll meet up for a week in Lijiang Studio, a breathtaking rural site in remote Yunnan Province, to orient themselves, trade techniques, and get ready to hit the road. After that, the artists will be split into pairs (each with one American and one Chinese musician), and shoot out to different corners of China like the Dragon Balls. They’ll spend two weeks traveling and collecting sounds (“traditional instruments, nature sounds, car horns, folk operas, prayer bells, freestyles in the local dialect, and more”), before reconvening in Beijing for five days to produce, perform, and ultimately assemble their tracks into a badass, one-of-a-kind album for release in both US and China.

Beatmaker and bboy Eddie Lu is the mastermind behind the project:

“Our purpose is to build a deep and mutual understanding between Chinese and American culture through innovative approaches in musical collaboration. And to make super hot fire.”

All travel and accommodations will be covered by the program, plus a $500 stipend (if you know anything about prices in rural China, you’ll know that goes a long way). When’s the next time the US State Department is going to finance your quest to travel the world and make music?

The application deadline is February 28th, so get crackin’.

Cover image: Found Sound Nation