Top Chinese celebrity: Debuted from Running Man

……

……

Time flies, and three days have passed since the Bulgari dinner.

—In a slightly messy bedroom.

The curtains were drawn, blocking out the afternoon sun. Only the computer screen emitted a faint blue glow, illuminating a young face that looked tired and had a few prominent pimples.

Several open exercise books, a half-empty energy drink can, and a professional-grade gaming headset were scattered on the table.

"Ooh ooh ooh—Skr~Skr~"

The boy was wearing headphones, nodding and swaying as he listened to the powerful rap music coming from them.

On the computer screen, the interface of a music platform was playing, and the song was "Tao Ge's Execution Song," which had caused quite a stir in both the rap and gossip circles.

"Wow, how can there be such an energetic song? It's always refreshing to listen to it."

He took off one earphone, muttered to himself, and his face showed a mixture of excitement and cathartic pleasure.

He skillfully dragged the mouse, scrolling through the comments section below the song, which had already accumulated 999+ comments.

A variety of comments came into view, and one of the top-rated comments made him burst out laughing:
"【This isn't a group, is it? I remember Zhang Yixing's group was called XO, and Wu, Huang, and Lu were a group called Running Man.】"

"Dude, what does 'Reallyning man' mean? I don't understand."

"Don't the Running Man members know? This is mocking the three of them for leaving the group and running away."

"Hahaha, Huang Zitao's words are full of hidden meanings, that's really amazing."

The boy laughed so hard he almost fell over.

His name is Kang Haoran, an ordinary student in reality.

His grades were below average, and he was introverted and slow to warm up to people. Apart from a few other marginalized classmates, he had almost no presence in the class.

The heavy burden of his studies, his parents' subtle disappointment, and the delicate comparisons among his peers were like layers of invisible shells, enveloping him in a closed and dull world.

Until he accidentally clicked on the online variety show called "The Rap of China".

The contestants on the show, with their exaggerated outfits, unrestrained speech, and constant talk of "Real" and "Keep it real," instantly captivated him.

These rappers seem to live in a world completely opposite to his own.

Confident, assertive, daring to express dissatisfaction, and using rhyming sentences and strong rhythms to declare their attitude to the world.

Even if this attitude is seen as rebellious or even rude by the mainstream.

Isn't that exactly what he longed to be deep down but never dared to become?

Thus, the internet became his "second life".

In his anonymous fan group, he is an active "Hoohomi" (a nickname for a fan of hip-hop), skillfully using hip-hop slang he learned from the show, and engaging in heated discussions about technical aspects with hip-hop enthusiasts from all over the world.

"Bro, so many days have passed, do you think Huang Zitao dares to respond to the diss?"

Kang Haoran typed simultaneously in several of the "The Rap of China" fan groups he frequented, his tone carrying a hint of excitement at watching the show unfold.

The message received an immediate and enthusiastic response.

"A response? How can he respond? Ba Ge's diss track is too powerful; it's nailed him to the pillar of shame!"

A group member named AKA Bullet replied.

"They're just cowards; their team is probably racking their brains trying to figure out how to handle this."

"I've long disliked these slick, pretentious young idols, and Brother Ba's criticism was spot on! That's what music should be—it has attitude!"

"Exactly, it's a million times better than those lovey-dovey, melodramatic pop songs!"

"To be honest, Ba Ge's verse was so amazing, yet he only got one pass and wasn't given much screen time. Are the production team blind? I hope he can come back next season and go even further!"

The discussion in the group quickly heated up.

For these self-proclaimed "knowledgeable" hip-hop enthusiasts, the Huang Zitao incident was more than just entertainment gossip.
It is also a symbolic victory of "Real" over "Hypocrisy", "Underground" over "Mainstream", and "Strength" over "Traffic".

Huang Zitao, once a top-tier celebrity, is now being publicly executed by an underground rapper and is powerless to fight back.

This contrast greatly satisfied their desire for "overthrowing the superiors" and "bursting the bubble."

