Zhang Zhengkai (born 2002) known professionally as jackzebra, is a Chinese rapper and record producer based in

Chengdu, Sichuan Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

. His discography spans genres such as

cloud rap Cloud rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that has several sonic characteristics of trap music with a hazy, dreamlike and relaxed production style. Rapper Lil B and producer Clams Casino were early pioneers of the style. The term "cloud rap" is ...

, plugg, and

trap music Trap music, also known simply as trap, is a subgenre of hip-hop music which originated in the Southern United States, with lyrical references to trap starting in 1991 but the modern sound of trap appearing in 1999. The genre gets its name from t ...

. He is a member of

internet rap Internet rap (originally known as blog rap) is a style of hip-hop that emerged in the late 2000s, initially spreading through the online blogosphere, and early social media platforms like Myspace and later Tumblr, as well as mixtape-sharing site ...

collective Surf Gang.

Early life

Zhengaki was born in Xujing, Shanghai, in 2002. Growing up, his favorite musicians included

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. They first gained exposure with the release of ...

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

and M.I.A. He began making songs in 2018, after setting up his own bedroom studio, initially

freestyling Freestyle rap, also simply known as Freestyle, is a style of hip hop music where an artist normally improvises an unwritten verse from the head, with or without instrumental beats, in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure ...

in English. Zhengkai later caught the attention of Chinese

pioneer, Bloodz Boi, who supported his musical direction, and encouraged him to focus on rapping in his native language,

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Career

Jackzebra is a part of the

underground rap Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

scene, alongside other contemporaries like Billionhappy, 1kpbs, and Chalky Wong. He released the

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

"''王中王''" (King of Kings) on October 29, 2024, which was rated a 7.8 by ''Pitchfork'', and gained wider prominence online. ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'' described Jackzebra's style as " ..zealously

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and Pitch correction, correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles ...

d slurring interlaced with atmospheric soundscapes that further distort lyrical meaning," further stating that his work had gone viral on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

platforms like

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

and

microblogging Microblogging is a form of blogging using short posts without titles known as microposts or status updates. Microblogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links", which may be the ...

site

Weibo Weibo (), or Sina Weibo (), is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ac ...

. On June 13, 2025, Jackzebra released the single "Givenchy," produced by evilgiane, elipropperr, and fleadiamonds, followed by a performance of the track on the popular radio online show ''On The Radar''. Additionally, ''

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

'' described Jackzebra as "perhaps the only artist ever to enjoy simultaneous virality on both sides of the

Chinese firewall The Great Firewall (GFW; ) is the combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by the People's Republic of China to regulate the Internet domestically. Its role in internet censorship in China is to block access to selected foreign ...

," as well as "the voice of post-industrial China".

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

References

{{Reflist 21st-century Chinese musicians Chinese musicians Chinese male rappers Chinese rappers 2002 births Living people Musicians from Chengdu Singers from Shanghai Musicians from Sichuan