China Entertainment 1997

At the end of November, Dian Province

Cao Xuan held a book signing event in Kunming City, with four to five thousand fans and people attending. This was deliberately controlled by the authorities, otherwise it would have been even more.

Nowadays, as Cao Xuan becomes more and more popular, basically he can cause a large-scale sensation as soon as he goes on the street.

Therefore, when Cao Xuan holds autograph sessions and the like, he will not do too much publicity and will negotiate with the officials in advance to avoid accidents caused by too many people.

Even the staff responsible for related matters at Warner Bros. and Fanxing made fun of themselves.

Others hold similar events because they are afraid that no one will come and want to use a loudspeaker to shout to the whole world. But they are afraid that too many people will come, so they sometimes find ways to suppress the popularity.

Cao Xuan can also be regarded as the son-in-law of Yunnan Province. Although it has not been made public, it does not affect his position in the hearts of fans in Yunnan Province. He is the most popular among pop singers.

But if it spreads to all singers, the most popular singer in Yunnan Province is Mao Jiachao, the king of folk songs...

Dian Province cannot live without Mao Jiachao, just like the West cannot live without Jerusalem.

The status of Yunnan folk songs in Yunnan Province is almost the same as that of cross talk in Tianjin, Henan Opera in Henan Province, Qin Opera in Qin Province, Errenzhuan in Northeast China, and folk tunes in parts of Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu...

That is something that has greatly enriched the amateur cultural life of the broad masses of the people and is engraved in the DNA.

You may not feel it in the city, but in the countryside, these things beat all the pop songs.

Cao Xuan was born and raised in rural areas, and he also learned some information from his parents on a daily basis. Even in his home base of Zaoshi, many people only know that he is famous, but they don't listen to many songs.

The biggest impression of Cao Xuan's songs was the Spring Festival Gala, followed by songs such as "Ten Thousand Reasons" and "Won't Come Back in Autumn" that were sung badly in the streets and alleys.

"The Wind Rises", "Blue Lotus" and "Fireworks Get Cold" have even aroused widespread discussions and music trends in the industry.

But in the vast rural areas, everyone still prefers to listen to——

Folk songs, minor tunes and duets such as "Pinch your big crotch", "Take good care of your body every day", "Brother-in-law and sister-in-law", "The little widow comes to visit", "What are you going to do with your white thighs?"

This is not a black region, nor is it discrimination against rural areas, it is a fact, and it is not a big deal.

Food and sex are also factors, but no one can avoid love between men and women. Great writers have written poems with color, and classic Western operas also have many 404 plots.

It's just that their expressions are more subtle and their connotations are deeper, while these folk and local cultures are easier to understand and more straightforward.

It is precisely this simple and straightforward style that has been widely disseminated in rural areas, where the level of education is relatively low.

In the past, it was just a performance performed by a small theater troupe that visited villages and towns. Later, with the rise of television and DVD, this local culture quickly became popular and reached a certain scale, even supporting a large number of folk artists.

It was not until the advent of the smartphone era and the popularity of short videos that these things were relatively replaced.

Of course, when these things disappear, new trends will naturally emerge, such as live broadcasting...

Therefore, no matter how popular Cao Xuan's songs are, they can only be popular among urban towns and young people. In rural areas, they have been crushed by local culture.

In fact, there is a way to break the situation, that is, ringing bells + square dance bombing, but Cao Xuan, the pop king, can't let go of this face.

Then there is only one way - go to the Spring Festival Gala.

This is Cao Xuan's most important weapon against local culture. More than half of his current fame among middle-aged and elderly people in rural areas comes from the Spring Festival Gala in the past two years.

These days, most rural people don't read newspapers, don't go online, and rarely listen to music. They don't understand the status of singers.

If you want to leave an impression on them, you have to rely on the Spring Festival Gala to impress them again and again.

Of course, there are some special examples, such as Teresa Teng, who really killed men, women, and children from all over the Taiwan Straits and three places. Rural grandmothers who are several decades old have all heard "Sweet Honey".

However, Cao Xuan is not stubborn and has to be known to all the people. Every artist has his own audience, and there is no need to blindly pursue the killing of young and old.

