The best music to come out of China in 2022

Society & Culture

While live music endured a tumultuous year in China, artists from the Chinese music scene pushed through and kept listeners comforted, thrilled, and empowered in a time of uncertainty and anxiety.

Image for The China Project by Derek Zheng

While much of the world decided to move on from the COVID-19 pandemic this year, leading to a wave of music releases focused on fun, in China, 2022 was largely a year of records that dealt with reflection and frustration. This was compounded for many artists by the difficulties of touring under the COVID-zero policy, with anyone attempting to do shows across the country setting themselves up for a roller coaster of postponements, last-minute venue closures, and endless rounds of testing, punctuated only occasionally by some actual in-person gigs.ย ย 

But thatโ€™s not to say that the last 12 months have been completely devoid of interesting, entertaining releases โ€” far from it. Below, in no particular order, are some of the most notable records to come out of China in 2022, ranging from hip-hop and funk to post-punk and avant-garde.

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There is one caveat, though: This list is far from comprehensive and tends to skew toward the independent, alternative end of the Chinese music spectrum. For an excellent rundown of the year in Mandopop, check out The Mando Gapโ€™s impressive list.


ๅฐ่€่™Ž๏ผŒๅ‘จๅฃซ็ˆต๏ผŒไนŸๆ˜ฏ็ฆ (J-Fever, Zhลu Shรฌjuรฉ, Eddie Beatz) โ€“ ๅŽป็ˆฑๅŽปๅ“ญๅŽป็–‘ๆƒ‘ (Go Love, Go Cry, Go Doubt)

One of a number of records to grapple with the discombobulation of the last three years of pandemic life, Go Love, Go Cry, Go Doubt is a surprisingly warm and comforting album. There are lyrics about isolation and scarring experiences, as well as some serious, stark messages โ€” notably, a calling out of patriarchy in the wake of the appalling Tangshan attack โ€” but there are also moments of great humor and a resounding message of empathy, a sentiment explicitly referenced on โ€œๆˆ‘ๆ‡‚ไฝ ็š„ๆ„ๆ€โ€ (โ€œI Get Youโ€). At its heart, Go Love, Go Cry, Go Doubt is a record about friendship, with producer Eddie Beatz ไนŸๆ˜ฏ็ฆ and rappers J-Fever (a.k.a. ๅฐ่€่™Ž XiวŽo LวŽohว”) and Zhลu Shรฌjuรฉ ๅ‘จๅฃซ็ˆต joined by an array of musical talent to offer up a strong sense of connection, including multi-talented performer YEHAIYAHAN, jazz singer Voision Xi, electro-soul artist Fishdoll, and Boston/Chengdu-based bilingual rapper Xinwenyue Shi. In uncertain times, this album was a reassuring embrace from a good friend.

Listen: Spotify


Sleeping Dogs โ€“ Blunt Razor

After a string of excellent EPs taking cues from Afrobeat and classic funk and soul, Beijingโ€™s Sleeping Dogs released its debut full-length album via Space Fruity Records in October. And it didnโ€™t disappoint, delivering 11 more tracks of good times, groove-led instrumental excellence that demonstrated why the group is one of the most beloved bands on the Chinese indie circuit right now. A must-listen.

Listen: Bandcamp

Image from Akini Jingโ€™s Instagram

Akini Jing (ๆœฑๅฉงๆฑ Zhลซ Jรฌngxฤซ) โ€“ ๆฐธๆ— ๆญขๅขƒ็š„ๅ‘Šๅˆซ (Endless Farewell)

In early December, Tencent Music announced the โ€œsigningโ€ of โ€œsuper realistic virtual idolโ€ Lรน XiวŽoxฤซ ้นฟๆ™“ๅธŒ, a.k.a. LUCY. But as the global music industry debates the complexities of AI, China already has a pop star playing with the boundaries of the real and virtual worlds to fantastic effect.

