Higher Brothers are a Chinese hip hop group from

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

consisting of four members: MaSiWei (马思唯 Siwei Ma), DZknow (丁震 Zhen Ding), Psy.P (杨俊逸 Junyi Yang), and Melo (谢宇杰 Yujie Xie). They are signed with the record label

88rising 88rising (stylized as 88⬆), formerly known as CXSHXNLY (pronounced “cash only”), is an American music company that founder Sean Miyashiro describes as a "hybrid management, record label, video production, and marketing company". The compa ...

, whose roster of artists includes Asian and Asian-American artists. The

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

is known for their songs in

Standard Mandarin Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...

and

Sichuanese Sichuanese, Szechuanese or Szechwanese may refer to something of, from, or related to the Chinese province and region of Sichuan (Szechwan/Szechuan) (historically and culturally including Chongqing), especially: *Sichuanese people, a subgroup of the ...

, such as "Made in China", "Black Cab" and "WeChat".

History

Origins

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. Meanwhile, Masiwei began rapping around 2013, 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 Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, released a song with Masiwei and Psy.P called "Haier Brothers" (海爾兄弟) after the old logo of the Chinese electronics company

Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including refrigerators, air conditioners, washin ...

, 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. Over time, the English form of the name became "Higher Brothers". The group's music is inspired by

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

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and

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. 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

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 YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

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 vide
"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 Russel 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 Brian Imanuel Soewarno (born 3 September 1999), known professionally as Rich Brian, is an Indonesian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his viral debut single " Dat $tick", which was first released in March 2016 on ...

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. Psy.P released his album ''PSYLIFE.25'' in May 2020, featuring the singles "Chanel", "Tongzilin" and "Bad Habits".

Band members

''These are Chinese names; surnames appear first.'' *MaSiWei, b.1993 (马思唯, Mǎ Sīwéi, also known as Ma

Shi Shi or SHI may refer to: Language * ''Shi'', a Japanese titles#Shi, Japanese title commonly used as a pronoun * ''Shi'', proposed gender-neutral pronoun * Shi (kana), a kana in Japanese syllabaries * Shi language * ''Shī'', transliteration of ...

��师lit. "Master Ma", formerly known as OG Skippy), group leader, from

Pixian Pidu District formerly known as Pi County or Pixian is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, Southwest China. It was approved from the former Pi County by the State Council on Novemb ...

. **MaSiWei was into hip-hop from a young age, and cites inspirations such as

and his album ''

Get Rich or Die Tryin' ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After signing wi ...

'' (2003). He joined the CDC in 2013. * DZknow, b.1996 (丁震, Dīng Zhèn, also known as KnowKnow or simply DZ), from

. **DZknow had several aspirations as an adolescent, most notably wanting to be an astronaut. His hip-hop inspirations came from

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

'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

. **Psy P.'s hip-hop interest came from T.I. and

Lil' Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

, 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

. **Melo had aspirations of being a professional footballer in China before joining the CDC in 2011.

Discography

Mixtape: ''Higher Brothers''

The group released a mixtape in 2016 entitled ''Higher Brothers Mixtape''. It consists of 19 tracks including the "original" versions of two songs also featured on ''Black Cab'' - "7/11" and "WeChat". The original version of "7/11" featured a beat that was produced by Deko, while "Wechat" used the beat from

Speaker Knockerz Derek McAllister Jr. (November 6, 1994 – March 6, 2014), known professionally as Speaker Knockerz, was an American rapper and record producer from Columbia, South Carolina. He is known for his Independent music, independent tracks which would g ...

's song "Count Up". These beats were most likely changed for the re-released versions due to copyright concerns.

Debut album: ''Black Cab''

Their debut album ''Black Cab'' was released on May 31, 2017. It features collaborations with

Keith Ape Dongheon Lee (이동헌; born December 25, 1993), known professionally as Keith Ape () and previously known as Kid Ash, is a South Korean rapper from Seoul. He is a member of a crew called 'The Cohort'. Ape's breakout single "잊지마" ("It G Ma ...

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Jay Park Jay Park ( Korean name: Park Jae-beom (Hangul: 박재범; Hanja: 朴載範); born April 25, 1987) is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and entrepreneur of based in South Korea. He is a member of the Seattle-based ...

and more. The album was named for the unlicensed black cab drivers of the group's native

. Despite its success, the album is almost entirely in Sichuanese, which made it almost unintelligible for a majority of Chinese listeners. It features songs from the groups pre-88rising days, as well as new songs written after signing with the label. The album contains the Higher Brother's song "Made In China", which ''

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

'' describes as their "most famous track to date". The video for the song went viral, receiving over 15 million views as of March 2019.

EP: ''Journey To The West''

Higher Brothers released a new EP on January 17, 2018, during their North American tour with the same name accompanied by other artists from 88rising. There are four tracks in the EP, one of them being "Flo Rida". Originally just a single before the official announcement of the rest of the ''Journey to the West'' EP, the song blends both the Chinese and English languages. The song is produced by Florida rapper and producer

Smokepurpp Omar Jeffery Pineiro (born May 15, 1997), known professionally as Smokepurpp, is an American rapper. Originally a record producer, Pineiro later found success on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud in 2017 from his surge in popularity due ...

and features

Ski Mask the Slump God Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne (born April 18, 1996), known professionally as Ski Mask the Slump God (formerly stylized as $ki Mask "The Slump God"), is an American rapper. He initially rose to prominence alongside XXXTentacion and their collectiv ...

. The EP is named after the popular Chinese novel of the same name.

Second album: ''Five Stars''

The group released their second album ''Five Stars'' on February 22, 2019. It features collaborations with American rappers, like

Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peake ...

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and many more.

Significance

Culturally

The Higher Brothers became part of a wider phenomenon in China that ventured from the traditional ways of the past generation. 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 Kris Wu, 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 Public Security Bureau for further questioning, but he was ultimately let go.

Musically

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' come up, but has since become more prevalent.