Kungfoo may not be China's first hip hop band, but they have every intention of being the
one with the purest form of hip hop. And,with "Chinese characteristics".
  The band consists of three boys in their early 20s.They're in Beijing this month to promote
their first album"lmpulsion".
  "We divide the songs into two groups---Down and Up,"Yang Fan, the band's MC
(mic-controller),told 21st Century on Sunday."The Down part includes some sad love songs. The
Up part is just the reverse,we want a happy ending with some cheerful music".
  The three are natives of Tianjin. Yang Fan, 24,started tow bands when he was in senior high
school. But in was not until his college years at Tiajin Science and Technology University that he
got serious about hip hop.(1) However,it wasn't a common interest in hip hop that brought them
together.(2)The other tow---23-year-old DJ Fan Jinpeng and 24-year-old keyboarder Jiao Yang
---happened to frequent the small stores around the city. That's how they became friends.
  Fan was a veteran of the Tianjin pub DJ scene.(3) Jiao, who grew up in a family of
musicians, was no stranger to the bar music scene, either.(4) A commercial gig the trio got in
2001 made them realize that they could do something on their own. They named the band after
their favourite part of Chinese culture.
   (5)Their initial appearances on local TV programmes and college campuses generated a
fairly good response. Then they shot to fame at a college singing competition in 2002 with their
single"2001".In the final round of competition, an improvised single,"Impulsion," caught the
attention of Warnes Music China, which offered them a contract in February 2003.
   Work on the "Impulsion" album began last March but was put off because of SARS. Still,
Kungfoo didn't waste time just sitting around home waiting for the epidemic to pass. They
produced several more songs for the album, including "Need No More","False Love"and
"Sunset."
   Kungfoo are proud of their uniqueness."Kungfoo is Kungfoo, we don't imitate anyone."they
said."We might be influenced by some Western hip hop bands."Yang added."But we rap in
Chinese,and in a very clear manner. That makes us distinctive.We love hip hop, but first of all,
we love Chinese culture. Maybe someday you will hear us rap using Peking Opera tunes".