Yin Ts'ang

Yin Ts’ang (隐藏, 隱藏 yǐn cáng [in˨˩˦tsʰɑŋ˧˥]; formed in 2001) is a highly influential, multi-national Chinese hip-hop group from Beijing, China that originally consisted of MC Webber (PRC), 老郑XIV (USA), Sbazzo (CAN) and Dirty Heff (USA). They are frequently referred to as the originators of the modern mainland Chinese hip-hop movement and are recognized for releasing the first Chinese hip-hop album that has met with any critical acclaim.

Over the years Yin Ts’ang has done commercial collaborations with Nike, Adidas, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), Myspace, Casio and Philips. They have toured China, performing in 100 person performance houses in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region and 30,000 person capacity stadiums at the base of Wu-Tang Mountain. They have not only had the pleasure of working with Chinese artists like Supergirl Chris Lee (李宇春) and rock legend Cui Jian (崔健) but have also graced the stage with foreign legends like DJ Q-Bert, Kid Koala, Onyx and Mobb Deep. Yin Ts’ang has won back to back achievement awards at the 1st and 2nd Annual Chinese Hip-Hop Awards for Best Group and Most Dedicated to the Art and was awarded Best Rap Group in China at the 2009 Kappa-YoHo Pop Music awards.

Yin Ts’ang was founded late in the year 2000 in Beijing, China by local b-boy 王波, Wáng Bō (MC Webber), and Jeremy Michael Johnston (老郑XIV), a DJ and producer originally from Montgomery, Alabama. They were joined in 2001 by Josh Heffernan (Dirty Heff), an intellectual lyricist from Chicago, Illinois, and Marcus Zhong (Sbazzo), a rapper and producer from Toronto, Canada. The four members immediately clicked and began making music together in a small apartment in Beijing. In 2002, after having recorded more than 50 demo tracks, the group signed with local record label (Scream Records 嚎叫) and went directly to the studio to begin recording. Soon after they released their first full-length studio album in Mandarin Chinese, Serve The People (为人民服务)(2003), which was co-produced and engineered by Mel "Herbie" Kent. The lead single off Serve the People, “Welcome to Beijing” an upbeat commercial anthem about Beijing which contained a catchy loop played on the local Erhu fiddle, reached a #11 spot nationally and secured the group a nomination for Best New Rock-Rap Group at the Pepsi Music Awards and the award for Best New Group of 2003 at the China National Radio Music Awards. The album also contains arguably the first Mandarin Jungle genre track "Speak" (DJ Herbie UK Remix) which along with “Welcome to Beijing” has been featured on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

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