Recently, a new Chinese mainland singer-songwriter known as “Asia’s Extraordinary Talent” (real name Zhao Ziyu) created a song called “Jiaozuo,” depicting the survival pressure and hardships faced by migrant workers in Jiaozuo, Henan. The song resonated with internet users, gaining popularity. However, authorities recently demanded the singer to modify the lyrics, changing the song title from “Jiaozuo” to “Drifting.”
According to mainland media reports, Zhao Ziyu is an 18-year-old from Changchun, Jilin. Raised by his grandmother due to his parents’ divorce, he dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen or sixteen. Before becoming a singer, he worked odd jobs such as hairdressing, dishwashing, and laboring from Changchun to Langfang and then to Chengdu.
In June this year, Zhao Ziyu’s rap song titled “Mo Chou Xiang” quickly gained popularity in mainland China, with millions of plays on various platforms and reaching the top of music charts.
Zhao Ziyu’s songs often revolve around nostalgia, combining the life experiences of grassroots youth such as dropping out of school to work, concerns for family, conveying the helplessness of drifters and deep longing for loved ones (his grandmother). The lyrics resonate with the public and touch hearts. He admitted that he was forced to drop out of high school and wrote “Mo Chou Xiang” during breaks from his odd jobs.
According to a report by “China Digital Times” on July 23, after the success of “Mo Chou Xiang,” Zhao Ziyu released another song titled “Jiaozuo.” This song is filled with compassion for the lower-class people, telling the story of a middle-aged migrant worker from Jiaozuo, Henan, facing the pressures of existence and family hardships. Once again, some internet users praised the song as a masterpiece.
The lyrics of the song, such as “I can’t defeat the dwarf who steps on my ideal giant,” “The hardships didn’t make me successful, I’m exhausted,” and “Even if I’ve built half a lifetime of buildings, none belongs to me,” sparked strong resonance among internet users.
On July 20, there were reports online that authorities in Jiaozuo, Henan, asked Zhao Ziyu to modify the lyrics and song title. Subsequently, he posted a handwritten apology letter on Bilibili titled “Sorry, Everyone, Sorry Jiaozuo.” On Netease, he wrote, “I’m sorry, really sorry, there were mistakes in the previous lyrics, but now they are revised and improved…”
The content of the apology letter roughly stated, “In April this year, I released the song ‘Jiaozuo.’ The characters and plot mentioned in the lyrics are fictional and not based on real stories from Jiaozuo City, inappropriate, causing negative impact and harm to the city’s image and residents’ sentiments. I deeply apologize for this! I request to modify and take down the inappropriate parts of the song and willing to cooperate with Jiaozuo to eliminate the negative impact.”
It was reported that the song “Jiaozuo” has been renamed to “Drifting” on two major platforms, Bilibili and Netease Cloud Music, and eight lines of lyrics have been modified.
For example, the original lyrics “Outsiders criticize them as frauds” changed to “Don’t know what to hold on to,” “His boss is from Jinhua” changed to “His boss looks down from high grounds,” “Owed three years of wages, headed to Xinjiang” changed to “Owed three years of wages, glaringly obvious,” and “A small city in Henan named Jiaozuo” changed to “A corner of a river at the foot of a mountain.”
Many internet users expressed strong dissatisfaction with the authorities in Jiaozuo, Henan, pressuring the creator to change the lyrics and song title, believing it severely interfered with creative freedom and harmed the local image.
Some users commented, “Capital, you won. You forced ‘Asia’ to change the original lyrics, drowning out the voices of the masses, but one original disappears, and countless replacements emerge! Replacements are endless because the cache always exists!”
“The change from ‘Jiaozuo’ to ‘Drifting’ precisely proves ‘the ideal giant cannot defeat the dwarf stepping on money.'”
“‘Jiaozuo’ tragically had its lyrics altered, still ‘touching the sore spot’. Not ‘touching the sore spot,’ but exposing the scar.”
“They are trembling because they know what they’ve done to the farmers.”
“Jiaozuo ‘died,’ can only drift.”