Real talk with MC Detroit Showtyme on China's biggest hip hop battle, the socialist roots of hip hop, and connections between Detroit and China.

SmSh: Is this a big thing for hip hop in China? For some kid in Wuhan or Guangzhou, if they can say they're the Iron Mic champion…?

SmSh: People mostly rap in Chinese then?

SmSh: So how does this work? You're gonna have 28 people go through five challenges each? Can you explain those?

SmSh: So what does the winner get?

SmSh: How much of it can you understand? My Chinese is alright but I can't understand 80% of what MCs are saying.

SmSh: Last Time I went to the Iron Mic, there was a female rapper and she killed it. She was mad aggressive and I thought she should have won. What role do women play in the Iron Mic?

SmSh: There's been a lot of guys who have won hip hop battles and maybe aren't doing that much now. At the end of the day, what does it mean if you win a rap battle?

SmSh: Where do you think hip hop in China is gonna be in ten years?

SmSh: You said earlier that president Xi Jinping used the terms "rap" and "street dance" in a speech. What does this mean? I don't think many people know about this.

SmSh: What did he say exactly?

SmSh: You're obviously a super smart guy who care a lot about this, and building the community through art. Why are you doing this in China when you're from Detroit and Detroit really needs positive leaders?

SmSh: What role can China play in Detroit's recovery?

SmSh: Can that happen? Detroit is one of the most segregated places in the country.

SmSh: Alright last question, what can people expect on Friday?