If a handsome guy doesn't go out to attract female fans, but instead has to compete with an old man, isn't that just because he's full?

Therefore, Cao Xuan works hard, but does not force it. If he can kill, it is best. If he cannot, he will keep his base of fans and be popular.

And don’t forget, Cao Xuan is not just a singer, he is also an actor. What a singer can’t do, he can overtake as an actor.

Many people may not be able to recognize his face, but many people know that he has played Bao Zheng and Ximen Qing.

With a three-pronged approach to film, television and singing, Cao Xuan may not become a "national treasure" artist known to all the people...

………

However, leaving aside the rural market that Cao Xuan cannot conquer for the time being, he is becoming increasingly popular in the pop music world.

Sales volume and rankings are already old topics. Now people are discussing the groundbreaking Cao Xuan album brought to the pop music world.

The first is "The Wind Rises".

As I said before, songs such as "The Wind Rises" and "Light Chaser", which became popular in later generations, and various musical elements and arrangement techniques were very novel to the music scene in 2000. .

Beautiful and fresh lyrics, mature and popular melodies, the concept is not limited to most of the current love songs, inspirational, youth and other elements, but has a broader concept, giving fans and listeners more space to think. . .

Putting aside the group of Hong Kong and Taiwan artists, there were not many musicians who could achieve this on a certain scale in mainland productions before, and Pu Shu is one of them.

However, Pu Shu's personal style is more focused, and he is not as "all-round" as Cao Xuan, and is more popular.

Many music critics believe that Cao Xuan's songs have contributed greatly to broadening the horizons of current musicians' future creations.

In addition, "Blue Lotus" has also attracted a certain degree of attention.

Everyone who plays music has their own rock and roll dream, especially since the rock wave in mainland China has not stopped for a few years, and the seeds of rock and roll are still buried in the hearts of countless people.

Cao Xuan was famous all over the world and became the most popular mainland pop king, but in the hearts of these rock fans, they never took him seriously.

Ya is just a popular person, and there is no hero at times, so he can make Zhuzi famous. From the moment rock and roll declined, the Chinese music scene died...

But this song "Blue Lotus" really impressed Cao Xuan a lot in the hearts of those rock veterans.

Everyone feels that this pretty boy still has a few talents. He is indeed talented, but he just doesn't use them in the right direction.

Of course, some people think that "Blue Lotus" is not rock and roll, and feel that Cao Xuan is simply taking advantage of the popularity of rock to make money, and is a scum that is not welcome in the rock industry.

This statement is not recognized by the outside world at all. To a certain extent, rock fans are the most disliked in the music circle, at least in the mainland music circle.

The reason is because the attitude of the rock circle is too high and the mouth is too bad.

Not only rock and roll, classical, jazz, electronic music, and later rap, folk, ancient music and other relatively niche circles all have similar problems.

[Some people] always have an inexplicable sense of superiority, thinking that the ones they like are the best, and the others are trash.

There are various chains of contempt, big and small, and the popular ones with the widest audience are the most targeted ones.

At the same time, on the other hand, people who love popular culture and are not interested in many small circles will also belittle small circle culture.

The two sides dislike each other, it is almost an unsolvable problem, and they will tear each other apart.

However, the Internet has not yet developed at this stage, and many niche music circles have not yet formed a large scale.

However, due to its large audience and early development, the rock circle has already formed a certain scale. It cannot even be regarded as a niche culture, but the base cannot support pop music.

Rock music is not favored by the authorities. In terms of media resources and audience base, pop music has the overwhelming advantage.

Some rock fans' criticisms of "Blue Lotus" were either ignored or attacked and ridiculed. They were not only attacked from outside, but also torn apart within the rock circle.

In the face of mass pop culture, niche circles stick together to keep warm, but this does not mean that they are monolithic. On the contrary, internal conflicts are deeper.

Just talking about the rock circle, not talking about the differences between heavy metal, punk, slow rock and other styles, and not talking about the differences between Europe, America, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the mainland, just the comparison between the fans of the major bands is enough.

Moreover, the band is not necessarily united. All kinds of conflicts between the lead singer and the members are commonplace.