In fact,
Huang Zitao and her team are in an awkward situation these days.

Faced with this diss track filled with personal attacks and sarcastic remarks, a conventional lawyer's letter warning seems pale and even ridiculous in the context of "rap culture".

And back then, it was he who attacked the entire music industry first.

Want to fight back with music?

Let's not even discuss whether Huang Zitao's own music composition ability can support a diss track of comparable quality.

His terrible singing skills left him no chance to retaliate; he had no choice but to remain silent.

What frustrated Huang Zitao's fans was that when they tried to organize a counterattack and control the comments to whitewash the situation, they found that their opponents were far more than just Ba Ge and his few fans.

The first to arrive at the "battlefield" and frantically share and like the posts were the long-suffering fans of the "Running Man" program.

They were happy to see anything that could strike at this “unfit successor.”

Next, "Megni" and "Reed Sister" took turns using their trumpets to set the pace.

They were driven by old grudges, and they all "passed by" to kick someone while they were down, contributing to the buzz.

As for the vast number of casual observers, given the widespread dissatisfaction with the acting skills and professional ethics of young male celebrities in recent years, they naturally tend to believe that "whoever criticizes young male celebrities is outspoken and honest."

This diss track became their outlet for venting their emotions.

In just three days, "Tao Ge's Execution Song" easily surpassed 10 million views, and related topics remained popular on major social media platforms.

Ba Ge, a rapper who was originally only known in a small underground circle in Sichuan, has seen his blog followers skyrocket, and his simple performance videos that were previously ignored have been dug up and watched repeatedly.

He has become a prominent figure in the current struggle between the underground and the mainstream, and between the real and the hypocritical, and is enjoying great influence.

Surprisingly, his popularity is on par with that of "Magneto" and "Crooked Mouth Warrior," who have already made their mark on the show.

Witnessing the massive traffic and potential profits brought by Ba Ge's "instant fame," countless rappers who were struggling in the underground scene and longed to make it big but had no way to get ahead became green with envy.

Jealousy, regret, and resentment were surging beneath the surface.

"If I had known that criticizing celebrities was such an easy way to become famous, I would have done it long ago!"

"Money! Attention! Business partnerships! Here they come, don't they?"

"Damn it, Xiao Ba got a huge advantage! How come Huang Zitao is so weak?"

They were frustrated that they hadn't seized the opportunity.

Simultaneously,

A dangerous idea began to take root in many people's minds: if criticizing Huang Zitao can be successful, then can criticizing other popular celebrities also work?
For a time,

Huang Zitao's social media comment section has become a key "observation area" for many underground rappers.

Like hungry vultures, they lurked with bloodshot eyes, intently watching Huang Zitao's every move, their hearts filled with frantic prayers:

"Fight back! Fight back now! Even just post a blog entry saying something like that will do!"
If you dare respond, I'll immediately follow suit and write a diss track against you! This traffic is too good to pass up!

unfortunately,

Reality disappointed them.

Huang Zitao's account is now completely inactive, with her latest post still being a brand advertisement from just a few days ago. The comment section has been turned on with a "featured" function, leaving only irrelevant or fan-controlled comments.

It shuts out all the mockery, provocation, and insults.

This complete "playing dead" strategy, though frustrating, left those rappers who were eager to "ride the wave" with nowhere to attack, and they could only leave dejectedly, secretly cursing Huang Zitao as a "coward".

Just when the diss wave, which had been gradually subsiding due to Huang Zitao's silence, seemed to be coming to an end, an explosive piece of news, like a depth charge, once again shook the entire rap and gossip circles!

"It's exploded! It's exploded!! Something terrible has happened!!"

"Brother Ba! Brother Ba has released a new song!!"

"Holy crap! So fast? He dissed Huang Zitao again? Is it the second round?"

"It's not Huang Zitao! This time he's dissing—Gu! Qing!"

"Who?! Gu Qing?! Is it the Gu Qing I know?!"

