CHENGDU, China — Standing under a phalanx of flashing blue lights, Masiwei gazed down at the sea of waving fans. Cheers erupted as he threw his head back and called out to the hometown crowd.

“Chengduuuu!”

Just minutes later, the wiry rapper — one-fourth of the four-man Chinese rap crew known as the Higher Brothers — was stomping across the stage with his shirt off, tattoos out and short dreadlocks pulled back into a high ponytail. At the other end of the stage, Dzknow, another Higher Brothers rapper, grabbed a fistful of cash and took aim, sending a flurry of fake bills raining down on the sweaty fans below.

It was a classic rapper move in a not-so-classic setting: a small hip-hop festival on the outskirts of the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu.