Papi Jiang

Jiang Yilei (Chinese: 姜逸磊; pinyin: Jiāng Yìlěi; born February 17, 1987), known as the online moniker Papi Jiang (Chinese: Papi酱; pinyin: Papi Jiàng) is a Chinese comedian known for her short comedic videos, where she pokes fun at everyday topics including entertainment news, dating and family relationships.

Papi Jiang
Papi酱
Born
Jiang Yilei (姜逸磊)

(1987-02-17)February 17, 1987
Shanghai, China
NationalityChinese
Other namesPapi Jiang
Alma materCentral Academy of Drama
Occupation(s)Actress, Comedian, CEO/Founder of Vlog Production company
Spouse
Xu Bin
​
(m. 2014)​
Children1 son
Chinese name
ChinesePapi酱
Literal meaningPapi-chan
Real name
Chinese姜逸磊
In this Chinese name, the family name is Jiāng.

Early life

Jiang attended China's Central Academy of Drama, where she received her bachelor's and master's degree. Before getting her masters, she worked in entertainment for several years as a stage actor and assistant director.[1][2]

Jiang was first inspired to try "self-media" (Chinese: 自媒体; pinyin: Zìméitǐ), or content creation, in 2015 by her friend and former classmate, Yang Ming. She began posting with another friend, Huo Nifang, under the name TCGirls Love Complaining (TCgirls爱吐槽). After posting a few videos, Huo went abroad, so she began to post videos solo under the nickname "Papi-jiang" (a Chinese transliteration of the Japanese honorific -chan). She found her first success with a video in November 2015.[2]

Career

In November 2015, Jiang created her first viral video, a video making fun of Shanghai people who mix Shanghai dialect and English words. This video launched her into Internet celebrity. Her videos received more than 290 million hits on major media platforms in just four months, and accumulated over 44 million followers in a year.

On April, 1st, 2016, Papi Jiang landed RMB 12 million (USD 1.8 million) from four investors including Zhen Fund (Chinese: 真格基金; pinyin: Zhēn gé jījīn) and online video show Logic Talk Show (Chinese: 罗辑思维; pinyin: Luōjí sīwéi). Four investors bought a 12% stake for RMB 12 million, valuing Papi Jiang at RMB 100 million, according to Tencent Tech. The anchor of Logic Talk Show, another Chinese cyber celebrity, Luo Zhenyu, was surprised by her quick rise to popularity. He said “Papi Jiang appealed to 8 million followers only within a few months, but I obtained 6 million using the past three years through creating stories with rich information”.[3] In 2016, she founded the group PapiTube, which she uses to support young content creators in China.[1]

She continues to work with her friend Yang Ming as a business partner, with Jiang on the creative side and Yang on the business and entrepreneurial side.[2] On June 21, 2018, she became the Chief Content Officer of Baidu App.[4]

Comedy videos

Papi frequently discusses topics in her videos relatable to urban white-collar workers, which made her more appealing to a young, online generation compared to older stand-up comedians. Common topics of her videos include dating (cheating boyfriends, PDA), regional dialects, and double standards for women.[1][5] In July 2016 her first live broadcast, a 90-minute video, attracted 74 million views in one day. She was featured in an article in the New York Times in August 2016.[1]

Influence

Media commented on her recent funding as a sign that China's domestic investors are willing to pay for original content.[1][5]

Posting these satirical videos became her full-time job. She posts on Chinese social media such as Sina Weibo and Douban, as well as via global media such as YouTube.

Controversy

In April 2016, China's broadcast regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television, ordered her to clean up the foul language in her videos, which occurs once in a while. They made her take down most of the videos at least temporarily, which was seen as the government's message that it desires to assert its control over this kind of online content.[1]

Jiang retracted her apology.

References
  1. Qin, Amy. “China’s Viral Idol: Papi Jiang, a Girl Next Door With Attitude”. New York Times. 24 August 2016
  2. Su, Zhan (April 18, 2016). "专访papi酱合伙人：现在的收割是一次性买卖，在等下一波". The Paper (in Chinese). Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  3. "China's top cyber celebrity? 'Papi Jiang' from Shanghai has VC firms lining up as brand valuation hits record US$1.84 million". South China Morning Post. 24 March 2016.
  4. "百度宣布papi酱担任百度App首席内容官 - 百度,百度App,papi酱 - IT之家". 2018-06-21. Archived from the original on 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2023-02-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. Zheping Huang. "China's satirical internet queen just got $2 million in funding". Quartz.
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