‘Know the ropes, learn the ropes’: Hip hop, knowledge and Wang Yitai

王以太 Wang Yitai is a 29-year-old Chinese rapper from the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, located in the western region of China. From his self-released debut mixtape Ready to Flow (2015), recorded while he was studying in the United States, to his latest albums 演.说.家 (‘Perform, Speak, Family’) (2019) and 幸存者的负罪感 (‘Survivor’s Guilt’ – feat AIR) (2021), Wang Yitai quickly rose to success to become one of the most famous and appreciated rappers nationwide. Anchoring his practice in one of the most eminent cities for rap in China, he actively integrated the historical landscape of the local rap crew, 成都说唱会馆 ( CDC Rap House ), and developed his own poetic music style featuring very local, cultural elements. Eventually, he reached national fame after participating in the second season of the hit show The Rap of China (2018). Discussing the role of knowledge in hip hop with Wang Yitai means thus questioning knowledge of the culture and American hip hop and its histories. However, such conversations necessarily double up with reflections on the knowledge of the self, which implies in our case how practising rap music is being translated in a Chinese context.