On Christmas day last year, 88rising released a music video directed by Adrian Actually for the song Refresh by MaSiWei, a members of the Chengdu rap group Higher Brothers.
We see an old TV, someone’s flicking through the channel — It’s MaSiWei. Slumped over his chair in his dimly-lit apartment, he looks bored and dejected. An advert comes on, it’s him in a yellow and green jumpsuit grabbing a can of Sprite from a fridge. The looping melody in the background uses phrygian scale. It sounds mysterious and creates an atmosphere of uncertainty; we’re not sure what’s about to happen. He takes a sip and leaves the can on the fridge. Typical product placement, I think to myself — and they didn’t even bother to make it subtle!
The song starts and the lyrics go:
她很善良 身材辣 但做的菜没我妈妈好
She’s kind, body’s hot, but my mom’s cooking is still better
工资高 工资低 做喜欢的事情才更重要
Salary high or low, the important thing is that I love what I do
和朋友合租的房 他们都对我很友好
I’m living with my flatmates, they’re all friendly to me
年终奖不多刚刚好 够我给爸爸买一支新手表
My year-end bonus is fine, just enough to buy my dad a new watch
The dystopian mise-en-scene doesn’t quite match what he’s rapping about until at some point he’s walking in an alleyway with Chinese New Year (CNY) lanterns hanging above, and then you realize the rap is a response to the questions from your relatives during CNY:
Ayy 大家好 三姑六婆大家好
How’s everyone doing?
我在外面很开心过的和你儿子一样好
I’m very happy outside, just like your son
打我喜欢的游戏 收集喜欢的玩具
I play the games I enjoy, collect the toys I like
放我喜欢的CD 想放多大声都可以
I play my CDs however loudly I want
每天都穿新球鞋 过完年后去纽约
Got new kicks every day, leaving for new york after the new year
The music video ends with him going “我enjoy我的电影 新年快乐everybody”. He’s enjoying his own show, happy new year everyone!
Cut back to the TV screen, it’s an image of someone peering through the peep hole of the main door to see MaSiWei in plain clothes looking wholesome. He’s beaming, there are a pair of 春联 (Lunar New Year couplets). It is CNY indeed, and the happy and excited MaSiWei you see on TV is a stark contrast against the one that is trapped, miserable, and alone in his apartment.
Today, a month before the Chinese lunar new year, 88rising releases a new video playfully titled “MASIWEI in the best TV commercial in CHINA”:
What’s this? A Sprite commercial featuring MaSiWei, and you guessed it — the peephole footage from the earlier MV turns out to be the start of a real commercial break that is aired in China. MaSiWei visits his relatives for CNY. It is likely that he’s the only child because of decade’s of one-child policy, and as the son, the family has high expectations of him. It cuts to him sitting down on the couch, his relatives swarming around him. There is no regard for his personal space on screen and it does feel that way in a real-life CNY family gathering. The dreaded exchange ensues:
Aunt: You have a girlfriend yet?
Uncle: How much is your year end bonus??
MaSiWei takes a sip of Sprite, and belts a familiar line:
她很善良 身材辣 但做的菜没我妈妈好
She’s kind, body’s hot, but my mom’s cooking is still better
工资高 工资低 做喜欢的事情才更重要
Salary high or low, the important thing is that I love what I do
和朋友合租的房 他们都对我很友好
I’m living with my flatmates, they’re all friendly to me
年终奖不多刚刚好 够我给爸爸买一支新手表
My year-end bonus is fine, just enough to buy my dad a new watch
Mind. F***ing. Blown.
I am completely floored — this guy just turned fantasy into reality with some catchy beats and slick editing. But of course, the cynicism kicks in: Remember, this is only a commercial. Under the present conditions of contemporary society, it attempts to fill up the void we have by offering an easy way out of our problems — consumption. We desire, and we consume. In this case, We’ve happily consumed the fantasy of being able to push all the right buttons, look good during a large family gathering, and repel the onslaught of questions.
And in that moment, we all simultaneously become MaSiWei in his earlier video. Alone, slumped over a chair, staring at a screen, grasping at a fantasy. The truth is that most of us aren’t as smooth as the MaSiWei in the Sprite commercial, and imbibing a sugary soda won’t change our lives. Two of the most impactful lines from MaSiWei’s Refresh did not make it to the commercial perhaps because it is far too confrontational and bittersweet:
我过我的生活也爱我的生活 努力创造童年想象中的生活
I live my life, I love my life, I work hard to achieve my childhood dreams
我拒绝和你们过一样的生活 有才华有样这些都是我的bankroll
I refuse to live a life like yours, my talents are my bankroll
As a musician, these two lines really hit home. It is almost a sadistic thing to say because we are all too familiar to how difficult this life is. Some of us work hard to achieve our childhood dreams while the rest of us refuse to live a life like the average man-on-the-street. But unlike MaSiWei, however, our talents are not always our bankroll. Until then, Sprite will probably get a little spike in sales numbers from the Chinese millennial market.
