{"id":5673,"date":"2025-10-15T18:33:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T18:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/?p=5673"},"modified":"2025-10-20T12:23:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T12:23:21","slug":"jackzebra-is-not-endangered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/15\/jackzebra-is-not-endangered\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackzebra Is Not Endangered"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In the cover art for his newest project Hunched Jack Mixtape<\/em><\/em><\/u><\/a>, Jackzebra<\/u><\/a> stands shirtless against a dark backdrop \u2014 almost evoking the sort of side profile shots they make you take during your mugshot. Fittingly, the Chinese rapper puts his signature hunched posture (perhaps alluding to the mixtape title) and moody underground aesthetic on display.<\/p>\n

But while some media outlets have related his music or lyrics \u2014 which are mostly sung in Mandarin and a mumbled, dreamlike tone \u2014 to the emotional landscape and social pressure faced by Chinese youth today, Jackzebra resists any connotations like that. \u201cIt\u2019s not really on purpose,\u201d he tells PAPER<\/em><\/em>. \u201cI just make what I feel. Sometimes it comes from hard emotions, and it shows up naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

That emotional honesty pulses through Hunched Jack Mixtape<\/em><\/em>, his most ambitious and boundary-pushing release yet. Out now via Surf Gang Records, the 22-track project merges Mandarin lyrics with glitchy, futuristic production from names like Elipropperr, Evilgiane, James Ferraro, and Glasear \u2014 a lineup that bridges Shanghai\u2019s burgeoning underground with New York\u2019s avant-rap scene. Recorded partly in China and partly during a winter trip to New York, the tape blurs the lines between language, geography, and genre, making Jackzebra one of the few artists capable of crossing the Great Firewall and SoundCloud timelines in the same breath.<\/p>\n

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Last week, he unveiled the project\u2019s hypnotic new visual for \u201cMastermind<\/u><\/a>,\u201d directed by cult filmmaker Joe Ward. Shot across misty fields and crumbling countryside architecture in the UK, the video captures Jackzebra\u2019s quiet intensity \u2014 hunched shoulders, eyes low, a silhouette flickering in and out of focus \u2014 as the song\u2019s lyrics meditate on ambition and survival. \u201cI called it \u2018Mastermind\u2019 because it\u2019s about people in China who want to be number one,\u201d he says. \u201cBut they don\u2019t really know the rules. I already know the rules \u2014 that\u2019s why I\u2019m the mastermind.\u201d<\/p>\n

That defiance \u2014 not loud, but steady \u2014 is what sets Jackzebra apart from his peers. His sound may be woozy and melodic, but beneath it lies the precision of a poet and the vision of someone who\u2019s quietly rewriting the map for Mandarin rap on a global stage.<\/p>\n

We caught up with Jackzebra to talk about the making of Hunched Jack Mixtape<\/em><\/em>, his cinematic \u201cMastermind\u201d video, and how he\u2019s bridging China\u2019s underground with the world beyond.<\/p>\n

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