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Chen Wei, chief producer of China's New Rap:
Blindly catering to the audience has no future. We should do a variety show that is not "simple"

Bo Chendi
October 11, 2018 14:36 | Source: People's Network
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 Chen Wei, producer of variety show and senior vice president of iQIYI
Chen Wei, producer of variety show and senior vice president of iQIYI

This summer, the online variety show "China's New Rap" ignited the rap culture again. Compared with "Hip Hop in China" in 2017, this program has attracted many young people who love rap in a more approachable manner, and has given this art a positive color in a more mainstream and localized way.

Chen Wei, senior vice president of iQIYI, the chief producer of these two programs, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter on People's Daily Online that he would rather create phenomenal works that can carry the real sense of positive energy of youth than simply promote rap culture.

The biggest challenge is to achieve "better" from "having"

In 2017, Hip Hop in China came out, bringing rap culture into the public's view. This year, after the launch of China's New Rap, which is also a rap program, it is hard to escape the fate of comparison with the "seniors". In Chen Wei's opinion, if last year's rap show achieved "zero" to "yes", this year's new program will be "better" from "yes", which is also the biggest challenge facing the program production team. "Because of last year's success, audiences have become familiar with such topics and have their own standards of appreciation. The lack of novelty among netizens has created the need for a sense of quality." Chen Wei believes that for a music talent show, the sense of quality comes from the music itself, and only high-quality music can attract audiences. In addition, it is also the key to meet the challenges to make the program solid and create more highlights. "To make the audience feel good, we need to improve more."

On October 6, the finals of China New Rap ended. As for the achievements of the new program, Chen Wei said that he was "relatively satisfied": "From the perspective of various indicators, some of them are significantly higher than last year, such as golden tunes, hot words, and some are at the same level as last year, without quality decline."

But even though he has made great achievements, Chen Wei still feels regretful. "Due to the time, the proportion of our reality show and some of its creations could not be shown more carefully. In addition, there were some unreasonable accidents, such as the sudden failure of the walkie talkie to call people, which made it impossible to temporarily adjust the scene and scheduling, creating some regrets." Chen Wei was indifferent to these regrets, "In fact, all popular cooperative art creation is the art of regret, because you can't control every detail in the whole process. However, regret is also an inherent feature of art, and there is really no regret, either because the person is low level, or because the person has no pursuit."

Always lead, don't just cater

From traditional media to video websites, Chen Wei, who has been in the industry for more than ten years, knows that the key to making a program with good reputation and good audience is to lead, rather than blindly cater to. "This is a question of the creator's starting point. Your intention is to show this thing to the audience better, or you can give the audience whatever they want. This is a huge difference."

Different from the programs produced by Chen Wei in the past, the audience of rap culture is obviously younger, and young netizens account for a large proportion of video websites as program carriers. How can we keep ahead of young people? Chen Wei said that first, we should look far ahead and observe the trend of popular culture; Second, consider the combination of popular culture and commercial culture, and explore the exploitable commercial value; Third, we should create in a way that conforms to the perspective of young people. "You can't guess the hearts of young people. If you only focus on the present, it may be that you just cater to their needs, and the analysis of the trend will turn this catering into a guide."

This year's "China's New Rap" has made many new attempts to lead youth culture. From golden songs with high popularity to hot words like "skr" that many people talk about, exotic products that once seemed a little different and niche are changing to localization and popularization. However, some people begin to question that this change has distorted the rap culture. Sunshine, positive energy and peace do not seem to be associated with rap. In this regard, Chen Wei believes that this kind of query actually stems from the one-sided understanding and labeling of rap music, which is also the concept he wants to break. "The culture of young people is not necessarily tense, or extremely antagonistic. Rap music is diverse, and it should be a carrier to express real views and opinions." He said that doing this program is actually to provide a forum for young people who love rap, or even youth culture, "We not only want to attract audiences, traffic, or advertising through rap, but also really do something for China's rap culture through this program."

To be the creator of mass media with a sense of mission

Chen Wei has positioned himself as a "mass media creator". This title gives him a sense of mission and responsibility in his work. However, it is not easy to achieve the goal of writing with morality. Chen Wei believes that this is a multiple test of creators' creative ability, expression ability and three perspectives, but it is also the level that mainstream platform creators should have. "We should know what is worth carrying forward. On the premise of visible short-term benefits, we should also choose not to do those things that are kitsch and vulgar, which depends not only on our own three views, but also on our own determination." He said that doing such a program would take several times more effort than doing a program that is "superior but small" or "trendy but kitsch".

"Doing programs and mass media on the mainstream communication platform affects hundreds of millions of people. This means that the task you are facing is to spread high-quality content in popular culture, and the variety shows you make should have their own values. Many primary and junior high school students are watching our programs, and do not do to others what they do not want. If you don't want your children to receive things with inaccurate values, don't do low-quality programs. " Chen Wei said bluntly, "This is the 'Tao' that we need to carry in our variety shows. It is a cost that must be borne, and cannot be evaded."

(Editor in charge: Wang Zhe, Huang Yuqi)

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