Representing Minnan life through rap

When Zhou Ke was a child, his family lived in the countryside in a home on a winding mountain path. On days when his exam results were poor, his father would not come to pick him up, and Zhou had to walk home alone. Looking up at the overlapping ridgelines ahead, a single question echoed in his mind: Why is the road home so long?

For the people of southern Fujian province, known as the Minnan area, that question seems almost preordained. For centuries, a lack of arable land and proximity to the sea have pushed generations to cross mountains and oceans in search of a better life.

It is from this pursuit that the Hokkien (Minnan regional dialect) rap song Let's Go opens:

The mountains of Minnan stretch on and on.

The heavy rain pours down.

He says go —

Leave the village, earn your own meal.

Cowritten by Zhou and his musical partner, Yi Le, the song drew widespread attention on Douyin last year, garnering more than 4 million views. It later won Best Arrangement at the 2025 World Hokkien Golden Melody Awards in Xiamen, Fujian.

The song also struck a poignant chord among Minnan people who live far from home. In the comments section, listeners often mark their current locations, one writing, "We are like dandelion seeds, scattered wherever the wind carries us."

Minnan communities are concentrated in East China's Fujian, Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia, yet their reach extends far beyond. Migrating over generations, they have left traces across the globe, carrying their language, memories and cultural bonds.

Zhou and Yi are from Zhangzhou, a quintessential Minnan city, where the dialect still pulses through the streets. Along with four other local young men, they founded the independent rap collective Mean South.

The group includes full-time musicians, university students, a schoolteacher, and an office worker. Their ages range from 20 to 25. Together, they transform everyday Minnan life into lyrics, performing not only in Mandarin but also in their mother tongue.

In the region, one widely known Hokkien song, To Win, You Have to Fight (Ai Pia Jia Eh Ya), sums up a prevailing life philosophy: three parts fate, seven parts hard work.

Zhou grew up immersed in this kind of music, though the influence of this pragmatic culture only became fully clear to him later.

After graduating from university, he returned to Zhangzhou and saw childhood friends constantly leaving home to earn money, returning only a few times a year. They work relentlessly, yet never quite reach the dream of becoming rich. Let's Go is a song about them.

Yi recalls hearing the demo for the first time and sensing its potential."It's based on real stories. You have to write what's true."