Chapter 102: The Fourth Art

The moment Zhou Ran released Proud Boy, it struck a deep chord with a great many listeners.

They, too, had been mocked and unsupport by others just as Zhou Ran was in the music video. Watching it felt like seeing their own lives laid bare in a documentary, allowing them to fully grasp the feeling he was trying to convey.

Some of them chose to keep going when hardship came and held on; others, when faced with difficulty, chose not to persevere and simply gave up. It all came down to each person’s own choice.

And Zhou Ran’s song truly moved the hearts of many who were wavering between continuing and quitting, giving them the confidence that they could make it through. Perhaps it was those words of encouragement that helped them endure a little longer, find a better future, and be willing to try once more instead of giving up so easily.

Music is called the fourth art because it can touch the listener’s heart so directly. As long as a singer has enough skill, the moment the audience hears the song, they can immediately feel the emotions the singer wants to deliver through it.

When Zhou Ran sang this song, he felt it was the one in which he had invested the deepest emotion, because many of the things it spoke about were things he had personally experienced himself. They were events he had lived through, so when he poured his feelings into the recording, it became much easier.

On top of that, his sense for performance from the Falcon Crew had not faded, and when the two were combined, the feeling came through with striking realism.

Not long after Zhou Ran and Chen Wenhua released their new songs, they shot straight to second and third place on the new songs chart.

At the moment, the number of plays for Zhou Ran and Chen Wenhua was extremely close, and the question of who would take first place was likely to be settled within the day. The only uncertainty now was which of them would be the first to claim the top spot on the new songs chart.

By this point, both Zhou Ran and Chen Wenhua had already exhausted their promotional methods. From here on, it would all come down to the songs themselves and the listeners’ plays. In other words, they could do nothing now but sit back and wait, leaving the final decision entirely to the audience.

And at this critical moment, when everything depended purely on the fans, the Ear Emperor stepped forward and made his presence felt. After the last time he dressed as a woman to record a congratulatory video for Zhou Ran, his follower count had exploded, making him the most-followed music blogger on the entire internet. Whether one called it misfortune turned to blessing or something else, the fact was that the wave of cross-dressing had brought him a sudden surge of attention and even a modest breakout in popularity.

It directly merged his own fanbase with Zhou Ran’s, and after that, the Ear Emperor even gained a group of so-called ship fans and face-value fans, something he had never dared imagine before.

But no matter what, the fact remained that he was Zhou Ran’s fan, so the moment Zhou Ran released his new song, the Ear Emperor went to listen right away. At a time like this, as a die-hard fan, he absolutely could not be absent.

So from the instant the song came out, he began listening, waiting for the right moment to post the review he had prepared. At this stage, the Ear Emperor’s credibility was at its highest.

He had the largest follower count, too, so even if other reviewers posted comments on Chen Wenhua’s new song Return, their exposure in the short term would still not compare to the Ear Emperor’s.

On top of that, the Ear Emperor’s public image across the internet was that he told the truth as it was, which gave his reviews considerable reach. He had always pursued a fact-based, no-nonsense attitude, and even if the song was Zhou Ran’s, if it were not good, he would still write out all of its flaws. He would never deliberately hide shortcomings just because of who the other person was.

Before long, the Ear Emperor quietly posted a review of Proud Boy on Weibo.

The first time I heard Zhou Ran’s Proud Boy, I was quite surprised.

Because at a time like this, when the charts were being contested so fiercely, Zhou Ran did not choose to sing a song in the traditional Chinese style. That would have been the obvious advantage, after all, given his reputation as the founder of that style, and his previous traditional-style songs had all been of extremely high quality.

Yet Zhou Ran did not choose a traditional Chinese song. Instead, he chose to sing this pop track, Proud Boy.

The quality of Zhou Ran’s song remains as consistently strong as ever, and what is even more astonishing is that he still insists on doing everything himself, from lyrics to composition. That is truly frightening.

What surprised me most, however, was his performance in the music video.

Although many singers now release the video together with their new songs, in my eyes most of those videos are merely perfunctory promotional tools. Zhou Ran, however, managed to make full use of what a music video can do.

He successfully fused the video and the song into one seamless whole, maximizing the effect of both. In that respect, this song surpasses Chen Wenhua’s by a clear margin.

From other angles, though, the difference in quality between Zhou Ran’s song and Chen Wenhua’s is not particularly large. Even where Zhou Ran has the edge, it is not by much.

What I have just said is my view as a reviewer. What I am about to say now is simply what I want to say as a listener.

When I listened to Zhou Ran’s song, I actually found myself deeply resonating with it, because before entering any profession, one must inevitably face difficulties and setbacks. Failure is unavoidable; not everyone can have smooth sailing, and that is something only a fortunate few ever enjoy.

What we should do is exactly what Zhou Ran wrote in the song: persist and never give up. If I had chosen to abandon the path of a music critic back then, I would probably now be just another ordinary office worker in some city. I could never have imagined at the time that I would achieve what I have today, or be recognized by so many people.

Here I want to leave everyone with one sentence: a boy is called a boy because a boy never fears failure.

May every young person who strives with all their heart sing a song of victory. In youth, be a proud boy, and may your road be smooth and blessed.

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Chapter 102: The Fourth Art. Free to read.