This is the [abridged] story of the China Iron Mic - the biggest rap battle in the world's most populous country. Their 13th annual national final happens this Friday night at warehouse club Arkham . Iron Mic founder Detroit Showtyme , a black Muslim convert from Detroit, believes that hip hop is a socialist art, in that it helps working class and poor people empower themselves and their communities. Though contemporary chart-toppers like Chief Keef have strayed far from this, you can hear that social consciousness in early hip hop like Brother D's " How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise " and Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation . Hip hop still has the power to improve life in Detroit and across China, and the Iron Mic is part of that.The connections between socialism and community empowerment in America and China go back a long way. For example, civil rights leader Robert F. Williams, author of the 1962 bookfled the United States on bogus kidnapping charges and got political asylum in China. Here he is with Mao.And here's Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers, meeting Chinese premier Zhou Enlai in 1971.But that's another topic.story begins in the neighborhood near 6-Mile and Livernois in Detroit. That's where Showtyme attended Catholic school at Gesu, the same school that the rapper Proof and R&B queen Aaliyah attended.After studying at Michigan State University, Showtyme came to China in 1999 to teach, and within a few years hooked up with DJ Apt from New York and Shanghai's DJ V-Nutz, who you may know from The Shelter and The Grumpy Pig . They started a crew called E2K and threw parties at places like DKD and Tomato Club, who would only let them play 20-30 minute hip hop sets that would clear the dance floor but brought in a whole new group of kids. They did this for three years. "It was heaven man. It was a hip hop ideal. People that really loved hip hop, and there was no BS. All different kinda people from all over the world coming together -- what hip hop is really about."This was far from Detroit's hip hop scene at that time, which Showtyme says didn't even exist. "Hip hop in Detroit is in your jeep, in your boombox, on the block, at home." All the early Shanghai hip hop players got their start around 1999, like MC Black Bubble and the Dragon dance crew. It was grimey. People fought at shows all the time.After a while E2K disbanded and Showtyme did the first Iron Mic battle, which was originally called Battle Grounds/Blazin' MCs. It was a call to anyone who could rap in Chinese. Ten kids came out to the first one. The Shanghainese owner of Johnny Blaze, one of the first hip hop clothing brands, sponsored the first event for 1000 USD after meeting Showtyme at DKD's weekly hip hop party.Beijing's MC Webber from the group Yin Ts'ang won the first battle. "There were some really poor immigrants that found their way into this event, and they were right at the front stage reeking like baijiu. They had the tattered clothes, everything… the yellow eyes. It was real. Poor people came, and they were watching Webber and they loved Webber." Iron Mic has grown every year since then in its thirteen years, making it one of, if notlongest-running battle in the world. Here's the video from the 2013 national final.Fast forward thirteen years later, and the Iron Mic happens in almost thirty cities in China, from Xinjiang to Shenzhen and in cities where you'd never expect a hip hop scene. I've been to a few of these and it's the real deal. The crowd is almost completely Chinese and there's little brand presence. They may not promote much in English, but the local heads know what's up. The national final is happening this Friday night, when 28 kids come from all over China will spar to see who is indeed the top MC in China. Ahead of this Friday's battle, I spoke with Detroit Showtyme about hip hop in China, Detroit, and socialism.It's a big fucking deal. All the kids know that if you get to be Iron Mic champion, you get respect and you get gigs. You get respect, you really do.Only Chinese. It's a Chinese rap battle. That's the lingua franca.It's 28 guys, and before 9pm we're gonna break that down to sixteen guys [who] get to go through the five stages.The first one is freestyle. That's the foundation. The next one is more about stage performance, called the "move the crowd challenge." The third one is flow. Can you do fast raps? Can you do slow raps? How many bars can you slam in?The [next] one, it was always "clarity". You've got MCs, they've got all these different skills, but you can't hear them on the mic. And so I called it clarity but it's really more like mic control and we expanded it to technology. This year we're gonna switch it up and use wireless headphones. We're gonna put the beat in your head. You hear the beat, [but the audience] doesn't.Beats is supposed to be our sponsor [but] they don't really take us serious. They couldn't even give me the headphones, so I went out and bought the headphones myself. I bought wireless Beats. They gave us some stuff but not the wireless ones. I should use another brand but whatever. [Beats did eventually did provide a pair of wireless headphones]. Then the last one is the classic battle, where you do one round acapella then another round with beats.For the five elements, I used the five elements: fire, water, earth…something that the Chinese people can relate to. That's got people buzzing, they're like "ohhhhhh shit, the five elements of rap!" It's just about being innovative and fun.The winner is the winner. People come in the battle to win the battle. There is no special prize. You're the champion... We wanna stay true to that and keep it real. If I start throwing money around, anyone can do that.I probably understand 80%. It all depends man, because it does get localized…cats using slang and dialect, you can't catch it. But I've been around it so much. But sometimes, when you're doing metaphors and double entendre... That's why there's different skill sets that we're judging. I might not be able to catch your lyrics, but there's so much other stuff that I'm getting. When it gets to the point where you're at such a dope level, I'm starting to look at your character as a human being. You're a dope rapper, now what do you represent, what do you stand for? And a