China rappers have all the bling but not much sting

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - They've got the attitude, the swagger and the baggy jeans but instead of rapping about violence and sex, Chinese hip hop group, Dragon Blue Tongue, sing about...cooking.

The Beijing bling band are in London as part of a festival of Chinese culture ahead of the Olympics.

The group will play at the Royal Opera House later this week, but their first introduction to London's music scene was less salubrious -- a dingy rehearsal studio in a west London industrial neighborhood, where they are collaborating with East Asian British musicians, DJ Phat and Suki Mok.

"We rap about Chinese food, Chinese dishes, and Chinese ordinary things, daily life, daily struggle," 24-year old Li Jun Ju, who goes by the stage name Kirby Lee, told Reuters.

Dragon Tongue Squad certainly take their influence from the hard-edged gangsta rap born on the streets of inner city America but the similarity ends there.

"We are not gangsters and we do not call a woman 'bitch' or 'ho'," Lee said about their squeaky clean lyrics. "That's not my cup of tea."

They are looking to inject Chinese culture into the Western music.

Their song about cooking -- in which Lee and band mates 22 year-old J-Fever aka Lil' Tiger, whose real name is Zhao Hong and 29-year-old Zhang Nan who goes by the stage name Crazy Chef, shout out in Mandarin "stir fry....quick cook.....chop suey....steam" in celebration of the cuisine, also includes traditional Chinese sounds and instruments.

With the right to party in China still very much controlled by the Party, Dragon Tongue Squad make sure they toe the line.

Lee said their record label, KKP Productions, will cut out any lyrics the authorities would deem subversive.

"For the album, maybe the company will cancel the 'bad' songs, which maybe you talk about politics, about the violence," he said.

While swearing is common in China, it is still bleeped out of rap music.

"In our chat, we will use dirty words - but on the album they will beep or mute the swear words...to make it clean - that's funny stuff I think," Lee said.

They might have more freedom of expression during their 10 day visit to England, but they are not going to exercise it politically or to swear. Organisers of the China Now festival warn it is a family event.

Dragon Blue Tongue will perform at the Royal Opera House on February 21 and 22.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)