Therefore, there was no need for Cao Xuan fans to work hard. Not long after the group was founded, the rock circle itself started to fight like crazy, and even many veteran band members were pulled out of the group.

In fact, with Cao Xuan's current popularity, the song "Blue Lotus" released by him now has received far higher attention, discussion and exposure than when Xu Wei released it in the original time and space. .

It would even be an exaggeration to say that Cao Xuan’s wave has, to a certain extent, given the currently sluggish rock circle a shot in the arm.

Many rock singers who were in a period of hesitation and confusion felt greatly inspired when they saw a phenomenal rock song released in the music industry for a long time.

Rock 'n' roll isn't dead!

From this point of view, Cao Xuan has contributed to the rock circle, but others may not appreciate it, and Cao Xuan does not want to take credit.

He has rock feelings, but he is not very interested in the rock circle, and he is not willing to get involved in their affairs. Everyone lives in harmony and does not interfere.

If "The Wind Rises" is said to have broadened the horizons of musicians, "Blue Lotus" has inspired the sluggish rock circle.

So works such as "Ten Years", "Secret Fragrance" and "Absolute Infatuation" represent that Cao Xuan has a very high understanding and creative ability of the current popular trends in the music industry.

Music critics have both praised and criticized this point.

People who praise him think that Cao Xuan has reached a state of perfection in the creation of current pop music and can produce hits in batches. He is worthy of being the most outstanding creative singer in the Chinese music scene today.

Under the leadership of Cao Xuan, pop music continues to spread its influence among the public. From a grand strategic perspective, it has begun to counterattack Asia.

Those who criticize Cao Xuan still repeat the same old tune, thinking that Cao Xuan is a waste of talent. He should not start with the current popular culture, but open up new elements and bring new opportunities to the Chinese music scene.

Nowadays, Cao Xuan's attributes as a businessman are more important than those of a musician, putting the cart before the horse.

Cao Xuanli ignored the latter's remarks, not to mention whether he could write it or not. Even if he could "write" it, popular culture is in stages, and it would be easy to make mistakes if he takes too big a step.

He has hundreds of people under his command waiting for him to eat. If Cao Xuan only indulges in innovation and ends up not being recognized by the public, who will make up for his various losses?

Cao Xuan hopes that the Chinese music scene will be good, and he will try his best to "lead" it. He will not be vague when it comes to him, and don't try to trick him into being cannon fodder if he doesn't deserve it.

Besides, who says he hasn’t started a new trend?

Last year's "Not a Hero" laid a certain foundation for ancient/Chinese style, and this year's "Fireworks Easily Cold", Cao Xuan officially came up with the concept of Chinese style, which caused a certain range of sensation in the music world and was widely praised. .

This can almost be said to have created a new genre. Those people are so blind that they have to talk about his other songs.

But in fact, this also proves that the concept of Chinese style is not truly recognized by the industry and the audience.

Cao Xuan is thinking that the next step is to release a Chinese style/ancient style album. The album will be called "Chinese Style", which will completely put this genre out of the circle and establish his identity as the founder of Chinese style.

Chinese style is such a good word.

This is not just about creating a music genre, but to a certain extent it is about promoting Chinese culture and even establishing the existence of a cultural phenomenon or values.

Not only is it positive energy, it is simply positive energy!

Therefore, the title of Cao Xuan and "Bright Stars", in addition to crazy charts and hot sales, also has a profound impact on the Chinese music scene, which is also an important reason why countless people in the industry have blown it.

One person's sales are booming. Although it is great, it will not be popular among the entire music industry.

But if it not only has strong sales, but also brings positive influence and changes to the industry, it is even expected to drive the development of the entire industry.

Then his status and influence in the industry will be raised to more than one level.

Wang Fei and Zhang Yadong said that Cao Xuan is the boss of the Chinese music scene and may not be recognized by everyone.

But to say that Cao Xuan is currently a leader in the Chinese music scene, more than half of the people would agree.

If you add a "new generation" prefix or "one" suffix, there will be no objections...

Today’s 8,000 words, please give me a monthly pass