Hotel lobby poetry

Parisoline met Bloodz Boi at the Hilton in Berlin. Bloodz Boi is the pioneer of the underground rap scene in Beijing, he released his debut album 365 with the Swedish label YEAR0001 and is now considered a legend of the cloud rap genre. It was late and dark outside, but Bloodz Boi just woke up: “I can’t sleep well. My days consist of trying to sleep or taking pills waiting to sleep or sleeping.” The chairs in the lobby were of black leather and the fireplace was fake. We ordered whiskey, Bloodz Boi wanted a glass of water. Then he read us a poem from the notes on his phone, written by him in October 2023.

Why did you choose this text?

Because I thought about the river. A really cold river, like Berlin. It’s not just the weather, the city itself gives me a river feeling.

Since you write in Chinese, does it ever bother you that most European listeners don’t understand your lyrics?

No, because they can feel what I feel. I don’t need people to tell me that I gotta stay healthy or to stay away from pills, people that feel me will believe that I can go through this. That I can take care of myself.

When I was young I felt like nobody cared. I just wanted people to understand me. To listen to my words. So then I made music and people started to respect me. I still make music because I want to be understood. It’s what’s most important. That’s higher than the respect.

I have been touring a lot in Australia and I remember that someone who watched my show sent me a message on Instagram. He wrote me that one of my songs made him think about a memory, how used to lock himself inside his house during highschool. He told me that he could even smell the air of the time. That the song gave him the memory. It made me very happy. I feel so grateful and so lucky.

What is the core of your texts?

Me, I think. A lot of artists have influenced me (he rolls up his sleeve and shows a tattoo of a Dean Blunt album cover) but the core is always myself. I don't write about real life, my poems are about my mind. Not because I live an exciting life, I don’t. I go touring to give myself a reason to go outside, because I think it’s good for my health. It’s good for me to see some people, to see my friends. I love my friends.

How do you write your music?

I don't have a process and I don’t follow many rules. Sometimes I try to learn, but that’s not what I really want. I try to get into people's flesh and see me. That’s my poetry, and you can write down yours, it’s easy.

Late at night, I take a lot of sleeping pills. I can’t quit (rolls of his sleeve to show another tattoo, showing the molecule of the substance), I have this tattoo because one day I want to. After having taken them I will randomly make melodies or record when I sing. The pills make me lose my memory so when I wake up the next day and check my laptop everything is totally new to me. I like that feeling. I save the parts I like and never re-record them. I want to keep that emotion you know. Maybe the first take is bad but bad is ...okay. Music shouldn’t be beautiful. What is beautiful? No one can give it a meaning. If you have a clear heart you can say whatever you want.

Text: Tova Olsson
Photo: Julia Eklund