"Who else could it be but him!"

"Has Brother Ba gone mad?"

Countless hip-hop chat groups, forums, and social media were instantly flooded with this message.

Almost everyone who saw the news reacted with disbelief, wondering if they had misread it or if it was a bad joke.

If criticizing Huang Zitao was a high-risk, high-reward speculative gamble, then criticizing Gu Qing, in most people's eyes, was practically a suicide attack.

Gu Qing is not Huang Zitao. His fan base, public favorability, commercial value, and potential capital backing are all on completely different levels.

The "Gu family" is known in the fan circle for its formidable fighting power and well-organized structure.

more importantly,
Gu Qing has a clean personal image, her works have a good reputation, and she is very popular with the general public.

Criticizing him not only makes it difficult to find a strong point of attack, but also makes it easier to get burned and suffer a large-scale backlash.

Shocked as they were, curiosity drove countless people to click on Ba Ge's new song, which he had just released on the music platform.

The song's title is simple and direct, even carrying a touch of irony—"National Little Brother".

Even Kang Haoran, who was chatting with his fellow hip-hop fans in the group, was drawn to the links and exclamations that flooded the group chat in an instant.

"Nation's Little Brother?"

Kang Haoran stared at the song title, paused for a moment, and didn't quite understand. "What does this mean? A new style? A love song?"

Until the group messages were scrolling by rapidly,
Various exclamations like "Holy crap!", "Awesome!", "Brother Ba is really brave!", and "Dissing Gu Qing!"

Only after the words filled the screen did he belatedly realize what was happening, and his eyes widened instantly.

"Dissing Gu Qing?"

He muttered to himself in surprise, unconsciously scratching a pimple on his cheek, "Why did he diss Gu Qing? Has he also criticized the hip-hop scene? Or did he offend Ba Ge?"

Kang Haoran himself has no interest in chasing celebrities; all his passion is poured into "The Rap of China" and the related "hip-hop attitude."

But the name "Gu Qing" was not unfamiliar to him.

Just like he knew that Huang Zitao was a former member of XO, oh no, now she should be called a member of Running Man.

Gu Qing is one of the most popular celebrities right now, a figure that frequently appears on television, online, and in the conversations of classmates.

Many girls in his class were fans of Gu Qing. They would often gather together during breaks to discuss all aspects of Gu Qing, and their books were covered with photos of Gu Qing and posters they had bought.

"A bunch of brainless fans."

Kang Haoran muttered something to himself.

but,

Since it was the new work of idol Ba Ge, Kang Haoran's curiosity was immediately piqued. With excitement and anticipation, he clicked the mouse to play the song.

The song is short, only 2 minutes and 50 seconds long.

at first,

Kang Hao was still adjusting his headphones, staring at the lyrics nonchalantly. But as the song played, his face grew redder and redder, his eyes glued to the music, his legs shaking with excitement, and he kept muttering "egg" under his breath.

In the lyrics at 2 minutes and 50 seconds,
The entire text does not explicitly mention Gu Qing's name, as it is not as direct as when criticizing Huang Zitao by name.

The level of violence in the lyrics is in no way inferior to "Tao Ge's Execution Song".

The opening intro plays an audio clip, seemingly trying to find a reasonable explanation for the diss track.

"Little brother, have you ever watched 'The Rap of China'?"

"Little brother, do you know Magneto?"

The audio was deliberately blurred, giving the impression that someone was interviewing this "national younger brother".

When faced with reporters' questions, he only responded with a few curt words: "Never seen it." and "Don't know."

It gives people a feeling of arrogance and disdain.

Next second,
Ba Ge's 'righteous' voice rang out: "Little brother, I'm going to make you remember this: from today onwards, I am the Ba Ge of the rap scene!"

Dynamic drumbeats and rousing accompaniment followed.

A violent biting diss ensued.

