User:Zhang Lingxiao/sandbox

= Trap in Southwest = Trap in southwest (Chinese is 川渝陷阱，pinyin is ChuanYuXianJing) is a documentary about trap music in China. It’s divided into two sets and the two parts describe the development of hip-hop music in Chengdu and Chongqing. By comparing the historical and cultural differences between the two places, the author analyzes the influence of culture on the music of Chengdu and Chongqing.

Background
Trap was a hip-hop music that was formed in the southern part of the United States in the early 90s. Trap music is defined by its ominous, bleak and gritty lyrical content which varies widely according to the artist. Typical lyrical themes portrayed include observations of hardship in the "trap", street life, poverty, violence and harsh experiences in urban inner city surroundings. With the development of society and the improvement of people's living standard, the style of trap music has changed accordingly. Its melody gives people a sense of laziness. So it is in line with today's fast-paced lifestyle and now it has been accepted by more and more people.

China's trap culture has emerged under this international trap trend, but the place where the rap culture first appeared was not the most developed city in the traditional sense of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong. In fact, trap music flourished in Sichuan and Chongqing where has its own regional culture.

Part One
The part one of Trap in southwest  introduces the development of trap music in Chengdu. At the beginning of the film, there is an introduction to Chengdu's geographical position and some distinctive cultures.

Chengdu is a sub-provincial city which has served as capital of China's Sichuan province. It is one of the three most populous cities in Western China. The surrounding Chengdu Plain is also known as the "Country of Heaven" (Chinese: 天府之国; pinyin: Tiānfǔ zhi Guó) and the "Land of Abundance”. Because of its unique geographical location and lifestyle, Chengdu has formed its own unique dialect culture. The pronunciation of this dialect is very distinctive, and the tone is more changeable than Mandarin. This is suitable for the variety of features of trap music.

In Chengdu, there is a Chinese mainland rap music label called CDC Rap House. There are many famous rappers in the music label, which most attention is a rap group, Higher brothers. In the final part of the film, it introduces this hot rap group in China today.

Higher Brothers is a Chinese hip-hop group from Chengdu consisting of members MaSiWei (马思唯), DZ (丁震), Psy.P (杨俊逸), and Melo (谢宇杰). Their debut album Black Cab was released May 2017. Members have cited 50 Cent, A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Migos as influences. The hosts in the film interviewed the frontman MaSiWei, MaSiWei presented his ideas on the development of music rap of China.

Part Two
The part one of Trap in southwest  introduces the development of trap music in Chongqing. Differ to part one, part two pays more attention to interview with individual rapper in Chongqing.

First of all, the film had an interview with Wudu Montana who is the founder of a Chongqing rap music label. He also runs a tea dessert shop. He is considered to be the first Chinese rapper in trap. In the interview, he talked about his love for the city of Chongqing and expressed his unique views on trap rap. Second of the man interviewed is the new generation of Gosh label leader, Bridge. He introduced his life experience after contacting with rap. From the beginning, he suffered a lot of ridicule and unfair treatment. However, he did not give up, and through his unremitting efforts, he eventually grow into the leader of today's Gosh. At the end of the film, GAI was interviewed by the host. He talked about the cultural differences between the two cities of Chongqing and Chengdu, and under the influence of this difference, trap music presents two different directions of development. This is the general content of part two.

Billy Starman, the director of this documentary, chose different scenes when he was shooting the part two of Trap in southwest, including the Yangtze River and the Jialing River. He believes that these scenes can highlight the characteristics of Chongqing trap music.

Comments
The documentary itself perfectly presents the current high quality documentary level of VICE China team. Both the switch of camera and scenery selection have a clear purpose. The narrative structure is very clear, part one part two formed a strong contrast. But the film itself is very short, the audience can not completely understand the historical development of the two regions of trap music.