VOA慢速英语2019--嘻哈音乐在泰国兴起

Hip¹-hop² Music on the Rise in Thailand

New York City, the birthplace of hip-hop music, is thousands of kilometers away and, culturally, very different from northeastern Thailand.

But for Thai rapper RachYo, the language of hip hop is universal.

The 18-year-old artist appears in a recent music video recorded in a rice field. RachYo is sitting on an old truck, rapping about trouble in a love relationship. The video has 57 million views on YouTube.

"I rap about things that really happen to me," RachYo told the Reuters news agency. Based in Thailand's Nakhon Ratchasima province, the rapper says he mostly sings about girls.

The rising popularity of hip hop in Thailand has created stars that have drawn³ the attention of music industry leaders.

Def Jam Recordings⁴ is the main hip hop label of Universal Music Group, or UMG, one of the world's three major music corporations. Dej Jam produces and publishes the work of some of the most popular hip-hop artists in the United States, including Rihanna, 2 Chainz and Kanye West. Last year it opened offices in Thailand and Singapore.

One of the first artists the company employed after expanding there was Thai rapper DaBoyWay. DaBoyWay has 1 million followers⁵ on the social media service Instagram, and is releasing a new album on Monday. Def Jam has also made agreements with five others from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Paul Sirisant heads the label's operations in Bangkok. He says Def Jam plans to employ four more Thai artists this year.

Sirisant noted⁶ Thai artists stand out from others in Southeast Asia because the language already includes sounds that rhyme in daily speech. Rhyming, or using words or phrases that end in the same sounds, is a major element of hip-hop. So rapping in Thai sounds natural, he says.

The music has spread outside the nation's major cities.

"Thailand has already tipped in a big way - it's the paddy fields and hip hop," Sirisant said. He adds that highly successful rappers can earn millions of dollars in Thailand.

In 2018, Thai media company Broadcaster Workpoint Entertainment launched a television program called The Rapper. Non-professional performers compete in the show to become the next rap star. The popularity of The Rapper helped connect the public and hip hop.

A group called Rap Against Dictatorship released a song in 2018 that received millions of views on YouTube. The song included the lyric⁷ "either eat the truth or bullets," and criticized the military rule of the country. That rule ended in 2019.

Other new rap in Thailand comes from 19Tyger and H3NRI. Their song, Klong Toey is about life in a poor Bangkok neighborhood of the same name.

Maya Piyapan, 23, says his hip hop group, WARPGVNG, met over the internet and has members from across the country. The group, which will perform on January 31, raps about about getting into trouble and problems fame can cause among friends.

"Labels have reached out to me to help with production and content, but not as an artist" said Maya.

Production agreements, or record deals, are the dream for many artists, but not for RachYo. His recent video Nok, the Thai word for bird, received 80 million YouTube views, more than Thailand's population of nearly 70 million.

He says he raps to express himself, but he is not interested in a record deal with a label.

"I like being home, in the country. I don't really like to go anywhere," he said.

Words in This Story

rapper – n. a person who performs hip hop music, a kind of music that has words that are spoken with the rhythm instead of being sung

label – n. a company that produces musical recordings

element – n. a particular part of something, such as a situation or activity

tip(ped) – v. to change a situation so that something is more likely to happen

paddy – n. a wet field where rice is grown

lyric – n. the words of a song

1 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

2 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。