IT'S A RAP

Nawukere is in a good mood. He is taking a few days off with his family in Sanya, a coastal city of Hainan province.

"I am currently sitting in a room facing the sea. I had a good day with my family at a water park. I also bought a Lego Batmobile, which I am still working on," says the rapper from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

What's also making him excited is his brand new full-length album, on which he has written and performed 12 original songs. He also composed and recorded four instrumental pieces, making the whole album sound like a movie of his life. Entitled Who Am I, the new album features songs about his love for his family, respect for his rap scene peers in Xinjiang and his responses to online bullying.

Last summer, Nawukere came second in the hugely popular The Rap of China, an online reality show which helped propel hip-hop music into China's mainstream. Ever since he took the stage, the round-faced, ambitious young man wasted no time in throwing down the gauntlet to his rivals, immediately giving a full-faith, full-throated presentation of his music. He raps in Mandarin, English and the Uygur language, stunning the audience with his freestyle and creativity.

Through the exposure offered by the show Nawukere was able to enjoy more opportunities to perform around the country, but he also was confronted with doubts and even criticism. Online, some questioned his performances during the show while the others simply just posted rude comments about his music.

The rapper opens up about the online bullying with songs, such as Fool and All Eyes on Me, in which he expresses his attitude and his life changes after the show propelled him to fame.

"All eyes on me; the darkness around me and I fight among the chaos; which is like cholera spreading so fast," he sings.

"The surface seems like glorious; but it's in fact falling into an abyss. The eyes are blinded; which is the core of the problem," he raps in the song Fool.

"I had a hectic schedule after the show. I just stayed at home once a week and was flying the rest of the time. I was angry about the bullying, but I knew the best way to fight back is through my music," says Nawukere, who has nearly 3 million followers on Sina Weibo, a popular social media platform.

So, in August and September, he stopped performing for two months and focused on the new album. "I spent 24 hours in the recording studio and it was very enjoyable, the process of making the new album," he says.

As a father of a 2-year-old boy, a husband and a son, he also wrote the songs Papa and Love Story to dedicate to his family, showing a softer side to the rapper.

On Dec 6, he launched the album with a live concert, which attracted not only fans, but also his longtime friends, including Ma Jun, a rapper from Xinjiang, who also stood out on The Rap of China.

DK, another veteran rapper from Xinjiang, was featured in the song Western Noise, which is also the name of the record label launched by Nawukere and DK.

On Dec 7, Nawukere hosted a party with his friend, marking his 30th birthday on Dec 8 and celebrating the 12th anniversary with his wife.

"Part of me is the same as the 18-year-old Nawukere, while part of me takes more responsibility for my family and my music," the rapper says. "The reality show enabled many of my rapper brothers from Xinjiang to reach the limelight, so we want to work together to develop the label. Now my dream is not just about making myself successful, but also bringing the label up to a new level."

Born and raised in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, he showed a talent for music and dance when he was a child. He learned street dance when the Western art form was introduced to Xinjiang, and he later went on to make waves in the hip-hop scene in both Xinjiang and Beijing. In 2005 he moved to Shanghai to attend high school and, four years later, was enrolled to study at Beijing International Studies University.

During his first year at the university he took part in a singing competition and won, becoming an instant star on campus. In his third year, he held a solo concert on campus, and when he graduated, he released his debut album, Musape.

Though his parents didn't understand the music he was making then, they supported him and even rented a small basement apartment in Xinjiang for Nawukere to use as a music studio. He lived on a tight budget, spending all his savings on recording equipment, however, Nawukere persevered in pursuing his hip-hop music dream, gradually forming his own sound and style of rap.

Before appearing on The Rap of China he had performed on the Zhejiang Satellite TV show, Sound of My Dream, and in a Chinese musical, A Moment of Remembrance, composed by the singer-songwriter Han Hong and directed by the dramatist Tian Qinxin.

Now living in Beijing, Nawukere only returns to his home in Xinjiang in the summer to visit his parents. On Dec 14, he met his fans in Korla city, Xinjiang, where he admits to feeling touched by the response of the local people.

"In the past, only about 20 people came to watch my hip-hop shows in Xinjiang but this time, I saw a big crowd waiting for me to perform, which made me feel proud and excited," Nawukere says, adding that a young man wearing a basketball shirt came up to him and asked for an autograph.

"Since my childhood, my dream was to become a basketball player. It was a special moment for me to sign his shirt," the rapper says. He also recalls that some young rappers from Xinjiang came to the event, "they were very friendly, but told me that, one day, they would surpass. We shook hands, laughed and I said 'I am looking forward to that day'," Nawukere recalls with a smile.