lot of people never got that about Iron Mic. We're looking for people to represent hip hop culture.From day one, I've always had strong Chinese women supporting me. Without them behind me, I could never have done this. They're behind the scenes a lot of the times. You don't see them on stage, but a lot of sisters and females, they're out there promoting the events, spreading the word… But in terms of artists, the third year was the first time we had a female, and PQ got smashed by a female rapper. She murdered him. And she went on to be a famous celebrity. She even talks about Iron Mic to this day. And over the years we've had several female MCs. We've had people from all walks of life. We had a kid in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy... Everyone is on the iron mic.It means a lot. It means a whole lot. This game, when you really get into it, it's one of the most challenging and risky things that you can ever do. To stand on stage in front of everyone and completely expose yourself. To lay it all on the line. This guy across from me can pick at the darkest and most sensitive things about my persona, and break me down. And then I've gotta challenge him and do that...it teaches you a lot about yourself. Much more than people imagine. Boxing is a physically violent thing, but here is a game where you're really using your mind. You're pushing your mind to the limit. So that's why I believe in hip hop... This is debate! So, show me your mind and your culture and your sophistication. Show it to me. Whadda you got?I see a battle and I learn so much about a kid, like immediately. Like alright, this dude's a dick, this dude's lost, this dude's on drugs, this dude's [got] family problems, this dude's a egomaniac, oh THIS dude..is interesting. This guy has something to say…As far as we take it. Who knows? Who can predict the future. But I do believe China does have the opportunity to embrace hip hop at a level no other country can. Hip hop is very much a socialist movement. You don't have to be afraid by that term "socialist." Hip hop and socialism go hand in hand. There's no reason that the Chinese can't embrace it and love it and take it to a higher level. I believe in that. It sounds like a bunch of malarkey and bullshit, but I believe it because I've seen it first hand. But at the end of the day it's only gonna be as good as the people that inspire it and drive it are. And right now we don't have tremendous leadership, we're all struggling trying to figure out and find our way.People don't know about it because they don't fucking care. If you're up on politics and you understand what's happening in this country, you would know. But motherfuckers don't know, because people are here just to make money and exploit this country and move on and take what they want. So I'm someone who cares, and when I saw that…and everyone in hip hop that's real knows that…He gave two public speeches about culture and arts and entertainment. Essentially he said by name, if the kids want Jiewu (street dance) and Shuochang (rap), if that's what they want, that's what we're gonna be involved in. [He also implied that the content has to be healthy]. For me, that's the green light to say I don't have to be underground anymore. If you want someone that really represents this culture, let's go and build. Who cares about China? I'm here. I really care about China. Let's do something with hip hop. I was afraid. I just felt like something bad was gonna happen to people, but we gotta take responsibility in hip hop. We can't be affiliated with negative stuff. But what do I have to be afraid about? Hip hop is healthy, it is positive. Dance is a beautiful thing.You know what? Another journalist asked me this question and it stopped me dead in my tracks. In life, you have to pick and choose your battles. I will never turn my back on Detroit. I've been repping Detroit since day one. I was born on the east side of Detroit. My mama is from the Brewster Projects. My heart bleeds for my city. And I'm not gonna give you any false pretensions about the reality of Detroit. I will always rep Detroit till the day I die. And I'm very committed to coming back home and bringing this home, and I'm looking forward to my Chinese brothers helping me and we come back together.China has benefited from Detroit tremendously. Chinese business people are coming back, investing in the community, buying property. It's time that we really open up this discussion. It's definitely on the agenda. Let's see. We can't do it alone, it's a global challenge. It's something little Dana from Detroit isn't gonna be able to handle. My step-mom just had to put a gun in a man's face and my father was about to knock this dude off the 2nd floor balcony. My father just passed, like, four months ago. One of the last things that he did was help protect his wife in the ghetto of Detroit. Shit is real.I think that the greatest role that the Chinese can play is sending more immigrants, by the boatload. More Chinese people need to come Detroit. And more Chinese people need to come and have real interaction with the working class and poor people. The Chinese need to take their efficiency and organization and genuine respect and discipline for family values. Bring that to Detroit and show us your love and your hard work. Let us see and let us feel it, and build together with us.It can happen, because the people of Detroit, if you're genuine and you're real, they're gonna welcome you with open arms. But as long as they feel threatened that you're coming to exploit them, they're gonna be extremely defensive. But there's so much love in Detroit. Spiritual power in Detroit. Incredible people in Detroit. There's no better place for Chinese values to take root than in Detroit. That's the reason the Nation of Islam was founded in Detroit. Talk about discipline, organization...the dude that founded it was Pakistani. He was Asian.…We need about 50,000 workers that have lived life in China, and that know how to live on a meager, modest subsistence living, that can teach people you can live with dignity and respect.Expect to have fun, expect to have a good time. I want people to feel the magic I felt when I discovered hip hop. If you saw 8 Mile and that kinda intensity and underground vibe, you're really gonna get that feeling at the Iron Mic.***