Jackzebra is one of the more intriguing artists to come out of China’s incredible underground scene. While his style is ever-evolving, his more recent work incorporates elements of plugg and pluggnb with a distinct melodic style and an unmistakable songwriting sophistication. On his latest mixtape, Young Powerful Run, he builds on the promise of his now-classic Jack1888 with 11 tracks that demand repeated listens. We spoke briefly with Jackzebra about the origins and background of his latest release, which you can read below.

Where are you located right now?

jackzebra: Chengdu, China

Tell us more about this release.

I watched a movie called Get in the Car and Let's Go in Chinese. A line in it impressed me deeply: "We are young and have enough strength to run." Then I wanted to sing some young and powerful songs. After that, I looked for some pluggnb style rap accompaniments, most of which were sent to me by friends, because I think this style is very suitable for songs with this kind of content, and I feel comfortable singing in this style.

Who are some notable collaborators on this project?

Clockwork, the producer, he made 6 tracks on this mixtape. He sent me a lot of beats recently, and most of them are so good, so I need to give him a shout out. My brother Thomas Thatcher, I have known him for three years, the first time I heard him was on his YouTube channel. That cover song "Brother," I forgot who is the original singer, but he made a video for that cover song—really beautiful vibe. Then we made a song called "Grief Thief.” He always keeps the swag on—yeah, we have some rap tracks on the way.

Who are peers or friends that you look to musically?

626company (1kbps and ricky_118). 737company (skeleton and malayika). Big bro Bloodz Boi. Big bro 2 Miriamdola. And my girlfriend hpsb.