This post is the fourth of a 4-part series on Rock in Shanghai. Here are links to other posts in the series: Part 1: DJs, MCs; Part 2: Influences, People; Part 3: Venues, Nights.
In general, mainstream media does not cover underground music scenes in China and underground hip-hop is no exception. For more commercial-oriented hip-hop there is some exposure, but the majority of information is now found online and in specialty magazines.
Arguably the largest source of music for hip-hop musicians and fans in Shanghai is Myspace. This is due to the relative universality of Myspace as the platform for musicians worldwide. Youtube, Tudou and Youku are also popular as sources of video content related to hip-hop culture and Facebook has also been used more more recently as a source of event information.
In terms of Chinese websites, there are a number of hip-hop focused portals, social networking sites and BBS including:
Along with websites, there is a small group of magazines who cover the hip-hop and street culture scenes. The most prominent are Urban, Buzz, Yoho, 1626 and English publications such as City Weekend, SH, Shanghai Talk and That's Shanghai.
Many of the magazines and websites cover hip-hop as a part of larger street culture in China. Hip-hop has important crossovers with many other aspects of street cultue, the most noteworthy being graffiti, bboying, beatboxing, turntablism, streetball (basketball), street fashion and extreme sports. Unlike some Western countries where each of these scenes may be more developed and indepedent, in China, these alternative scenes often come together to support each other.
In Shanghai, some of the most prominent crossover activities can be seen at Source and Shirtflag (for fashion), Battle of the Year (for bboying), Fly Street Wear and SMP (for skateboarding) and the Asia X-Games (for extreme sports).
While many large brands sponsor pop stars who use hip-hop elements in their music, brands in the underground hip-hop scene tend to me more specific to the equipment and clothing of the scene in Shanghai. For example, larger turntablism events, such as DMC and Back to the Roots are sponsored by equipment makers Rane and Pioneer. These events, organized by The Lab, are often also sponsored by Nike and W+K Shanghai, along with media support from magazines, websites and street wear shops. Nike has also hosted a few corporate events in which Chinese hip-hop DJs have played, including the Nike iD Shanghai party.
For music publishing, there are little to no options for underground artists who are not able to make enough money in China's difficult music market. One notable exception was Song BMG's sponsorship of the 2005 Shanghainese rap compilation《有啥讲啥@ Shanghai》.