Featuring more than 20 artists from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand, the label is banking on the multiracial and multilingual character of the region, where hip hop appeals to thousands. But a quick look at its roster of artists reveals that one ethnic group appears sorely under-represented: the Malaysian Chinese.

“I kind of understand why, because the Chinese population of Malaysia is quite small, and the chance of making it big in our Malay- and English language-dominated music industry is also quite small,” says Dato’ Maw, a Penang-born Malaysian Chinese rapper whose name is a play on the similar-sounding Mandarin words for “tapir” and “devil”, and the Malaysian honorary title “Datuk”.

He’s going against the grain with a new and hyper-localised spin on hip hop for Malaysian Chinese that he defines as “Cina Music”.

While the word “Cina” refers to Malaysian Chinese in general, it has been used as a derogatory term by political extremists in Malaysia. For example, “Cina balik China” is the controversial refrain used by some Malay politicians to suggest that Chinese return to their ancestral land if they don’t like the way the country is run.

“I don’t see Cina as a derogatory term. Language is a powerful tool, and when the masses associate the term ‘Cina’ with the ‘Cina balik China’ slogan, I feel like the more Malaysian Chinese use the word as a symbol of being proud as Malaysian Chinese, we reclaim the word somehow,” Dato’ Maw said.

“It stands for our own uniqueness, identity, culture, the way we speak and live and, most importantly, our gratitude towards Malaysia.”

Dato’ Maw’s EP releases “Myvi + Marlboro” (2018), “Planta” (2018), “Cari Makan” (2019), and “Ao Guo Lai” (2020) have ultra-localised themes and embrace his life experience as a Malaysian Chinese.

“Writing hip-hop lyrics in your mother tongue is important to ‘stay true to yourself’ and ‘be real’, but it creates some commercial barriers in Malaysia because of our multilingual and multicultural society,” said Penang-based Malaysian Chinese filmmaker Ken Hor, who created a few videos for Dato’ Maw.

More than borrowing from global hip-hop tropes or their Malay counterparts, Cina Music has its roots in the work of seminal Hong Kong 1990s Cantonese rapcore band LMF. Their working-class songs of protest, such as 1127, a tribute to martial arts icon Bruce Lee, encouraged young Chinese to take inspiration and pride in their rich ancestry, instead of copying Western styles.

In Malaysia, the closest influence is Kuala Lumpur-based Cantonese hip-hop group ManHanD, active between 2007 and 2012. Since then, a lack of other like-minded Chinese music has left Malaysian Chinese without any beacon of cultural pride.

“We live in an era that’s quite close to culture death,” says Dato’ Maw. “The harsh truth is that the Malaysian Chinese gravitated towards mainland China’s culture because of local racism and political issues. They believe that if China rises, then even Malaysian Chinese, too, will stop being second-class citizens. Some people still see themselves as more Chinese than Malaysian Chinese, or Cina.”

Dato’ Maw does his part by running the indie label Ban Huat Sdn, which champions all sorts of local Cina-inclined artists, not just hip hop, and is one of the finalists in the current Levi’s Music Project. It’s the first time that this mentoring music programme has taken place in Southeast Asia, and it could be the perfect opportunity for this renegade Cina rapper to learn how to expand his hard-earned underground credibility to a wider public.

But regardless of platform, Dato’ Maw’s ultimate goal is to bring Cina Music overseas and make a name for it. “Maybe I won’t be the one, but hopefully the younger generations will push the potential of Cina Music into a bigger thing, and make every Cina proud.”