Producer of The Rap of China Unrepentant About Blatant Plagiarism of Korean Original Show Me the Money
The more I hear about the straight up plagiarism scandal of the last month around hit Chinese music show The Rap of China (Chinese title China Has Hip-Hop) basically being a copycat of hit Korean program Show Me the Money the more it pisses me off. And I didn’t even watch the original, lol, but some stuff is just so blatant and distasteful it needs to be shamed. Immediately after The Rap of China premiered on streaming network iQIYI at the end of June, viewers noted the across the board similarities to Show Me the Money in production format, details of a gold chain, rap lyric subtitle bubbles, and the color and font choices, and the overall set design. Even more startling is the producer on The Rap of China being asked about the plagiarism charges giving a response “Why not take something good?” Grah, I want to punch this attitude so bad! Thankfully Chinese netizens and viewers are all on the side of Show Me the Money and do not condone this behavior from their local production.
The judges for The Rap of China are all big name stars from Wu Yi Fan (formerly Kris of EXO), TW-singer Wilbur Pan, veteran actor-rocker Chang Chen Yue, and rapper MC Hotdog and their involvement makes this show have a wider audience but also broader criticism of their judging qualifications and decisions. The elimination of a US-born Chinese-American rapper Al Rocco because he rapped in English and this show was for China has been roundly and rightfully criticized, and Al Rocco released a diss track “ChinaXHip-Hop” that is hilariously and profanely on point. A second diss track by another cut contestent called “The Trap of China” adds to the general dysfunction around the show.
Wu YiFan is a judge in a rap competition…????? Erm…
Haha some people here were talking about the show itself, i like you pointing out about an ex exo rapper (?). I forgot how many lines he had when he was in exo. Then went back to China and well, he has his own rap songs.. Lols
Credited the main creator would be great. Like, it’s an idea. But someone mention China’s version got watched more than smtm lmao… Dont compare it since China has more people lmao. How silly. But i dont really surprise… What product China hasnt copied yet? I wonder.. Lols. But then i grew up with cdramas, cmovies, hkmovies and cmusic lmao… And one of my phone is China’s product lmao… So… Lols
China is trying to change their image but I guess, missed this one. They are trying to come across as “hey we are just like everyone else,” when we all know they aren’t. Just my opinion.
This biased journalism is hilarious.
Several points to tackle..
First of all, after the initial sympathy going towards Rocco when he was eliminated, people changed their minds when the actual episode came out and they saw his performance. He rapped entirely in English in a show that’s focused in one country that has Mandarin as its primary language. Not to mention his English lyrics are WACK. Look at his recent videos and you will see people dissing him.
Second of all, the claim that all the viewers are siding with SMTM is laughable considering this is the most popular variety show in China this summer. The contestants are beloved and the show is watched by millions.. the show already reached more than 1.2 billion views. The latest episode reached 200 million views in TWO hours. Even Taiwanese people love the show and don’t really care about the plagiarism accusations and we all know how they feel about the mainland. On Youtube the unofficial uploads of the show garner more views and interest than SMTM’s official uploads. Huge companies like McDonald’s and Xiaomi are sponsoring the show. The contestants’ followings all doubled and they’ve booked huge endorsements. Even MC Jin is in this show and rappers in China respect the hell out of him. So you can hate the alleged plagiarism all you want but at least report facts.
Oh and the diss tracks that came from bitter people who were eliminated are encouraged by the show lmao. Anything that contributes to hip hop going mainstream is supported by the show.
I guess it sucks for MNET that TROC is already more successful than SMTM but I’m not going to feel bad about a terrible company losing out on some money.
A rap show with these judges and contestants in it was always going to be a hit regardless of format.
I hope you will have something stolen from you and feel the pain before coming here with this arrogant attitude and justifying “we will always be bigger and better” and you wonder why people around the world hate the Chinese and just patronize for the sake of making a living. Continue to live a life like this thinking money can buy you everything… eat and drink more- get gout. Step on people with money – get lies and dishonesty.. try buying love and all you will get are cheats. End of it all money, power and everything deem important can’t buy you a pass free from disease or death. Most of all materialism can’t buy happiness.
Go ahead and keep copying. After all Korea is such a small country comparatively to China and yet have more talent in their little finger than China combined. Oh by the way you can forget about respect. Cos even that’s bought at the moment.