As some Mandopop listeners frothed at the mouth over the new Jay Chou (ๅ‘จๆฐไผฆ Zhลu Jiรฉlรบn) album this summer, Chinese pop star Akini Jing dropped a record whose playfulness and energy put the Taiwanese icon in the shade. Endless Farewell saw the onetime Sisters Who Make Waves star splice together glitchy synth-pop, space disco, and breakbeat rhythms with help from hotshot producer, DJ, and solo artist in his own right Chace โ€” with eye-catching cyberpunk imagery to boot. Standout track โ€œ็ฅ็ฆโ€ (โ€œBlessingโ€) even earned a write-up in Pitchfork (courtesy of Mando Gapโ€™s Michael Hong), an extremely rare occurrence for music from China. LUCY has her work cut out for her if sheโ€™s to better this human.

Listen: Youtubeย |ย Spotify


MIIIST โ€“ Let it ever be rememberedโ€ฆ

Really, there are only two tracks on Let it ever be rememberedโ€ฆ, since the other two pieces that make up the EP are more interludes than fully fledged songs. But itโ€™s an impressive record nonetheless โ€” all the more so given this is MIIISTโ€™s debut proper. The band, which comes from Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, deals in epic progressive black metal, with this EPโ€™s title track and its closer โ€œIn the quest for the high towerโ€ both stretching to around 14 minutes each. The record has announced the group as a name to watch on Asiaโ€™s bubbling black metal scene.ย ย 

Listen: Bandcamp


Bloodz Boi, Claire Rousay, More Eaze โ€“ a crying poem

Beijing-based artist Bloodz Boi wears his heartbreak on his sleeve. His lyrics dealing with emotional turmoil reach you via a โ€œpoignant voice on the cusp of tearful delivery,โ€ as the official description for his album 365 puts it. That record, which saw Swedish experimental electronic duo Quit Life provide a soaring, trance-infused backing for Bloodz Boiโ€™s cloud raps, was only part of his 2022 output. Less than six months later, Bloodz teamed up with Claire Rousay and More Eaze for the tender a crying poem, with the U.S. musicians layering his ethereal vocals over orchestral strings and sparse soundscapes for a delicate, touching tale of โ€œa dream, an unforgettable love, and a rebirth giving a glimmer of hope.โ€ย 

Listen: Bandcamp


XiวŽo Wรกng ๅฐ็Ž‹ โ€“ Kฤchฤkฤchฤ ๅ’”ๅš“ๅ’”ๅš“

Five years after forming, all-female punk band Xiao Wang unleashed its debut album this autumn, putting on record the powerful, fearless, and fun songs that have made them darlings of the Beijing live scene. Pogoing between cutesy hooks and guttural roars, Kachakacha is a vibrant half hour filled with an energy that firmly establishes Xiao Wang as the spiritual successors to renowned Chinese punk acts such as Hang on the Box and Subs.

Listen: Apple Music


Huฤ Lรบn ่Šฑไผฆ โ€“ ๅฆ‚ๆžœๆœ‰ไธ€ๅคฉๆˆ‘ๅฐ†ไผš็ฆปๅผ€ไฝ  ็”ตๅฝฑๅŽŸๅฃฐๅธฆ (Before Next Spring Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Another beautiful soundtrack to add to Hualunโ€™s outstanding oeuvre alongside the magnificent accompaniments to An Elephant Sitting Still and last yearโ€™s Wuhan Wuhan documentary, the guitar and piano-propelled Before Next Spring is a brighter, yet still emotionally weighty affair. Also well worth checking out is the bandโ€™s other major release this year, Live by the Sea, a recording of a set in Aranya that explores more experimental, relatively danceable sonic territory and hints at the sounds to come on their markedly different studio album due for release in 2023.

Listen: Bandcamp


Wรบ Zhuลlรญng ๅดๅ“็Žฒ โ€“ Another Shore

Speaking of electronic music by the sea, hereโ€™s another record that mentally transports you to a far-flung coast somewhere. Wรบ Zhuลlรญng ๅดๅ“็Žฒ first rose to prominence in the mid-โ€™00s as the singer in Chengdu band Wednesdayโ€™s Trip, but in recent years, sheโ€™s become a renowned solo producer and DJ. Another Shore comprises six songs of soothing, soulful electronica composed between 2018 and 2021 and is a beguiling listen.ย 

