“Nasty China Style”: A Tolerable Gangnam Parody Highlights Hong Kong-Mainland Rivalry

We’re as sick of Gangnam Style parodies as everyone else, but this latest, “Nasty China Style,” has a few redeeming factors. First, it’s sung in Cantonese; I tend to think all Gangnam parodies are bad mostly because of the lyrics, but it helps when you don’t know what they’re saying. (There are subtitles though.) Second, file this one under “Red Army Orchestra meme” — it’ll help you get over the anti-Gangnam mental block so that you click play; other memes also make a cameo, such as “My dad is Li Gang.” And third, it highlights the ongoing Hong Kong-mainland China rivalry, which transcends Gangnam.

The Youku version of Nasty China Style is after the jump. I’ll withhold further comment, but the Hong Kong blog Bad Canto has more relevant info, including lyrics:

“核突支那Style” (Nasty China Style) , a song portraying day-to-day conflicts between Mainland Chinese and Hongkonger in Hong Kong, has already passed over the 1 million mark in a week. “Nasty China Style” has even become a popular phrase online.

In fact , the song title should be translated as “Nasty Shina Style”. “Shina” (支那/シナ), derived from “China” in Sanskrit, is the most offensive name for China in both Japanese and Chinese.

Apparently the chorus should be “Hey, just poop on the spot,” because “don’t crap everywhere” is the wrong translation, according to Bad Canto.