First, they waved a large flag and shouted a string of profanities.
The content can be summarized as follows:

Do we in the hip-hop scene need your approval, you pretty boy?
Let me show you what real manliness is. All you can do is strain your voice when you sing. Go be a woman! He started dissing her again.
Gu Qing's ancient style music scene was criticized for his songwriting, which was seen as just piling up fancy words and being utterly nonsensical, thus inciting conflict between the hip-hop and ancient style music circles.

People who say they like listening to traditional Chinese style songs are all pretentious and pseudo-intellectuals.

Lao Tzu's lyrics are vulgar, Lao Tzu's lyrics are rebellious, and they'll make you bunch of bastards howl and scream "Dominator".

As the song came to an end...
The most violent sentence:
'Little brother, little brother, you're my little brother, tonight I'll use your little brother...XX...'

The song concludes with a series of lyrics in a distinctive Kaihuang style.

unconsciously,

"Hu~~"

After listening to the lyrics, Kang Haoran took off his headphones and vigorously rubbed his burning face.

First, there was the excitement of rushing blood to my head; second, I felt a bit embarrassed and psychologically uncomfortable by the last part of the lyrics.

As students, they may use some colloquialisms and profanities in their daily conversations, but they don't go to the level of personal attacks described in song lyrics.

For a young student who is currently receiving moral education, this is a bit too much of a shock; the lyrics just feel a bit disgusting.

Kang Haoran subconsciously glanced at the chat box in the group.

"Hahaha, awesome!! Brother Ba is really not afraid of being attacked by Gu Qing's fans."

"Gu Qing actually mocked Magneto? And he arrogantly looked down on hip-hop, ptooey! Does singing traditional Chinese style songs make you superior? Ba Ge's insults are well-deserved!"

"I also look down on those pretentious people who sing ancient-style songs. They act like they're cultured all the time, what are they pretending for!"

Most people in the group are not hardcore fans and have no idea that Gu Qing's remarks in the airport interview were maliciously misinterpreted.

Even if they knew, they probably wouldn't care.

As long as it's dissing or insulting, they can enjoy the spectacle. The more violent and offensive the insults, the more they like it.

Am I overthinking things?

"The lyrics weren't actually that bad?"

Seeing the applause and cheers, as well as the curses and swears from his fellow group members, Kang Haoran's anxiety subsided considerably.
quickly,

Putting aside his personal qualities, he enthusiastically joined in.

……

With Ba Ge's diss track "National Little Brother" being propelled by an invisible force, it exploded instantly like cold water poured into boiling oil, and its popularity spread rapidly beyond its original circle.

It is no longer limited to the niche circle of hip-hop enthusiasts, but has become like a highly contagious online virus, rapidly infiltrating a wider entertainment audience and the public eye through social media sharing, gossip accounts, forum discussions, and other channels.

quickly,

This aggressive song was captured by a member of the "Gu family" who regularly "patrols" the internet and closely monitors everything related to Gu Qing.

at first,

Upon seeing the song title "National Little Brother," this fan felt a surge of surprise and curiosity: "'National Little Brother'? This name... could it be that some musician made a new song to praise our little brother? They're quite good at naming things."

With this expectation, she clicked on the playback link and even prepared herself to enjoy it.

However,

Through the earphones came Ba Ge's deliberately lowered voice, heavy with an accent and clearly malicious, using vulgar metaphors and out-of-context so-called "dirt."

And when they used words full of personal attacks and sexual innuendo to slander and insult Gu Qing in all aspects.

The color drained from the fan's face instantly, then flushed red and purple with extreme anger.

"what--!!"

She screamed uncontrollably, her voice trembling with rage, "Do you want to die?! You bastard!!"

Just a few days ago,
When Ba Ge dissed Huang Zitao, many "Gu family members" were happy to share and joke about it on their social media circles, even thinking that the criticism was "well-founded".

after all,

Huang Zitao has no direct conflict with her younger brother; in fact, they are somewhat rivals. Seeing his brother suffer misfortune, she can't help but feel a little schadenfreude.

