Jamel Mims is an African American rapper, multimedia artist and revolutionary based in New York City. Also known as the bilingual storyteller MC Tingbudong, his work concerns the historical and contemporary cultural connections between Black America and China, social movements, memory and augmented/virtual/hyperreality.
He received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at Boston College, and studied at the University of Busness and Economics in Beijing. After graduating, he recieved a Fulbright scholarship to pursue an independent study about hip hop in China. He was an artist-in-residence at Found Sound China, a US State Department funded music diplomacy residency that brought select American and Chinese producers together for a collaborative tour. He began studying mandarin as a freshman at Sidwell Friends School in Washington DC.
As MC Tingbudong, he has performed extensively across the U.S. and China: including South by Southwest Music Festival, China Week LA, Yue Space, NOX Chengdu, and Modern Sky Music Festival. His work has been shown at Telematicc Gallery, WallPlay, and SmackMellon Gallery in New York City. He is currently a Senior Fellow at USC Annenberg’s Innovation Lab. His work has been featured in i_D magazine, Variety, VICE, The Nation, Radii China, Goldthread and more.