Wang Yibo’s New Song Sets Off Hashtag War

When pop idol Wang Yibo released his new song Xi Wei, he probably didn’t expect to set off an online firefight.

When the song went live on December 8, the hashtag nan ting — “sounds bad” — began to trend, believed to have been pumped by anti-fans. It’s not the first time that anti-fans of Wang Yibo have disrupted online spaces — last month, Wang Yibo fans were left holding the stick after anti-fans trashed the idol’s work on Douban.

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The new song was part of the soundtrack for upcoming TV drama Legend of Fei, and when the cast saw the negative hashtag trending, they responded by getting hao ting — “sounds good” — to trend, instead.

2020 has been a blockbuster year for Wang Yibo. Outside of TV and film, The Untamed star also recorded songs for Covid-19 frontline workers, worked to promote the Beijing Olympics, and took on an ambassadorial role to raise awareness around orphan welfare.

In their last flare-up against Wang Yibo haters, it was the idol’s fans who ended up being chastised. This time though, it seems they’ve come out on top, with much of the general public discovering that they actually liked the song.

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“I don’t think you can say the song is particularly stunning, but it’s not awful either,” reads one comment. “How did this start trending?”

“It’s not bad to the point of trending on the hot search list…” agrees another.

One commenter asks plainly, “If you haven’t heard the song, how can you judge other people?”