When it comes to bands, most people think a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music should fully complement each other. However, that’s not always the case. Yin San Er or IN 3 are three young Chinese guys who hang out together and make their most common everyday life the inspiration for their Hip hop music.

Pictures drew on the wall at their home.

The story begins one day back in 2006, after a typical meal at a restaurant at the University of International Business and Economics. Chen Haoran suddenly asked his buddy Jia Wei to make Hip hop music with him. Jia Wei thought it was a brilliant idea and agreed. Then the two met with Meng Guodong and surprisingly found out that their personalities and fondness of Hip hop perfectly gelled. That’s how the band Yin San Er began. ‘The dark’, the first song they wrote, was an instant hit. Since then they have gone from strength to strength.

Yin (阴) in Chinese is equivalent to backstabbing, quite a derogatory comment to a person. But in the Beijing dialect Yin means canny and astute and sounds more like a compliment. As a thorough Beijing-grown band, those “Yin” qualities are pivotal to their survival and steady development in the metropolis. San Er (三儿), meaning three in Beijing dialect, indicates the band consists of three young talents: Chen Haoran, Jia Wei and Meng Guodong and was given to them by another friend. Three is the number they all fancy and loads of things they involve coincidently have something to do with the number three.

Chen Haoran(left),Meng Guodong and Jia Wei(right)

Chen Haoran, the most rebellious of the three, was by nature revolutionary and unconventional. Once a clarinet musician he played classical music for 18 years. Chen is greatly influenced by his grandpa, a retired serviceman. Everyday at 5 in the morning, Chen was forced to get up and run on the orders of his grandpa who told him never to fight with others unless in self-defense.

“After middle school, I gradually grew up and out of control. I am sick of being manipulated by others and was always against the will of the teacher. I have to admit that the relationship between me and my teachers was really terrible.” Chen said.