KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 23 — Malaysian bad boy rapper Namewee is never short of controversies.
The latest involves his newest song Beyond The Edge which has been barred from being aired on Chinese airwaves.
This is because the music video for the song has been deemed to be too supporting the independence for Hong Kong from China.
Hong Kong portal hk01 reported that a scene from the video showed protesters wearing black and was seen as the singer expressing his stand on the matter.
Since last year, the Chinese territory had been embroiled in countless protests following a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.
Although the bill has been withdrawn, the movement has snowballed into wider calls to protect the city’s freedoms.
During the protests, protesters would dress in black and wear face masks to shield their identities.
To make matters worse, the song’s co-singer Fu Jiu from China has since distanced himself from Namewee and expressed remorse over the song.
In a statement, Fu’s management company revealed that the singer was invited by Namewee to collaborate in the song last August.
The company assured that as a Chinese citizen, Fu would not be singing or promoting the song from now on.
Namewee, or his real name Wee Meng Chee, via his Facebook confirmed that the song had been banned from Chinese airwaves.
The Muar-born celebrity said he had hoped to share the song with more people but the song could not be accepted by a country without naming the country.
“So please do not say I dare not or refuse to share the song on Chinese websites,” he wrote.
He added that the song was to convey the determination to pursue freedom and ideals.
“How the audience wants to read and judge is beyond the author’s control. You may say the singer should not drag politics into it but the fact is artistes are always dragged into politics.”
This is not the first time Nawemee’s songs have been banned.
Last year, his song Ain’t A Cigarette was banned in at least three countries.
While Malaysia banned the song from being broadcast on radio, Taiwan banned it on KTV and Singapore banned it from all platforms.