@Shoshanna…well said…I wouldn’t be proud of a country where everything even to a smallest needle is being copied…shame …thick skinned.
re: shoshanna
I wonder why people have this attitude? When is such blatant thief acceptable because a less powerful victim is involved. It’s so clearly thief, why does anyone think this is “ok” just because China is so much richer and stronger?
Aw look at you all personally hurt about a huge company like CJ E&M not getting some money.
Lmao @ Korea having more talent than a country with a billion people. That’s when you know that you’re just an ignorant Koreaboo. China has centuries of culture and art that has inspired countries around the world including Korea.
If Korea wants to be respected by the Chinese then maybe they shouldn’t be xenophobic considering Korea needs China and the world since they can’t survive independently. China meanwhile does not need Korea.
@Shoshanna ♡ for you for being right on. It just proves the mindset and arrogance of some Chinese. “We’re so big there’s nothing anyone can do”. Well, respect is something they probably will never understand.
@ComeDownKoala lmaooo Korea xenophopic? Well they have big fucking reason to be, didn’t you know? You seriously lack any knowledge of history but sure, keep being deluded. Also, China’s talent was killed by communism and Mao Zedong. Keep living in your delusions lol. Hong Kong =/= China so I won’t speak of excellent Hong Kong films. Did you get triggered when I said Hong Kong ain’t China? Taiwan ain’t either. Oh, and Tibet isn’t China either 🙂
And go worship your cheap copycat plagiarized products and ultra capitalistic system thinly veiled by communist one-party dictatorship 🙂
@Shoshanna, I agree with you so much. Don’t let these triggered nationalistic baboons make you think for a minute that you’re in the wrong. Plagiarism is really blatant in this case, and it’s unbelievable how anyone can defend this idiocy and then turn around and say how Great China is and how Lowly Korea and its entertainment is. People who excuse this bullshit should once in their lives get stolen of something, like their life work, and someone else should take the credit for that other person’s life work and lets see how they are gonna defend plagiarism then.
Well said shoshana
I agree that reports on China on this blog come off as very biased and are not well researched. I’d rather have the writer not report anything on China at all than stirring up negative public opinions on China. Or at least she should stay objective when writing something.
It’s very sad for me to see what this blog has become. I used to follow it for it’s covering of Chinese and Taiwanese entertainment, but now it’s all pro-Korea and anti-China.
Well I can’t blame you for your opinions about this blog but I think the writer of this blog have his or her own opinions as well. We all are bias. We should understand that everyone’s view will not be like ours. We should be smart enough that it is a blog and the conclusion we have after a blog is our own. We don’t need to blame other for being bias. If we can’t accept their view, instead of blaming them for their bias we should try to be open minded and see from their point of view. We don’t have to agree with their bias, but instead give them a chance to express their bias and also a chance for ourself to see something different from a different view other than our own. Oh, this is just my opinion. Anyway let’s not get too work up over a blog and read it with a clear open mind.
pro-Korea? Haven’t seen anything of that. Maybe you have too idealistic views on China and your bubble is just bursting really hard… 🙂
@prettyautumn
I don’t know since when you’ve been following this blog, but it’s true that it has shifted from covering mostly Chinese and Taiwanese entertainment to covering mostly only Korean entertainment, with some very few coverage of Chinese news in between which appear to be rather on the negative side.
Furthermore, I just gave my opinion on this blog and on the content of this article. I’ve nowhere stated any views on China, much less idealistic views, so I really don’t know which bubble should burst.
Bias ???
She spoke the truth , where is the bias ??(
The truth is the Chinese production of the show stealing the Korean show format and proudly admitted without shame !!
No shame
Oh she doesn’t have to bring this article to stir up the negative views about china because Chinese images are never good in foreign countries
People are afraid buying Chinese products , oh and even rich Chinese people afraid buying their own countries products
Speak much about that lolz
Oh wow
Well no wonder Chinese still doing counterfeit and copying origional ideas from other countries because there are still shameless people like this one who are so proud of the action
Speechless
please be objective. with a country so big, there’s gotta be some rotten apples… I don’t think anyone can totally ban “made in China” products in their household. Don’t use any paper if you are so proud of our origin. the Chinese invented PAPER FYI!! wipe your bum with your hands like who know who…. lolol….