Listen: Bandcamp


WวŽng Wรฉn ๆƒ˜้—ป โ€“ Painful Clown & Ninja Tiger ่พ›ไธ‘๏ฝœๅฃฌๅฏ…

Since forming in 1999, Dalian-based Wang Wen has established itself as Chinaโ€™s leading instrumental rock band. So it was something of a shock when its new album arrived in early October featuring vocals on four of its seven tracks. Front man Xiรจ YรนgวŽng ่ฐข็Ž‰ๅฒ— belatedly finds his voice to deliver lyrics of despair and disenchantment, but these are counteracted by uplifting keys and Huรกng KวŽiโ€™s ้ป„ๅ‡ฏ warm trumpet melodies on tracks such as โ€œBlack Pill & White Pill.โ€ Dว’ng Yร qiฤn ่‘ฃไบšๅƒ of Chinese indie favorites Omnipotent Youth Society also makes an appearance, adding slide guitar to standout track โ€œThereโ€™s a Walmart Underneath the Olympic Square.โ€

Listen: Bandcamp


33EMYBW + Gooooose โ€“ Trans-Aeon Express

Using their sound design for London-based visual artist Weirdcoreโ€™s 2020 Beijing exhibition Oriental Flux as a starting point, these two leading lights of Shanghaiโ€™s electronic music scene present a relatively atmospheric release in Trans-Aeon Express. Thereโ€™s still enough quirkiness for fans of their more high-octane, cutting-edge solo work to get on board with, however. Goooooseโ€™s titular โ€œTAEโ€ rattles through the center of the album like an off-kilter train failing to stop at the platform and 33EMYBWโ€™s โ€œMicrocosmicโ€ and โ€œMacrocosmicโ€ echo some of the more fidgety rhythms found on her excellent Dong 2 EP and the bizarre samples of 2019 LP Arthropods, with the latter track featuring what sounds like a catโ€™s yelps.

Listen: Bandcamp


FAZI ๆณ•ๆป‹ โ€“ Folding Story ๆŠ˜ๅ ๆ•…ไบ‹

Released with great fanfare (and an accompanying 45-minute film starring the spectacular landscape of Qinghai and Gansu), Folding Story is Xiโ€™an post-punk band FAZIโ€™s most ambitious record to date. After years of working with stalwart Chinese label Maybe Mars, the group produced this new album with guidance from post-rock heavyweights Wang Wen, abandoning its previously fuzzed-up sound in favor of cleaner, crisper production and grander, more sweeping songs. Itโ€™s a stylistic shift that doesnโ€™t always hit the mark and the albumโ€™s strongest moments come when it picks up the pace with more straightforward post-punk, but itโ€™s a bold, intriguing experiment nonetheless.ย ย ย 

Listen: Bandcamp


Voision Xi (ๅ–œ่พฐๆ™จ Xว Chรฉnchรฉn) โ€“ Lost for Words ๆฌฒ่จ€ๅˆๆญข

After years of involvement in Shanghai jazz circles through her work with and performances at long-running institution JZ Club, Voision Xi finally released her full-length debut at the start of this year. The album is underpinned by jazz but also pulls in elements of funk, rap, rock, and spoken word. The extensive album credits feature a hypnotist along with an all-star support cast, including guitarist Xiรณngguฤn Zhฤng ๅผ ้›„ๅ…ณ, producer Sdewdent, and multi-instrumentalist Jรนn Xiร o ่‚–้ช, who this year became the first Chinese artist to release a solo record on legendary label Blue Note. As if this mature, multi-layered offering wasnโ€™t enough, Xi also served up a brilliant electronic EP via the excellent Eating Music label in the summer.

Listen: Bandcamp


Liรกng Yรฌyuรกn ๆขๅฅ•ๆบ โ€“ Those That Die in a Dream

Appearing at the more accessible end of the experimental spectrum, Those That Die in a Dream is a two-decade-spanning compilation of work from Wuhan-born, Yunnan-based artist Liang Yiyuan. Blending avant-garde exploration with traditional Chinese instrumentation, this Unexplained Sounds Group release spans dark, ambient, sound art and drone-driven psychedelia to mesmerizing effect.ย 

Listen: Bandcamp

Honorable mentions: