This top guy is crazy!

"Cheng Cheng has no desire for profit, only the pursuit of art."

Although Bibi Ke’s “Twin Snake Sisters Dual Cultivation Pizza” was wildly mocked by netizens online, it is undeniable that this wave of linkage with “Green Snake” did gain them extraordinary popularity!

The president of Bibiger's Datianxia district was all grinning!

After all, no matter what, in this era of information explosion, being able to quickly attract consumers' attention is a key step to marketing success.

Whether the comments were positive or negative, Bibike gained extremely high exposure and achieved the purpose of attracting traffic.

Moreover, the "Twin Snake Sisters' Dual Cultivation Pizza" also increases the brand's popularity. For a brand like Bibic, it is very important to maintain the brand's activity and popularity.

It is January 1th, half a month after its release, and the total global box office of "Green Snake" has exceeded 15 billion. Maoyan predicts that the final box office of "Green Snake" will reach 120 billion, surpassing "Born to Die 160" and becoming Cheng Cheng's second highest-grossing film.

Against this background, the casting for "The Legend of the New White Snake" also started.

In fact, before "Green Snake", Cheng Cheng was planning to create the White Snake Universe. After all, there are so many movies and TV series adapted from the Legend of the White Snake, and it would be a waste if they were not used.

However, casting for "The Legend of the New White Snake" was really difficult. If you want to choose an actress like Zhao Yazhi who is beautiful, compassionate, gentle and dignified, it is simply one in a million. At least among the famous actors who submitted their resumes, Cheng Cheng did not choose any of them.

Then we can only put our hopes on new actors.

The role of Xu Xian was not an easy one to choose either, after all, in the previous life's "Legend of the White Snake", Xu Xian was played by Maggie Cheung dressed as a man.

As to why Maggie Cheung was chosen to play Xu Xian, there are three versions of the story.

The first version said that Zhao Yazhi's husband didn't like Zhao Yazhi to have intimate scenes with male actors. At that time, Zhao Yazhi had just gotten married, so she asked the director to choose a woman to play the role.

The second version is that the director himself auditioned many male actors but couldn't find a suitable candidate. It was not until the director saw Maggie Cheung's male appearance that he felt that it was very suitable for the character of Xu Xian. So he decided to let Maggie Cheung play Xu Xian.

The third version says that the director came from a theatre background and thought it was normal for a girl to play the role of a handsome young man. When he saw that Maggie Cheung’s temperament was very suitable for the role of Xu Xian, he chose Maggie Cheung.

All three statements are possible.

In short, no matter which version it is, the result is that Xu Xian is played by a woman.

But is this role really the only one that belongs to Maggie Cheung?

In fact, that's not entirely true. Among the male actors of the same period as Maggie Cheung, those who had a more bookish air probably included Leslie Cheung, Ray Lui, Michael Miu, and Ma Jingtao. For example, Leslie Cheung played Ning Caichen in "A Chinese Ghost Story".

Of course, Leslie Cheung would definitely not act in "New White Snake".

Anyway, when Cheng Cheng was a child, he watched "New White Snake" and was shocked by the fact that Xu Xian was played by a woman, so he would not choose a female actress to play the role unless necessary. He believed that he would be able to find a suitable male actor to play the role.

Of course, if he really can't find a suitable male actor, he is not opposed to finding a female actress to play the role.

But it shouldn’t be impossible to find.

The casting of "New White Snake" has indeed become a big event in the domestic entertainment industry recently. With the success of "Green Snake", everyone knows that "New White Snake" must be a big project. If it is really chosen, it will be a chance to soar to fame.

On January 1, "The Rap of China" will finally premiere.

On that day, the Chinese Internet was filled with news that "Summer Rap" was about to air!

On social platforms such as Weibo, Tik Tok, and WeChat, the official account of "The Rap of China" released a series of trailers, posters, contestant introductions, and behind-the-scenes footage related to the program. It also launched topic discussions and lucky draws to increase netizens' participation.

In addition, Myth, Fuhai TV, and Lemon Video have also launched a full range of advertisements, including but not limited to pre-video ads, information flow ads, pop-up ads, etc.

It's all over the place, everywhere!

Even offline, Mythology, Fuhai TV and Lemon Video were not spared, and posters were posted in busy areas, universities, shopping malls and other places in various cities to ensure that most people could see them.

And this overwhelming marketing method is also very effective.

Many people have received the news that "Summer Has Hip-Hop" is about to be broadcast.

The Weibo topic forum exploded immediately!
Many people regard "Summer Rap" as a variety show that can succeed "King of Masked Singer".

“I hope you can become my electronic mustard tuber!”

"The authorities should stop using hunger marketing and start broadcasting immediately!"

"From the trailer, it looks very stylish! I feel like the variety shows that Cheng Cheng is doing are different."

"What I'm most looking forward to is the mentor lineup, Cheng Cheng + Jiang Nan! I'm looking forward to their chemistry!"

“If nothing unexpected happens, it will definitely be a big hit. I hope it can be on the level of The Masked Singer.”

All major media outlets have also gathered their strength to write about the premiere of "The Rap of Summer":

"The premiere of "The Rap of Summer" is imminent, and the popularity of Guduo has exceeded 50! Will the variety show market usher in another phenomenal hit?"

"From an investment perspective, the business logic behind Cheng Cheng's bet on the hip-hop track!"

"A fierce battle among the mentors! The highlights of the premiere of "The Rap of China" are revealed, netizens: This lineup is amazing"

"The first hip-hop variety show in Tianxia is coming. Will it be able to drive Tianxia hip-hop culture to break through the circle? Let's wait and see tonight!"

"The phenomenal variety show "The Rap of Summer" starts broadcasting today: an experiment about music and dreams"

"The Chinese youth rap music reality show "The Rap of Summer" jointly produced by Shinhwa Media and Fuhai TV and strategically cooperated with Lemon Video was officially launched at 18:00 today.

As the most anticipated music variety show in 2026, the program takes "exploring Chinese hip-hop culture" as its core concept and brings together four musicians with different styles, Cheng Cheng & Jiang Nan, Shi Jing, and Kaka Xie Duo, as mentors. It aims to deliver a new generation of rap power with both strength and personality to the Chinese music scene through innovative competition systems and in-depth interactions.

Different from traditional variety shows, this is the first time that a domestic variety show focuses on "rap culture".

In the music market, hip-hop culture has long been in a relatively marginal position.

Statistics show that the market size of hip-hop music in 2024 will be only 8 million yuan, which is a huge gap compared with the market size of folk music of about 55 billion yuan and rock music of about 98 billion yuan. It is only about one-seventh of the market size of folk music and one-twelfth of the market size of rock music.

The rap subculture has long been seriously out of touch with mainstream audiences.

In this context, "Summer Rap of China" carries the important task of breaking the dilemma of hip-hop culture and promoting it to the masses, and is highly anticipated by the industry and audiences.

In addition, how to find a balance between commercialization and artistry is also a concern for some people in the industry.

They worry that excessive entertainment may dissipate the critical spirit of hip-hop. In this regard, the program's deputy director Zhang Yibai said: "We encourage contestants to express their true selves. We hope to build a 'symbiotic ecosystem', but we refuse to deliberately create conflicts for the sake of attention - we retain the rebellious spirit of hip-hop while amplifying its social value through mainstream platforms. The core of hip-hop is sincerity, and this will never change."

Although the program has attracted a lot of attention and is highly anticipated during the preparation and promotion stages, it still inevitably faces many challenges.

The program team hopes that through "Summer Has Hip-Hop", rap culture can truly enter the public eye and be integrated into the mainstream cultural circle. However, whether this goal can be achieved ultimately depends on the actual results after the program is broadcast.

Based on past experience, it is not easy for music variety shows to achieve a phenomenal breakthrough. It requires perfection in many aspects such as program content, contestant performance, and communication strategy.

As the premiere time approaches, "Summer Rap" has become an important sample for observing the development of the Chinese rap ecosystem.

Can it replicate the phenomenal popularity that "King of Masked Singer" once created and set off a new round of ratings frenzy in the variety show market, or successfully create a new milestone of "new generation hip-hop" and open up a new path for the development of hip-hop culture in China?
The answer will be revealed tonight at 18:00! "

-

Southwest University of Economics.

After seeing the recruitment Weibo for "The Rap of China" on the Internet, the president of the Hip-Hop Club, Li Haoyu, immediately decided to take all the members to participate in the auditions. As a result, only he and vice president Zhao Qing passed the auditions and the first round of screening.

This result is not surprising. After all, the fact that they can become presidents shows that they have the deepest attainments in hip-hop music and have spent the longest time studying it.

