iQIYI Broadcasts "The Rap of China 2019", Prompting the Return of the Chinese Rap Culture Trend This Summer

BEIJING, June 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ: IQ) ("iQIYI" or the "Company"), an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, recently announced that the original Chinese youth rap music reality show The Rap of China 2019 (the "Show") started airing on June 14, 2019, with a new episode out weekly. The Rap of China will return to the heart of rap music in 2019 by continuing to discover and realize rap's characteristics of trendiness, enthusiasm, and coolness, as well as innovating new changes, such as in competition structure and dance elements, to elevate the show.

The show is excitedly returning to its eagerly-awaiting audience for the audition segment, but implements new changes such as the upgrade of the 60-second individual rounds as well as bringing back all-star contestants and rap veterans from past seasons to compete on the same stage together. iQIYI's The Rap of China 2019 advocates the purity of rap music by upgrading the structure of the program. What's more, it takes the contestants' personality into account to show the richness of their music. As of before the first broadcast of this season, the hashtag #TheRapOfChina reached 8.7 billion tags on Weibo across more than 44.23 million users discussing the show, which also topped Weibo's Entertainment Program's To Be Broadcasted list.

Since 2017, iQIYI has persisted on using popular online entertainment as a carrier to explore the market potential of Chinese rap more deeply, promote the sing-along music to lead the new youth culture trend and realize the innovation of the development of the rap industry. From the optimization and development of the professional rap ecosystem to the industries that surround this ecosystem, such as the commoditization of digital music, artist management, live houses, music festivals, branded apparel and more, the rap industry has already formed a mature development structure. With the guidance of the rap series, rap's social influence has rooted deep into the public's spiritual and cultural life; rap-centric live house, concerts, and trendy activities have become the most popular offline entertainment activities among the youth. This year, the Show's return is bound to deepen the innovation and development of youth culture, leading the trends of lifestyle and entertainment consumption in young people.

In the first episode of the season, the four teams of celebrity judges -- Kris Wu, Zhang Zhenyue & MC Hotdog, Will Pan (Pan Weibo), and G.E.M. Deng Ziqi -- presented an electric collaborative performance to kick off the show. The top rappers selected from the global auditions are then be unveiled to the audience. Contestants from this season including Huang Xu, KeyNG, KUNGFU-PEN, Double Zhuo, Chen Lingtao, Damnshine and Sio, will then give rap performances to showcase their individual personalities and attitudes. The live battle is fierce and the added element of the star producers fighting to make a choice only makes the program even more exciting.

On top of Mainland China and Taiwan, the Show is widely distributed to other territories. It's simultaneously broadcasted over Hong Kong's largest paid subscription TV network, Now TV NowJelli Channel, and Malaysian Astro Quan Jia HD. Following that, the show will be also broadcasted over Rakuten Viki, the most popular video platform for Asian content among young viewers in North America, and Singapore's StarHub, bringing Chinese rap culture to a wider global audience.

About iQIYI, Inc.

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ: IQ) ("iQIYI" or the "Company") is an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China. Its corporate DNA combines creative talent with technology, fostering an environment for continuous innovation and the production of blockbuster content. iQIYI's platform features highly popular original content, as well as a comprehensive library of other professionally-produced content, partner-generated content and user-generated content. The Company distinguishes itself in the online entertainment industry by its leading technology platform powered by advanced AI, big data analytics and other core proprietary technologies. iQIYI attracts a massive user base with tremendous user engagement, and has developed a diversified monetization model including membership services, online advertising services, content distribution, live broadcasting, online games, IP licensing, online literature and e-commerce. For more information on iQIYI, please visit http://ir.iqiyi.com.

SOURCE iQIYI, Inc.

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