Singing the praises of his heritage

Moseee is a singer-songwriter who grew up in the Daliang Mountains area of Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Xichang, Sichuan province. Raised by his grandmother, he had a happy childhood, though his parents were busy with work and often away from home.

"My childhood memories were all connected to my grandmother. She sang Yi ethnic folk ballads while sitting near the bonfire during the night. She would hold my hand when she took me to the market, and I loved having potato that she baked," he recalls.

In October, Moseee was preparing for the graduate school entrance exam in Chengdu, Sichuan province, so he couldn't return to his hometown to be with his family for the traditional New Year of the Yi ethnic group.

"I haven't been home for the New Year celebration for about five years. I miss my family very much, especially my grandmother," says Moseee, who moved to Chengdu to study law at Chengdu University of Technology in 2017.

He decided to write a song to express his homesickness and his love for his grandmother. A Letter to Grandma was released on Dec 16, as a part of the compilation, Minority, Diversity, by Capitol Records China.

With lyrics featuring both Mandarin and the Yi ethnic language, Moseee portrays his childhood moments with his grandmother, shares things from his life now and asks about hers in the song.

With a potent sense of longing and nostalgia, the singer-songwriter raps: "I can't come home this year, grandma. It's my fifth year being away from home. How is your life? Is there someone you can talk to when you are not happy? … Do you still like going to the market? … Does the old TV still work?"

After the song's release, it received warm feedback from the fans.

"They left me lots of messages. Some even shared their own stories about their grandmothers, which was beyond my expectation," says Moseee, mentioning that one listener, who also came from Daliang Mountains, wrote: "Grandmother is a very special person to me. She teaches me a lot and at the same time, she is like a child."

Moseee adds that some fans who might not fully understand the Yi language showed an interest in the unique culture. "They also shared their own local culture with me, such as introducing me to folk songs performed in the dialect of southern Fujian province," Moseee adds.

"Usually, I just focus on writing and recording a song. The moment it is released, it is the end — I don't think much about what the listeners think of the song or how well it will do. But this song is very different. The feedback of the listeners touched me very much," he says.

Moseee's family also listened to the song, including his 72-year-old grandmother, who told Moseee that she loves it, and that she was very surprised that he wrote such a song for her.

"I went home this January and visited my grandmother. She told me that she is very proud of me, which really matters to me," he adds.

Twenty years ago, Moseee, like many children living in the area, grew up listening to folk songs and watching Yi dancing. He always loved singing although he never planned to pursue a full-time career as a singer-songwriter.

He recalls that he fell in love with hip-hop when he was at middle school. His father took him to a live hip-hop concert featuring local artists, which was an "overwhelming" experience.

"Although I couldn't remember the singers' names and the songs they performed that night, I can still remember how excited I was and how much I enjoyed the show," Moseee recalls. "The music was so cool and expressive, so I tried to write my own original material and learned to rap."

At 15, Moseee joined a local hip-hop label, called CW0834. He has been releasing his original songs since he was 18. His songs, such as Green Train and Hometown Chill, were played more than 1 million times on social media.

Although he is open to a diversity of styles, and listens to both Chinese and Western music, Moseee says that bringing the elements of his hometown, such as the music and language, into his songs, is natural to him.

"I grew up with two languages — Mandarin and the Yi language. I was exposed to a diversity of culture. But what the Yi ethnic group inspires in me is unique and is in my blood," Moseee says.

Now, he is waiting for the result of his graduate school entrance exam. He hopes to become a lawyer while pursuing his music dream.

Last year, Moseee was signed to Capitol Records China. According to Tang Yong, general manager of the label, the young singer-songwriter impressed him not only with his music talent, but also his love of the Yi culture.

"He has great potential and his own cultural background allows his music to be unique and creative," Tang says.

The compilation, Minority, Diversity, features eight original songs by eight singer-songwriters from Chinese ethnic groups, such as Yi, Tibetan, Uygur and Yao. With a goal of giving talented singer-songwriters from Chinese ethnic groups a platform, the project shows the diversity of their music, which all pays homage to their identities that are rooted in their respective ethnic cultures.

"The compilation is the realization of a longtime wish for me," Tang says. "When I travel, I am always intrigued by the ethnic groups around the country. I love going to small villages where local people live, work, sing and dance. They are close to nature and have a distinctive culture, which deeply touches me.

"When we prepared this compilation, we tried to find singers whose works show an apparent influence from their ethnic culture, as well as being contemporary and appealing to a young audience."

Tang also says that the label is working on its next project involving Chinese ethnic musicians, which will see the release of more original songs and the organization of concert tours.