@ candycane : Oh plEAZZZEEEE give me a freaking break , don’t bring the Chinese ancestor invented paper hear to defend for the shameless of greedy , shameless , counterfeited attitude of the people , from designer handbags to entertainment industry
The country is big and there are always rotten apples everywhere but being famous for making counterfeit , copycat products then asking everyone people will say china
I’m being subjective nah I’m talking about the truth , and if you can’t handle the truth then sorry
My toilet paper is 100% korean made. Love it. Organic at that and I don’t mind pay an extra 3 bucks to not use poisonous China butt wipe. Thank you
The truth is as much as one wants to ban Chinese products, we can’t… even in Europe, my friend tried but failed… this is the truth I have seen. Look through your kitchen, washroom, closet, check if u own any “made in China” products ?
@candycane :
Oh , are we talking about the same thing here ??
Your reasoning doesn’t justify the copycat counterfeited Chinese products
Why bringing the impossibility of banning households products in the topic ?? funny
I agree that this is biased, but this is not journalism. This is a blog, so she can write whatever she wants without having to follow a journalist’s code of ethics.
It’s sad this plagiarism is happening without proper credit to the creators. China has a billion people so they will always have more clicks/views. There aren’t enough Chinese who understand Korean language so even if they are the original brainchild the general Chinese public will always watch the Chinese version.
Korea will be fine. Content is exported out globally right now. Since Thaad, Koreans are beginning to diversify out their past reliance on China. Let’s hope hallyu successfully reaches India like the way it’s taken on South America by storm and soon everyone can just forget China and live a life where they are not grabbed by the b***s by anyone and truly be profitable and recognised and respected globally. BTS already setting the stage, more success should follow. China should just try using their brain cells and coming up with something creative for once. Show the world there’s talent in 1.4 billion people that doesn’t rely on the brainchild from a country they despise.
This sounds like a comment coming from a person who joined the kdrama/kpop scene 2 weeks ago. It’s so full of innacuracies…
Heck I’m living in South America and Hallyu hasn’t taken anything by storm. It’s still the same niche that loved snsd, suju, shinee, exo, bts… It just migrates between fandoms according to the current trend lmao
I happen to know the BTS concert numbers in South America. If 20K people attending per city is not great… I dunno what is. Also hasn’t kdrama been big in Brazil since mid 2000s. Anyway doesn’t matter what you say… its a growing trend and more fans will grow with it. I suggest you migrate to Chinese entertainment there. A lot of talent there for you.
Are you kidding me? I literally live in South America, and have access to all main fanbases related to K-Entertainment. I said nothing about China, what are you on? LMAO. Those numbers are nothing compared to the real trends here like reggaeton, and other Hallyu stars have toured to similar numbers before. BTS is for sure the main trend right now, however it’s NOT anything massive outside of the KPOP realm. IDK if you’re a KPOP fan and maybe you felt personally affected by my comment because of that but this is the truth. KPOP is still a teenager niche, whether KPOP fans want to admit it or not. It’s marginally more popular because of the growth of social media (thus making fans more vocal and loud and organized) but it hasn’t made any significant leaps into the mainstream beyond random blips in the radar. Fans grow with it, and then grow out of it around their early to mid-20s, when the fandoms renew, a new trend rises, and the cycle repeats. The boyband audience stays more or less the same.
As for Hallyu itself, KDRAMA has enjoyed some marginal success in some markets like Peru for example, but local telenovelas are still way more popular. Heck, there was a significant Turkish telenovela trend too. Korea mostly depended on Japan for Hallyu but when that market closed its doors and Hallyu started dying, it tried expanding into China but THAAD stopped that expansion. Do you have anything against China for you to make such callous commentary?
Your assumption that I like or care about China entertainment is wrong and based on an emotional reaction from you. I only care about Korean entertainment (and a bit about Japan’s) and I’ve seen all these waves grow and die through the years. Maybe you should try seeing it from less subjective KPOP fanbases and more from factual realities.
Have fun.
No Hallayu will never enjoy mainstream popularity in India. Though India is nearly as big market as China and doesn’t has any historic conflict with Korea like Japan or China but still country is ridiculously diverse. Even Bollywood the biggest entertainment industry in India only has reach of half of India.
Hahahahahaha
Oh you poor summer child.
