Moving to the beat

Chinese-American rapper Christine Ko will perform at the MDSK event, among many other singers and bands. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Each rapper of Triple H has distinctive hip-hop persona. They started from performing at local live-house venues and gathered a stable fan base with their clever rhymes. They were already stars in the hip-hop scene before the reality show," says Shen. "The reality show helped them to reach out to more audiences."

Triple H, founded in 2011 by rapper Liu Jiayu, better known by his stage name Dan Ke, signed on to Modernsky in 2016.

Other highlights of the festival include Theophilus London from New York's Brooklyn, and Japan's Hideyuki Yokoi, who is better known by his stage name Zeebra.

Shen, who started planning for the MDSK festival at the end of 2016, says he wants it to become an iconic outdoor hip-hop event, similar to the company's Strawberry Music Festival and other established brands.

To that effect, Modernsky plans to turn MDSK into a hip-hop festival touring across the country in 2018.