Xiao Ke also collaborated with longtime friend Ye Bei on the theme song, Thank You for Letting Me Meet You, capturing a pivotal moment when the characters face their lowest ebb. "This is not a love song," Xiao Ke says. "It is written for everyone who has helped me through the first half of my life, and for all the experiences that shaped me into who I am today."
Ye recalls the collaboration fondly: "We didn't need formalities or small talk — just come in and sing. I sat at the mixing desk, he stood at the microphone, and everything felt right. Sitting in the audience at the premiere, it was like opening an old photo album — seeing the actors live out the impulsiveness, passion, confusion, and determination of youth was both funny and moving. Even the laughter carried the sincerity of those years. It felt like looking across time at my younger self."
Xiao Ke, whose real name is Ke Zhaolei, is best known for folk and pop songs. Born in Beijing, Xiao Ke was trained in classical music. He started learning the piano at 12, and formed his first band at age 19 after falling in love with rock music. He has worked in the music business ever since. The singer-songwriter's eponymous album was released in 1996, and he has also written songs for pop stars, including Because of Love for pop diva Faye Wong and Hong Kong singer Eason Chan. One of his most famous songs is Beijing Welcomes You, which was played to mark the 100-day countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
His involvement in theater began in 2007 and about 15 years ago, he launched Xiao Ke Theater which is located in Beijing's 798 Art Zone, which has staged more than 10 Chinese musicals, all written by him.
"I've always loved theater, and musicals in particular. With the money I earned from my music career I launched the theater, which I wanted to be a place for my independent songwriting," he says. "It's pure love and no compromising."
Beyond Campus Folk Songs, Xiao Ke has an ambitious year ahead. In October, Journey to the West (Xiyou Duji) will premiere at Xiao Ke Theater. Inspired by Broadway's Hamilton, Xiao Ke stripped the sprawling epic to its emotional core, focusing on the evolving bond between Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong, and reimagining Zhu Bajie in a fresh light. Advanced 3D technology will re-create the mythical flights and battles of the story, pushing technical boundaries.
Xiao Ke's first opera, The Last Lover, turns to the future rather than the past. "With AI and brain-computer interfaces, will pure humans become rare? If minds can be implanted with chips, will most people be half-human, half-machine? And in such a world, whose logic — robotic reason or human emotion — should prevail?" The opera imagines a world with only one man and one woman left, exploring love, humanity, and what it means to be truly human.
Xiao Ke composed both the lyrics and the music himself, describing the score as intricate and boundary-pushing. AI has been indispensable in realizing his vision, generating vocal parts he cannot sing. "Without AI, I couldn't have written this opera," he admits. Yet, he stresses that AI is a creative assistant, not a replacement: "The soul of a song still lies in the words and music. AI helps me hear it fully, but it doesn't write for me. Misusing it to claim others' work as your own crosses both legal and ethical lines."
Reflecting on his two-decade-long career, Xiao Ke says, "I entered the pop music scene in 1995, began composing musicals in 2007, and now writing an opera is a brandnew challenge — a way to break ground and explore uncharted creative territory."
