On October 25, Chinese rapper and singer-songwriter Vinida Weng made the rounds on Chinese social media, not for her latest EP, One Life Only, but over racist comments directed at her boyfriend, the British musician and producer Harikiri.
A key player in China’s rap scene, Harikiri is famous for making beats for Chinese hip hop legends such as Higher Brothers and MC HotDog, as well as international acts like Goldlink and Gunna.
On the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, some netizens allegedly attacked the rapper for having a Black boyfriend. And while the hateful comments can no longer be found online, screenshots have been circulating the Chinese internet.
Some of the deeply troubling comments include, “Get married and go back to your country,” “When you have kids, give one to me. I feel safer if a [N-word] is watching my door,” or “I’ll take one of your kids when you have them and work it in my family’s cotton field.”
Vinida chose to ignore the most hateful statements. However, when a user commented, “Her boyfriend is Black [smirky emoji],” she clapped back with a snappy, “He is, and he is also outstanding.”
When 嘻笑堂HipHop, a Weibo account that focuses on hip hop culture, reposted the screenshots, many netizens rushed to defend the rapper and condemn the reprehensible racist attacks.
“Listening to hip hop and being racist towards Black people is so weird,” observed one netizen.
“They don’t even know who Vinida and Harikiri are. These people only care about spreading hate. Really out of place,” lamented another.
Discrimination against Black people is still a widespread and rarely discussed issue in Chinese society.
While elements of African-American culture such as hip hop, dance, and fashion have seen huge popularity in China, episodes of online and offline hate against Black people and even incidents of blackface — including a recent episode on Hong Kong television network TVB mere days ago — have made international news on numerous occasions.
Cover image by the author
