What Needs to be Governed? Hip-Hop Cultural Governance in China through the Lens of Modifications to Rap Music Lyrics

Rap music, as a core element of hip-hop culture, is often celebrated for its subcultural resistance but has undergone significant transformation in China amid processes of mainstreaming and state cultural governance. While previous research has highlighted the localisation and commercialisation of Chinese hip-hop, limited attention has been paid to the micro-level textual shifts in the mainstreaming of Chinese rap music. This study investigates how Chinese state ideology exerts an explicit and subtle impact on popular culture through the case of The Rap of China, a widely viewed hip-hop competition show. By analysing 934 pairs of live and studio versions of songs using thematic and critical discourse analysis, the study identifies three major patterns of lyrical modification: explicit depoliticisation, subtle depoliticisation, and the elimination of ‘badness’. We find that content perceived as politically sensitive or morally inappropriate is systematically altered, transforming hip-hop from a rebellious subculture into an ideologically compliant tool for moral education and social harmony. These transformations are not solely top-down; they reflect a negotiation between state agencies, streaming platforms, and artists under China’s model of cultural governance. This study contributes to understanding how subcultural forms are restructured to serve both market logics and ideological purposes in contemporary China.