Chinese Noise · Special issue
For our 25th anniversary, we opened the HKV archives and started digging through the numbers.
What are people still listening to? What keeps moving? What disappeared years ago and somehow keeps coming back?
There is one problem.
For most of HKV’s history, there weren’t many numbers.
HKV spent most of its life on vinyl. Digital distribution only started in March 2019. Bandcamp followed in July 2020.
So this isn’t 25 years of data.
It’s a look at what survived into the numbers.
What people are still finding. What they are playing. What they are collecting.
And what that says about HKV after 25 years.
HKV Archive / File 01
Digital catalogue
What people listen to
HKV arrived late to streaming.
So what actually gets played?
Top 10 tracks / Spotify
02
Terrormusic
Drokz / AkirA / Tripped
04
Destroy Everything
The Satan
05
Trancetrutje — Drokz Remix
AkirA / Metal D / Drokz
07
Hong Kong Ping Pong
Dolphin
08
Here To Destroy
Drokz / Hellfish
09
The Definition of Hard
Proactive HC
10
Beer Pressure
Detest / Drokz
Top 5 releases / Spotify
Drag to explore →
01 / The Return / Detest
02 / The Satan HKV020 / The Satan
03 / Terrormusic / Drokz / AkirA / Tripped
04 / Hong Kong Hardknocks Vol. 1
05 / Wanking Shit For Life / Passenger of Shit
HKV Archive / File 02
Bandcamp / 2020 2026
The collectors & DJs
Another file tells a different story.
Bandcamp arrived in July 2020.
It became another way into HKV. Less about simply pressing play and more about digging for a particular record, track or piece of the catalogue.
And its Top 5 barely resembles Spotify.
Top 5 releases / Bandcamp
Drag to explore →
01 / Hong Kong Ping Pong
02 / The Satan HKV020
03 / The Way of the Exploding Fist
04 / La Familia De Terror
05 / Believe It / Bring It
Same catalogue. Two very different Top 5s.
HKV Archive / Reflection 01
What the numbers tell us
HKV came from vinyl, when every release was a commitment and there was only so much that could come out.
Digital changed that.
We can take more chances now.
More artists. More ideas. More corners of underground hardcore.
Passenger of Shit can sit next to artists who have been part of hardcore for decades.
Different tempos. Different generations. Different approaches.
They don’t necessarily sound alike.
And they don’t need to.
That range is HKV.
The philosophy stayed the same. If Akira thinks it’s cool, we release it.
More than 100 tracks now sit in the archive.
Some obvious. Some forgotten. Some still waiting to be found.
Dig through it. Find your own HKV gems.
HKV Archive / File 04
PhonkCartel sales archive / 2020–2026
What people wear
Then the archive starts getting less musical.
T shirts appeared pretty early through hongkongviolence.com.
There was a simple reason for that.
Akira is a T shirt freak.
The rest of the team got pretty addicted to it too.
And somewhere along the way, shirts became hoodies, crewnecks, caps, bags, slipmats, skate decks and whatever else seemed like a good idea.
Different designers. Different collaborations. Different forms of the same thing.
That side eventually grew into Phonkcartel, which today works with more than 50 artists and parties across the scene.
But looking back through the HKV sales archive, some designs just kept moving.
You can wear it on the dancefloor. You can wear it anywhere.
Most worn HKV designs
PhonkCartel sales archive / 2020 2026
Different forms. Different collaborations. Same HKV.
Gallery 01 / HKV merch archive
Drag to explore →
01 / OG UZI 02 / HKV × DUK 03 / UZI NEON CITY 04 / HKV × TOA 05 / DAILY PAPER 06 / TECHNO PHONK 07 / HKV FOEY 08 / BUZZARD 09 / UZI MAN 10 / FULL CHOKE UZI
HKV Archive / Current status
25 Years of Violence
One anniversary. More than one celebration.
Gallery 02 / HKV 25 Years
請柬 · 2026 / 27
Hong Kong → Rotterdam → Rotterdam → ??? → Köln
Swipe →
Completed
Hong Kong · completed
10–11 Oct 2026 · Sinohaven × HKV · Rotterdam
30 Oct 2026 · WORM Rotterdam · Tickets
05 Dec 2026 · TBA
09 Jan 2027 · HKV Germany · Köln · PH Events · Tickets
闔府統請 · You and your family are invited
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Completed
