Music Obsessions – May 2023

Welcome to (a slightly delayed) Music Obsessions! We continue on with our focused look at Cantopop as this time we turn over to a female singer, Miriam Yeung that I actually watched her step into fame when she came in as first runner-up at the 1995 Hong Kong New Talent Singing Awards. While her career started out with its share of issues, over the many years, she has garnered a certain level of professional attached to her work both as a singer and as an actress. Of course, we’re looking at the singer elements as I dive into a few songs that I’m a big fan of mostly from the start of her career but also looking up some newer songs that have caught my eye.

抬起我的頭來 Lift Up My Head- 楊千嬅 Miriam Yeung

We’re going through Miriam Yeung’s discography in order of release this time to see the growth that she’s had as well as how I’ve been introduced to her music through certain songs. The first song that hit my radar was this one which was not part of her debut album but in the Summer Story album launched four years after the singing contest. You can hear the potential in her voice and the youthfulness but there still lacks a certain polish. This song is very optimistic and encouraging in its lyrics and its one of the reasons why I liked it a lot when it was first released.

姊妹 Sisters – 楊千嬅 Miriam Yeung

To me, my favorite album that solidified Miriam Yeung as a singer to keep an eye out for was her album Miriam in 2001 which I personally own and has a lot of good songs. While there’s no doubt that the hit of the album was Wild Child and I do love that song a lot, I’m a big fan of this song, Sisters. It seems to be mentioned much less but its such a great song both in the music elements but also the lyrics.

假如讓我說下去 If You Let Me Finish Talking- Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅

Much like this song which I translated roughly but this is by far my absolute favorite song of Miriam Yeung’s. I’m not quite sure why but it might have to do a lot with teenage angst back in the day. I do come back to this song every so often and still feel like its rather underrated and do believe that it still holds up with how good it is. Especially the build-up part for the final verse, it gets me every time.

勇Courage- Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅

Released in 2002 as the theme song of a action comedy that she was a female lead, marking something of a debut to her acting career in Love Undercover, Courage is probably one of Miriam Yeung’s most popular songs and rightfully so as it delivers a positive message about courage in life reflecting the film really well but also to young women at the time it was released. Its one of the songs that has stuck around with the general public, probably only two or three other songs really meet that same level of familiarity like Kisses Everywhere and Too Bad I’m Not An Aquarius.

滾 Get Out!- 梁漢文 Edmond Leung/ 楊千嬅 Miriam Yeung

A big fan of this song which I believe is part of Edmond Leung’s discography BUT this song really leaves a strong impression since its the rare song where the song itself is a conversation and argument between a couple of a husband suspecting his wife of cheating on him. The suspicions and the doubts in a relationship all gets put to the forefront in their argument throughout the song. It has such a nice pacing to the whole song. The play on words of the title of the song is always a little tricky since it can be interpreted as “Get Out!” or “F**k Off” but is also the word for Cheating in Cantonese. I’m not quite sure how long this focused discography of Music Obsessions will last but if it lasts for a while, we will definitely get to Edmond Leung eventually.

還有事情可慶祝 There Are Still Things Worth Celebrating- 楊千嬅 Miriam Yeung

Every time I choose these singers, I always choose the last song as their latest release or a newer song that I’ve discovered recently. Despite the many love ballads about heartbreak and such, Miriam Yeung’s discography has been relatively cute and positive. Its obvious this was released during the pandemic or as the tail end of it as an encouraging song that even in the hard times, there’s always something to celebrate. Its also a nice showcase of the start of her singing career to now, she’s really polished and refined her voice into such a powerful and soothing one.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to?

Music Obsessions – April 2023

Welcome to April’s Music Obsessions! Keeping up with the theme this year, I’m going to highlight another Cantopop favorite of mine. Since he recently released a new single, I decided to dedicate this one to Jacky Cheung, one of the 90s Big Four/Four Heavenly Kings who dominated the music market back then and also accompanied a good part of my growing up (granted I did end up listening more to another one of the Big Four because my cousin loved him). Jacky Cheung has always been a little less public and its hard to see him out and about unless its a concert or some promo for his new music. He also has one of the most distinctive voices. Without further ado, let’s go!