Even your handle is a joke. Come down koala and what? Prostrate to more Chinese greatness?
Wilber*
What’s so wrong with eliminating a candidate who rapped in English in a show designed for the Chinese audience? Rap is all about the lyrics. Would you go and rap in Chinese in an English speaking country where almost nobody understands you? And yes, even though the younger city generation might speak English, the huge majority of China’s population still doesn’t speak English or definitely not good enough to follow a rap.
I agree that original ideas should be credited, though. However, I disagree with some commenters here who believe the widely spread cliché that China copies really everything. This is simply not true and it’s equally disrespectful to spread false clichés as putting out work without crediting its original source in my opinion. If you don’t have a real understanding of China, that’s fine, but don’t spread lies.
^I was just thinking the same thing. Situations like this really brings out the biased opinions of both parties. I am not condoning what producers in that show are doing when they should be giving credit and giving copyright fees when dues are due but biased opinions like a generalization that China copies everything really discredit any valid arguments you try to bring up. Let’s try to stay civil.
Thank you. It’s really sad to see how so many people tend to adopt extreme views (be it either pro or contra) and bash the other side without bringing forward any real arguments. Why can’t people just discuss in a civil way?
Live in your bubbles
China copies everything
Made fake rice , fake eggs , copy cat
Live in your delusion , shameless people on earth
Except for Wu Yifan (himself trained in Korea), all the other three judges are singers from Taiwan, where hiphop took (some) roots years ago. Come to think of it, China hasn’t had a strong foothold in the pop music industry despite its huge population. Thirty years ago the most popular singers in the mainland were from Hong Kong; twenty years ago it was Taiwanese singers; and until recently Korean boys bands reigned the scene.
Yep… so much for talent. *rolleyes*
This should be copyright infringement and to be so blatant about it IS terrible. I hope they just pay their dues.
I am not from China, but the country has a long history of counterfeit and like activities. I even saw a report of wealthy Chinese buying their higher-end (organic) produce and food products from other countries because they do not trust the existing system.
I actually do not think China lacks in skills or talents. I believe it is the greed of those in power that is the problem. Original ideas are riskier than existing, proven contents. Please do not get defensive if someone is critical about China if they are correct. Criticism is good when they are constructive. It can lead to change.
Every country can be improved and it’s not necessary to get angry when others point it out. If China audiences are critical of such amoral activities, those in power will be less inclined to act so blatantly and maybe give local talents a chance.
Agree. Well said
The Chinese will have talented people just like any other country. But the problem is that talent isn’t enough to succeed. You need to nurture and grow that talent. As others have mentioned, China only knows how to counterfeit and steal others’ ideas. They haven’t been taught to think outside the box and nurture creativity. That’s why even though they have a lot of money to make fancy productions, their shows are still stale and uninteresting to other parts of the world. This isn’t to say that nothing good comes out of China. But the blatantly copied dramas and TV shows, and even technology like smartphones leave a stale impression. A lot of amazing and rich culture from China was destroyed in the cultural revolution :/
I forgot to add that as long as the communist party continues to restrict the creative thought process through censorship and education camps, China will never be able to break that threshold. Just my humble opinion. I’m sure many will disagree.
I agree with you. China is still restricting freedom of speech and thoughts but they have their reasons. It is a vast and populous country. They don’t want any of their people to have freedom to express their own ideas/thoughts and we have seen what democracy has done to the west. Just let China be. Also, they have had a one child policy for too long, they don’t seem to understand the love between brother and sister (I am not talking about incest) so their dramas or films are missing this kind of family love. It’s quite sad.
China, creativity?! They have tons. Their entertainment industry is booming. Their novels to dramas are gaining grounds. One thing I absolutely love about Chinese dramas compared to Korean dramas is, they’re so high budget and invested. Well, not all, but you get what I mean. I mean, just look at their props, filming sets, and costumes that are created for just one production. China honestly doesn’t lack creativity at all. I’m literally amazed at every drama I pick up, but like any industry, they’re not perfect. I’m so in love with Chinese novels right now and there are just so many good ones.
So it is a shame to see them copy a Korean show when they’ve been cleansing their country of anything Korean and especially when they have so much talent and creativity, too. It’s even more of a pity that some people don’t find this wrong?!
