In his baseball cap and baggy yellow T-shirt, the rap star Li Yijie ¡ª better known by his stage name ¡°Pissy¡± ¡ª is an unlikely face of China¡¯s strait-laced ruling Communist Party.

His group, Tianfu Shibian, has won fans and the support of the party¡¯s youth league with songs like ¡°Force of Red¡± and ¡°This is China¡± that chime with President Xi Jinping¡¯s nationalist vision of China and its place in the world.

Under Xi, set to begin a second five-year term at a key party congress next month, the once-hidebound Communist Party has sought to revitalize its role in society amid challenges to its traditional authority as the country gets richer, more mobile and more digitally connected.