Moreover, Zhao Qing also gained the recognition of the Supreme Demon Dragon Emperor.

But the others were not so lucky, and seven or eight members were all eliminated.

The school also responded after learning that they had passed the first round of screening and were confirmed to be on TV.

The school leaders were keenly aware that this was an opportunity for publicity, so they immediately promoted the two of them on the school's official account and allocated a batch of funds to the Hip Hop Club through the Student Union. Although the amount was not much, the fact that the unpopular small club suddenly became a hot commodity in the eyes of the school leaders still made Li Haoyu and Zhao Qing feel flattered.

A special area was also set aside in the campus bulletin board to display their hip-hop manuscripts and photos of them participating in the show.

Today, "The Rap of China" premiered. The dean specifically asked them about the specific broadcast time and said he would go to support them, which made Li Haoyu and Zhao Qing nervous.

Li Haoyu said with a bitter face:

"It's over. Isn't this a bit too much of a fuss?"

Zhao Qing was also ashamed and said:
"I didn't know how many seconds of footage I would be cut into in the show. It would be embarrassing if it was just a fleeting moment. Oh, if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have said anything to avoid letting so many people know."

"Yeah." Li Haoyu also said, "If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have said it. If we were eliminated in the first round, it would be a huge shame. They are all so strong."

Zhao Qing said:
"My roommate also said that we should watch The Rap of China together tonight."

Li Haoyu felt sympathy: "My roommate was in the same boat, and he even asked to take a screenshot."

At this moment, Zhao Qing and Li Haoyu felt for the first time how shameful it was to be on the show.

However, having said that, it is also because they have low expectations of themselves and feel that they will not have many shots.

But in fact, deep down, they still hope that they can be seen by the audience and become famous overnight.

After all, they participated in this show just to become famous.

In a sense, this is also a happy trouble.

It was approaching six in the evening.

Shi Jing and Kaka Xie Duo also turned on the TV in advance, waiting for the broadcast of "The Rap of China".

For many domestic rappers, "The Rap of China" is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but for Shi Jing and Kaka Xie Duo, the significance of this program is equally important, or even more so.

For Shi Jing, this is the only platform for him to return to the public eye after more than ten years!

As long as this program can really boost the popularity of rap culture as expected, with the qualifications he has accumulated, his status will surely rise and he will reap the benefits.

For Kaka Xie Duo, she was just an ordinary second-tier singer before and had no status in the circle at all.

"The Rap of China" hired her as a mentor, along with Cheng Cheng, Jiang Nan, and Shi Jing. This helped to improve her status and elevated her to the level of "mentor".

The fact that she and Cheng Cheng are both mentors in the show alone will greatly enhance her status in the industry.

After all, who else in the entertainment industry is a mentor to Cheng Cheng?
No!

Apart from them, there is no one else!
At least, her status in the show is equal to Cheng Cheng's, and this, as long as it spills over a little bit outside the show, will benefit her infinitely.

In addition to the two of them, Fu Hai TV Station Director Huo Xiwen, deputy director Zhang Yibai, host Li Xiang, as well as a group of contestants and countless rap fans and practitioners across the country also stayed in front of the TV, waiting for the broadcast of "The Rap of China".

Waiting for the reviews of "The Rap of China" to come out.

A rap group:

"coming!"

"Yo yo! Bro, it's finally on! My flow and lyrics in the show are simply unbeatable. I must become famous today. Everyone remember to vote for me!"

"I've been looking forward to it for so long. It all depends on whether this show can make our rap culture popular and gain more recognition. If it works, it will be much easier for us to survive in this industry in the future!"

"Just talking about the mentor lineup, I don't agree with Cheng Cheng in other aspects, but his ability to run the show is really beyond reproach. I feel that this show is a sure thing."

"Hey? You're not convinced by other things, but you're so arrogant? Can you tell me specifically what you're not convinced about?"

"We are rappers who are all about reality. Cheng Cheng is great at making movies and pop music. He is not a rapper. Compared with our underground OGs, he is indeed a little bit inferior. But he is good at making programs, we have to admit that."

"Who cares? I just hope the show becomes popular, which will give me more performance opportunities."

"That's right. If this show becomes popular, we can participate if we hold it again next year."

"Yes, watch the show carefully to see what the level of your peers is like."

Finally, it was six o'clock in the evening.

Under the attention of the public, "The Rap of Summer" was broadcast! (End of this chapter)