屈到病 Hold It In Until Get Sick – Jacky Cheung 張學友

Excuse my very stupid translation of the song name but Cantonese has a lot of rather “slang” sort of sayings that are very complicated to do an exact translation but the gist is there. Regardless, this song is a fun one to start off the Jacky Cheung selections. I’m picking some more popular picks but since I love so many of his songs, its very hard for me to pinpoint but I wanted to start on a fun and energetic note. Jacky Cheung isn’t particularly known for his energetic songs but more his ballads but he does have a few that really stand out.

我等到花兒也謝了 Wait Until Flowers Wither– Jacky Cheung 張學友

Wait Until Flowers Wither is one of the classics for Jacky Cheung. It was a really popular song in the 90s and still is one that is both appreciated for his Cantonese and Mandarin versions. Its representative of the love ballad style popular with Jacky Cheung. A lot of them are very romantic whether its just waiting for someone for a long time or loving them forever, etc. It helps that the songs themselves are representative of a time in Cantopop when the lyrics told a story with beautiful similes and metaphors.

頭髮亂了 Messy Hair – Jacky Cheung 張學友

Another energetic pick for Jacky Cheung that I actually didn’t used to listen to a lot but recently, I had seen a modernized rendition and went back to listen to it again and have gotten a great appreciation for it. Messy Hair is a song about seeing a girlfriend come home after suspecting her of cheating with her messy hair. Despite the lyrics itself and the whole story of the song, it has a really fun rhythm.

我真的受傷了 I Am Really Hurt – 張學友

I Am Really Hurt is a love ballad that really dials down on a simplistic rhythm itself and focuses a lot on the emotions. Its a slow song about heartbreak. This song caught my attention the first time I ever heard it and since then, I believe the version that he sings in concert with the then newly promising songwriter Ivana Wong who wrote this song is also a popular choice as he really supported her work a lot.

又十年 Another 10 Years – Jacky Cheung 張學友

The newest single to drop for Jacky Cheung and the reason why I chose him as this month’s focus, other than the fact that I think he truly deserves so much praise and is a singer that I truly praise a lot. His songs are still great to this very day whether it was released in the mid80s or nowadays. With this latest song, its about aging and coming to terms with health and friends, etc. Its a heartfelt song. While I’m not his age, the song has beautiful touching lyrics. Plus, Jacky Cheung feels like he is not in the public so much that its nice to hear him singing again.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to lately?

Music Obsessions – March 2023

Welcome to this month’s Music Obsessions!

I’ve basically decided to spend this year highlighting musicians much like last month’s focus on Pakho Chau, this month I’m going into classics and diving into the early and popular songs of Alan Tam or normally known as Principal Tam in Hong Kong because of his contribution to Hong Kong’s music industry for decades. Even now in his seventies, he still is a big influence for many singers.

愛的根源 Root of Love – 譚詠麟 Alan Tam

Root of Love is the title song of a 1984 album that began the start of successive albums to be launched. Rightfully so as Root of Love shows off the love ballads which Alan Tam was initially known for. Its a great song with great lyrics written in the early career of lyricist and comedy actor Andrew Lam, who also pens a few of Alan Tam’s renowned songs as well.

愛情陷阱 Love’s Trap – 譚詠麟 Alan Tam

Honestly, I never knew that this song was as big a hit than being a part of the phase of well-received albums launching in 1985. My memory of this is purely nostalgia as I grew up with this song playing on a cassette that my dad would always put on in the care when we went for drives. Love’s Trap isn’t a love ballad and is a much faster speed. The lyrics of all of Alan Tam’s songs are well thought out and the rhythm is awesome. I still have so much fun listening to it which is one this list mostly because when I sing this to my 8 month old and add in some little movements, he is thoroughly entertained.

一生中最愛 Love of a Lifetime – 譚詠麟 Alan Tam

Love of a Lifetime is the theme song of 1991 film Alan & Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye (which I have never seen but actually would like to see it). Its also one of the most known songs of his. There’s something so touching about how this song all comes together from how he sings it and the beautifully romantic lyrics that makes this song so heartfelt.

卡拉永遠OK Karaoke Forever – 譚詠麟 Alan Tam

I might talking about a ton of hits but I’m also here to have some fun and a few months ago, I shared the rendition of this one (I think) and thats actually how I heard this song and sought out the original version. Both are really good and that’s why its on here. Its just a fun song. Sometimes, its just purely about feeling good.