But when that sharp, sarcastic, and malicious gun barrel suddenly turned around and aimed at his own "younger brother," whom he cherished and had worked hard to maintain his pure and beautiful image.

All the fans' good mood for watching the show vanished instantly, replaced by anger at being offended, heartache, and a strong protective instinct that felt their "territory" had been invaded.

"Disgusting! Despicable! Who is this guy? What gives him the right?! What did my brother do to him?!"

"This is blatant slander! Fabrication! Malicious defamation! They'll stop at nothing to become famous!"

"I watched the entire interview at the airport! The younger brother was just politely saying that he was filming abroad recently and didn't have time to follow new variety shows in China. His tone was very gentle!"

How did it become "looking down on" and "mocking" the hip-hop scene in this bastard's mouth? Taking things out of context is despicable!

"Even if I really feel that hip-hop isn't suitable for me and I don't like it, so what? Does that mean people aren't allowed to have their own preferences? Are you giving him too much credit?!"

"What's most disgusting are those lyrics... How did they even pass censorship?"

"You call us 'pretentious' for listening to ancient-style songs and watching period dramas? Ha! Compared to your so-called 'hip-hop' that mistakes vulgarity for authenticity and insults for attitude,..."
Our traditional Chinese style circle is truly sophisticated! We have a deep cultural foundation! If you disagree, just keep quiet!

When the link to this diss track and screenshots of some of the shocking lyrics circulated in various "Gu Family" fan groups, supertopics, and support forums, it instantly ignited a raging fire of anger.

Enraged, the management acted swiftly, tagging all members and preparing to organize a large-scale, disciplined "anti-gang" operation.

Reporting, controlling public opinion, clarifying, demanding platforms to remove content... the battle cry has been sounded.

But just as the "Gu Family Army" was sharpening its swords, preparing for a large-scale charge, a somewhat strange situation occurred.

The song "National Little Brother" that just climbed to the bottom of a social media platform's trending list, with the hashtags followed by "new" or "hot,"...
It disappeared into thin air after hanging there for less than ten minutes!

Searching for keywords resulted in the message, "In accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, search results are not displayed."

Related discussion posts were also largely deleted or had their dissemination restricted.

"Huh? What... what's going on?"

"Where's the trending topic? I just saw it at the bottom!"

"Did the platform itself deem the content inappropriate and remove it?"

"Who cares! Good for him! But we can't let this kind of person get away with it. Keep reporting his other accounts and works!"

Although the fans were puzzled, they did not stop their efforts and instead focused their firepower on reporting and complaining to Ba Ge's personal social media accounts and music platform homepages.

……

at the same time,

Inside a top-tier office building in Shanghai, the Bulgari regional headquarters is brightly lit.

An emergency public relations crisis meeting is being held in the executive conference room. The atmosphere is so tense it's almost palpable.

"Who?! Who's courting death?!"

A suppressed, furious question broke the silence.

"Immediately! Right now! Contact all major social media platforms and media channels you're partnered with!"
Remove all trending topics, hashtags, and headlines related to smearing Gu Qing, especially that awful song, immediately!

"Our Bulgari just officially announced its global brand ambassador, and now someone is attacking us in such a low and despicable way?!"

This is a declaration of war on our entire brand image and reputation!

In fact,
Just as this diss track climbed to the top of the trending searches and sparked a small-scale discussion.

Bulgari's well-trained and astute public relations monitoring team had already detected the anomaly and reported it to higher levels immediately.

Initially, the reactions of the higher-ups who received the news varied.

Some executives who were already more inclined towards Chris Wu and had reservations about choosing Gu Qing, were secretly pleased when they heard the news that "Gu Qing was being criticized."
They thought they had caught some "dirt" or "handle" on Gu Qing, that he was about to fall from grace, and even secretly hoped that things would escalate so that they would have a reason to reconsider their choice of spokesperson.

Meanwhile, executives who participated in the decision-making process, voted in favor of Gu Qing after comprehensive evaluation, or acted solely out of brand interests, felt a tightness in their chests and furrowed their brows.

