From WeChat to Weibo and Douyin, Jay Chou is all over China’s trending topic lists this week after his song “The Greatest Work of Art” (最伟大的作品) became an absolute viral hit.
The song, which came out on July 6, is part of an upcoming album – the first album the singer is releasing since 2016.
Jay Chou is dominating the the top trending lists this week.
Besides the music and the video, it is the song’s title that is attracting attention online. Although the English title is specified as “The Greatest Works of Art,” the original Chinese title could also mean “The Greatest Work of Art” (singular), making it sound like the title is referring to the song itself. One Wechat blogging account wrote: “How could anyone claim that their song is ‘the ‘the greatest work’? Wonder who has the audacity! Oh. It’s Jay Chou. It’s fine then.”
Jay Chou (周杰伦 Zhōu Jiélún) is a 43-year-old Taiwanese singer, actor, producer, and overall superstar – he is also known as the ‘King of Mandopop.’
Wechat account Xinwenge also posted about Jay Chou’s latest hit, describing how everyone at the office was standing around the computer watching the music video together.
In the music video, Jay Chou takes us to Paris, where he plays the piano at the famous Samaritaine department store and starts a time-traveling journey as an art-loving magician and musician from the 1920s. Throughout the video, many famous works and artists are referenced and sung about, including Matisse, Monet, Van Gogh, and Munch. The video and song feature the renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang (郎朗).
“Other artists just make a music video, he turns it into a movie,” some commenters wrote (Jay Chou also directed the video), with other Weibo users saying they have been ‘moved to tears’ by how famous art works are skillfully woven into the narrative of the music video and song.
Within barely two days time, the hashtag “Greatest Work of Art” (#最伟大的作品#) garnered over 480 million views on Weibo. One post including the video on the official Weibo account of Jay Chou’s music received a staggering 1,6 million likes just a day after it was posted.
This is not the first for Jay Chou to take over the Chinese internet. In the summer of 2020, the release of the song Mojito, for which the video was filmed in Havana, also took China by storm. An earlier single from 2019 temporarily made the servers of QQ music crash when it was released.
Earlier this year, his song Herbalist’s Manual (本草纲目) also became a hit again after ‘livestream workout king’ Liu Genghong used it in one of his popular dance routines.
“After so many years, Jay Chou’s music still hasn’t improved – it’s still number one,” one Weibo user jokingly said, with others writing: “Jay Chou!! You’re my God!”
Jay Chou will release his long-awaited album on July 15. Watch the single The Great Works of Art here:
By Manya Koetse
With contributions by Miranda Barnes
Get the story behind the hashtag. Subscribe to What’s on Weibo here to receive our weekly newsletter and get access to our latest articles:
Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.
©2022 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
The post Jay Chou’s New Song is the Greatest Work of Art appeared first on What's on Weibo.