夏日寒風 Summer Breeze – 譚詠麟 Alan Tam

There’s not a lot to say about this. Summer Breeze is one of those catchy Alan Tam songs that I like a lot. I don’t always know the name of all his songs but the moment the chorus pops up, it all comes back.

BONUS: L.O.V.E – Wynners

Let’s dial things way back into 1970s before I was alive (not that I was even born for the majority of the songs that I showed here). Wynners is a 1970s band in Hong Kong. One of my favorite songs of theirs is this one and soon realized that Alan Tam and Kenny Bee both great singers are from this band before going on their solo careers.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
Its a bit old and nostalgic but Alan Tam’s voice is super unique and its why I wanted to share it!
What have you been listening to?

Music Obsessions – January 2023

Welcome to the first Music Obsessions of this year. First of all, a little wrap-up of 2022 as look at the Spotify Wrapped.

流沙 Everything’s Gone – 陶喆 David Tao

Man, this song brings me back. David Tao is probably Top 5 favorite music artists in my book. Everything’s Gone is a song that is probably my absolute as it was my go-to song at karaoke every single time. I sang it so much that I actually had the courage to perform it on a little event one time. I have no idea when I added to it my Spotify list but so suitable that its my most played song in 2022 as I was puffing up my list this year and getting really nostalgic in the process. David Tao is such a fantastic R&B artist and probably will take a Music Obsessions post to share a bunch of my faves of his. Hmm…thinking about that, maybe it might be a fun segment to add to the blog.

緋聞男友 Rumored Boyfriend- 劉浩龍Wilfred Lau

I actually own the album for this artist which is the few songs that were really popular that I remember of (maybe there’s more that I don’t know about). There’s actually another song back then from Wilfred Lau that I listened to a lot more but somehow after I added this song to my list, its one that has been popping up a lot and has really won me over in the past year. I don’t think its anything really special but somehow the lyrics are pretty catchy. On that note, its odd but one of this past month’s discovery is also with him.

I’ve shared the other songs from the Top 5 of Spotify Wrapped in one way or another before, I believe so I’m going to move onto regular programming.

行者Walker – 劉浩龍Wilfred Lau & 側田Justin Lo
(“Line Walker” TV series Main Theme)

I’m super late to the Line Walker party since they aired Season 3 in 2020 and I only caught up the first season in December. Its a really great series though. Its been a while since I’ve watched TVB series which used to be my main thing growing up and some of the best memories when I was younger. Coming back to it in probably a decade, it had to be a series that was worth it and not something that I would just sit down and feel like it was all done before and Line Walker definitely did that. Theme songs for TVB series used to mean the big times for Hong Kong artists because they were usually big hits and while I’m not sure how it is in the current decade, this song has Justin Lo and Wilfred Lau and is pretty great. I chose the opening theme sequence for this video over some of the other lyric videos but I think its worth it to showcase the series a little, in case you can find one with English subtitles.

2nd Favourite 第二最愛 – 古巨基 Tyson Yoshi

Honestly one of my favorite song in the recent weeks and I haven’t really found a lot of new music lately. This song has such a great vibe and the collaboration is pretty good as well. Some of the lyrics is a bit hilarious much like parts of the video with Leo Ku hanging out under the bed which is fairly silly but the song has a nice rhythm and fun.

Why Why Why – 王嘉尔Jackson Wang

Jackson Wang is probably one of the most diverse music producers in the current landscape. I’ve shared a ton of his music on Music Obsessions already and every single one has a different vibe from pop song 100 Ways to Electronic Dance song Pretty Please to Alternative/Indie song Blow and Cruel. Why Why Why is considered a pop song but this one differs from 100 Ways mostly in its more comedic take. Jackson Wang in a tree suit is just awesome. There are no words to explain how silly the video is but he also rarely sings in Mandarin and the lyrics are actually pretty good paraphrasing basically that there’s no reason why you love someone but for who they are.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to?

Music Obsessions – September 2022

Welcome to this month’s Music Obsessions! I honestly can’t believe its already September and I’ve actually managed to keep up with this segment with actual content. Its a little wild overall. Either way, here we are so let’s go right into it!

Cruel – Jackson Wang

At this point, Jackson Wang really has proven that his variety in his music with his resources has truly grown quite a bit including the music video themselves are really creative. While I can’t say that I love all his music the same level, there’s a certain catchiness to them that jives well. Cruel is pretty good and the video is pretty impressive. I wonder whether Jackson Wang will one day jump into being a director at this point seeing as all his music videos now have a certain fantastical story background.