In regards to this issue, it has to be objective instead of “Hey, I’m Chinese, so I’m going to justify China and who cares about South Korea, like what are they going to do about it? I mean, it’s more famous than the original, right?” Stealing is still stealing in the end. It doesn’t matter how big China is or will get. Thinking like that is bullying Korea just because China can and is stronger. If their people, I’m generalizing for the purpose of this issue, continues to copy and take from others without any respect and consequences, what are they mainstreaming teaching their future generations? Where are the morals and pillars the Chinese so dearly teach about honor and pride? Anyway, I don’t mean to offend anyone or either race. It’s really not a race issue. It’s more of a did China copy or not and if they did, did they do it legally or illegally? All of that debate about the contestants, judges, and views are just fluff on the side that can’t justify why China is not wrong. Just because there are more views than the original, which is a dead give away since China is way bigger than Korea, doesn’t mean they made it better so Korea should just forget about it. Haha, that’s ridiculous.
LOL….I just watched several C dramas and then K dramas. I have to be honest even I love reading C novels in Chinese language. Chinese language, specifically when tinkered up with classical writing is so beautiful and entrancing. But most of C drama screenplays are not up to par with their Korean counterpart. C ent is a proof of wasting tons of money on crappy leading casts. And it almost always ended up great disappointment when an interesting novel is scripted and ruined by a drama or movie adaptation. Creativity???? LMAO…..I think C ent still has a quantum leap to overcome in order to be as creative as K drama script writing in general.
Yep. Add garish makeup and scripts that go no where for 38 episodes.(cough*40epdramas*cough*). High pitched actresses and ridiculous headdresses.
Haha, that’s why I said they’re not perfect. I agree. The scripts are nowhere great especially the novel adaptations and yes, too many episodes that can be condensed, but they are pretty creative in their own ways.
I haven’t been interested in Korean dramas at all this year. I’m so just so busy keeping up with Chinese dramas. It’s such a great way to brush up on my Chinese.
Honestly, Love Me If You Dare (minus its dragginess), Snail, Ode To Joy, Nirvana on Fire, Hua Qian Gu and Bu Bu Jing Xin were really good dramas. Hong Kong produces extraordinary films, actors and directors. My love for Andy Lau (merely his acting) will never cease. China is the country of origin to many great inventions and scientists. Chinas culture is very rich and influential since antiquity.
But lets face it, China has deep issues with creativity and plagiarizing. I don’t blame all the people there. I blame the cultural degradation which is the result of Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution, cultural marxism and communist one-party dictatorship. You can’t expect any creativity in a country that jails its people for expressing themselves in a way that doesn’t please the government. As soon as you admit this and stop being so defensive over a simple blog post (where the blogger has every right to express their own opinion), even you’ll see the truth.
Not sure about the rest but BBJX had HK involvement in it. Even the most recent 3 lives 3 worlds had a HK PD. I think people should do a bit of research before dissing China dramas. There are probably Taiwanese and HK involvement in their hit dramas so creativity is coming from them.
Dissing young people’ isn’t ok. Blatant plagiarism isn’t OK either. What! China doesn’t have to follow the rules? So much for them trying to change their negative bully image to one of a more kinder and fun loving nation. Like I said before, actions speak louder than words….they have just proven my point.
Structure, order, rules and ethics are needed for us to survive. Many young people probably weren’teven aware of the plagiarism and the harm in doing it. And yes, there are some decent Chinese actors who are hard working…this isn’t good for their image …and they didn’t have anything to do with it. just my opinion.
The definition of plagiarism is “taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing it off as their one’s own.”
So there is no plagiarism here since they didn’t pass it off as their own idea. They explicitly say that they took the idea and made a similar show because it was a good idea.
It is more like emulation which is defined as “effort to match or surpass a person or entities achievement, typically by imitation.
There is no wrongdoing here. If emulation is a crime (which it is not!) then all music contest shows would be criminal as they all follow the format of Popstars, the orginal compition show from 1999.
sorry for spelling errors…
Typical Chinese people…blatantly ripoff others, profit, and have no remorse. They have no creativity or uniqueness.
This show and Idol Producer are blatant plagiarisms of SMTM and Produce 101..its so disgustingly pathetic.
The only reason the shows are popular is because they are riding off the love for kpop and korean reality shows. and also using chinese ppl in kpop groups. when is china ever gonna do something on their own accord that ppl love?