Higher Brothers

Higher Brothers are a Chinese hip hop group from Chengdu consisting of four members: MaSiWei (马思唯 Siwei Ma), KnowKnow (丁震 Zhen Ding), Psy.P (杨俊逸 Junyi Yang), and Melo (谢宇杰 Yujie Xie). The group is known for their songs in Standard Mandarin and Sichuan Dialect, such as “Made in China”, “Black Cab” and “WeChat”.

Origins and History of the Higher Brothers

Higher Brothers are part of the much larger rap collective Chengdu Rap House (成都说唱会馆), also known as CDC (an abbreviation of Chengdu City), which was formed in the early 2010s. Melo, who was the earliest of the Higher Brothers to join the Rap House, performed in a cypher video in 2012 alongside original Rap House members such as Fat Shady and Sleepy Cat.[6] Meanwhile, Masiwei began rapping around 2013 and he was called OG Skippy, releasing three solo mixtapes in 2013, 2014, and 2015, and Melo and Psy.P performed as a duo called 天地会 (TianDi Clan, or TDC), releasing a mixtape in 2015.

In 2015, DZknow, who had recently arrived from Nanjing, released a song with Masiwei and Psy.P called “Haier Brothers” (海尔兄弟) after the old logo of the Chinese electronics company Haier, which features a pair of brothers. After the song received a positive reception, the members decided to form a group and name it after the song.[8] Over time, the English form of the name became “Higher Brothers”. The group’s music is inspired by 50 Cent, A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Migos.

The quick cycles of media consumerism in China allowed the Higher Brothers to enter the underground Chinese hip-hop scene and explode in popularity within a matter of months, and their international success would soon follow after signing with multinational label 88rising.

88rising and International Success

The Higher Brothers joined 88rising in 2016 and are managed by Sean Miyashiro and Lana Larkin. Larkin also appeared on a few of their tracks. The group first appeared on 88rising’s YouTube channel in 2016 with the song “Black Cab”. A video published by 88rising shows prominent hip-hop figures like Kyle, Lil’ Yachty, Migos, and Playboi Carti reacting extremely positively to Higher Brothers’ hit music video “Made in China” skyrocketed their popularity and helped push them into the public eye internationally. The video currently has over 22 million views. The Higher Brothers also appeared in both Adidas Originals and Beats by Dre commercials, and were involved in a photo shoot with Russell Westbrook to promote the opening of a Jordan flagship store in Shanghai.

Due to the success of songs like “Made in China” and “Franklin”, the Higher Brothers embarked on a tour through Asia alongside 88rising artists Joji and Rich Brian in late 2017. In 2018 the group embarked on their North American Tour “Journey to the West”, named after their EP of the same name which was released in January 2018. The group released their second album Five Stars in 2019, and embarked on their worldwide “Wish You Rich” tour starting May 2019. At the end of 2019 the group announced that each member would release a solo album. DZknow released his album Mr. Enjoy Da Money on December 12, 2019, and also started a street wear brand of the same name. On February 28, 2020, MaSiWei released his solo album Prince Charming, named after the 1999 movie of the same name. Melo’s solo album Old Master came out in April 2020 and revolved around the theme of paying homage to old guard rappers.[16] Psy.P released his album PSYLIFE.25 in May 2020, featuring the singles “Chanel”, “Tongzilin” and “Bad Habits”.

Members of The Higher Brothers

These are Chinese names; surnames appear first.

• MaSiWei, b.1993 (马思唯, Mǎ Sīwéi, also known as Ma Shi [马师] lit. “Master Ma”, formerly known as OG Skippy), group leader, from Pixian, Chengdu.
  • MaSiWei was into hip-hop from a young age, and cites inspirations such as 50 Cent and his album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2003). He joined the CDC in 2013.
• DZknow, b.1996 (丁震, Dīng Zhèn, also known as KnowKnow or simply DZ), from Nanjing.
  • DZknow had several aspirations as an adolescent, most notably wanting to be an astronaut. His hip-hop inspirations came from Usher’s song “Yeah!”. He became connected to the rest of the group through Weibo, when he purchased a beat from MaSiWei.
• Psy.P, b.1994 (杨俊逸, Yáng Jùnyì) from Chengdu.
  • Psy P.’s hip-hop interest came from T.I. and Lil’ Wayne, both prominent figures in rap around the time he joined the CDC in 2011, before becoming a joint act with Melo.
• Melo, b.1994 (谢宇杰, Xiè Yǔjié) from Chengdu.
  • Melo had aspirations of being a professional footballer in China before joining the CDC in 2011.

Impact

The Higher Brothers became part of a wider phenomenon in China that ventured from the traditional ways of past generations. For many in the younger generation in China, the cutthroat housing market and job and marriage markets are extremely competitive and present a lot of obstacles for young Chinese. Higher Brothers are the first Chinese rap group to achieve international recognition, rivaling the overseas popularity of Chinese pop stars like Jackson Wang and Lay Zhang.

The group has been able to circumvent Chinese censorship, believed largely due to the unmet need in cultural product of exportable quality. In an older song, Melo rapped “I don’t write political hip-hop. But if any politicians try to shut me up, I’ll cut off their heads and lay them at their corpses’ feet.” This line caused him to be brought into the Chinese public security bureau for questioning, but he was ultimately released.

The Higher Brothers bring energy and crowd involvement into their performances through multilingual integration of their music: speaking to the crowd in mandarin while rapping in English, Mandarin, and Sichuanese. This kind of higher level participation from the crowd was largely unseen in the hip-hop scene during the Higher Brothers’ rise, but has since become more prevalent.

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