They could only pray in their hearts that Gu Qingta's house wasn't too big, so that there would be room for repair.

but,

When the assistant urgently retrieved the audio of "National Little Brother" and played it aloud in the somber conference room so that all attendees could hear it—

Everyone's expression, whether they were secretly pleased or worried, turned extremely ugly in an instant, as if they had swallowed a fly and were disgusted and shocked.

For the fashion world, which values ​​art, hearing lyrics like these is enough to make them want to go deaf on the spot.

After the nausea and vomiting subsided, a burning anger followed.

"This is just asking for trouble!"

What's the difference between throwing mud at Qing and throwing it at Bulgari?
Especially considering that the spokesperson was just announced, it was a complete slap in the face.

Even those high-ranking officials who dislike Gu Qing must now take a stand.

None of the people present liked rappers.

If we say that the domestic rap scene is still in its infancy,
As an overseas giant, how could Bulgari not know what kind of rappers are from abroad?
Even though they're considered rotten people, everyone's praising them.

If a high-end jewelry brand dares to have even the slightest connection with rap elements, what's the difference between that and throwing shit on its signboard?
The brand value is likely to plummet.

Bulgari, with its powerful influence, was the first to eliminate all the negative trending topics about Gu Qing.

He then hurriedly sent someone to contact Gu Qing's team, instructing him not to respond in a way that would lower his status.

Rappers overseas,

In their early days, a large part of their popularity came from dissing big stars or colleagues.

Once you're hooked, you can't shake it off.

They know these people's nature all too well.

but,

If the celebrities don't move, the fans have to!

Bulgari took the initiative to remove the trending topic from the search list ahead of time.
The Gu family members didn't hold back either.

The entire group mobilized, located Ba Ge's various accounts, and collectively reported the lyrics to the platform for being vulgar, violent, and violating normal values.

Some platforms, under pressure, directly removed the songs.

Even worse,
People like A-B and A-Dou have had their videos and personal accounts banned.

The banning of Ba Ge's account has done little to quell the anger of his fans.

exactly,

The latest episode of "The Rap of China" is about to air.

That night,

All viewers of the online variety show "The Rap of China" were completely dumbfounded when they turned on the bullet comments.

"Hip-hop is inferior! Hip-hop is inferior!"

The six-character phrase "True Eye" scrolled across the top of the screen, continuously for seventy minutes, greatly impacting the viewing experience.

"Can someone who knows what's going on here?"

"I don't understand. Is the platform broken? Why are people constantly spamming this?"

"I know the reason. It seems that a rapper who was eliminated from a show was unhappy with Gu Qing's mockery of the show and rap, so he released a song to diss him."

"Yes, yes, that's exactly why Gu Qing's dog came over and started biting its teeth, didn't it?"

"Holy crap, Gu Qing is so wicked!"

In the pinned comment section, viewers were quickly swayed and began to voice their indignation:
"What's wrong with listening to rap? Did you bite Gu Qing's hand?"

"I used to really like Gu Qing, but now I've completely turned from a fan to a hater!"

"Does he really think that singing a traditional Chinese style song represents the general public?"

The phenomenal popularity of The Rap of China needs no introduction. As a true blockbuster variety show of 17, it boasts a massive fan base.

You, from the traditional Chinese style circle, are running wild in the hip-hop circle.
That would be a disaster for the hip-hop scene!
"Ouch~~"

Hip-hop artists who had long coveted Ba Ge's popularity were just waiting for this opportunity.

They stood up righteously and outspokenly to uphold justice in the hip-hop scene, and together they wrote songs to start dissing!

Some people know the difference between right and wrong, and they're just criticizing the traditional Chinese style community.

There were also some rappers who were so desperate for attention that they didn't even bother to hide their names and started ranting and raving about Gu Qing.

This night,
The epic battle between hip-hop and traditional Chinese style has officially begun!
……

...(End of chapter)