眼淚落下之前 Before Tears Fall Down – Silence Wang 汪蘇瀧

This summer’s youth romance film, since it seems like there’s always one highlight film of that regard in China is My Blue Summer. The source material for My Blue Summer has already been adapted into 2 separate Chinese TV series before called Unrequited Love both times with the only difference being its network and the cast. While I think that’s kind of pointless, they’ve gone and adapted it into a film as well. Which brings us to Silence Wang’s song which I really liked when he performed it in Wonderland Season 2, a Chinese lifestyle variety show so found the original MV.

寻一个你 Searching You- Yuning Liu刘宇宁
(“Love Between Fairy and Devil” Theme)

One of the hit Chinese fantasy dramas this summer has to be Love Between Fairy and Devil so of course, I’m also watching it right now. Not binging quite the way that I normally would but everything fits so well for me from the cast to the soundtrack. Its theme is by Yuning Liu which I have shared him music quite a bit over the time this segment has been around. Probably one of the newer singers that I like nowadays since the last time I followed someone so intently has be at least a decade ago. Regardless, I’m always happy to watch series and find his song part of the OST. Its a really nice one that matches this series pretty well.

臟藝術家 Dirty Artist – MC HotDog熱狗

Its crazy how time does fly by but MC HotDog was the original first generation Chinese rapper back in my teenage days and its great to see the status that he’s achieved as a hip hop artist. In the last few years popping on music related variety show, there’s a humble side of him that makes him so respectable. In the latest season of Rap of China: All Stars Season, not only did he take all the new generation rappers under his wing in his team, there’s no doubt that during the performances that all these years experience with his writing and the messages he wants in his songs now. There’s a versatility that can’t be duplicated. Either way, he tried to not outshine his other team members most of the time but this song he did himself is probably the best of the show.

粉色海洋 Pink Ocean – 周杰倫 Jay Chou

I’d like to say that Jay Chou’s latest album seems to be all songs paired up with Taiwanese lyricist Vincent Fang who found his popularity writing up the majority of the hit songs from Jay Chou’s beginning albums, so there’s a real taste of nostalgia as this album’s songs remind me a lot of the earlier albums of Jay Chou back in 2000. This music video also is one filmed with Jay Chou’s son so its pretty fun overall. While most of the songs in the recent music videos are pretty good, this one is so light-hearted and positive.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to lately?

Music Obsessions – August 2022

Welcome to this month’s Music Obsessions! The last month was pretty fun as a lot of new music videos landed and others popped up on my list from various shows and whatnot. All Chinese music from different spaces and styles but all very fun stuff! Let’s check it out!

最偉大的作品 Greatest Works of Art – 周杰倫 Jay Chou

Jay Chou is basically my youth seeing as he got famous in the prime of my post-secondary days around 2003 and he became the center of a lot of conversations and his songs became the focus of karaoke days back then as well making him an musician that I’ve been following for a long time (with some gaps in the middle) and I’ve shared quite a few songs of his. I should really considering doing a focus post on him when we get a slower month. This month, he dropped this one which the song itself is nice but the video is one that is even better, especially for those who watched his J-Style Trip on Netflix where you see some of his best friends pop up in this music video as well as he travels through time, performs a few magic tricks while recreating the art masterpieces.

一格格 Frames – 衛蘭 Janice Vidal

There’s a chunk of Janice Vidal’s discography which is an empty space for me when I stopped listening to Cantopop for a while (or at least the new stuff over a decade as I lost a little faith in what was coming out) and now its a lot of catch-up. This popped up mostly because of the Chinese singing variety show and their really good rendition but the original very nice. The whole chill vibe really suits the song and is such a feel good song in general.

賽勒斯的愛 Cherlas – 張敬軒 Hins Cheung

Its been a long time since I have looked up Hins Cheung’s new music. Funny enough he is rather underrated since he went onto the music scene fairly quietly and had a few hits but no one really knows him that well (at least in my circle of friends). This one oddly popped up my recommended videos recently. Somehow I found it rather catchy. The story is well portrayed in the music video as well. The lyrics are decent as well.

隆里电丝 Lonely Dance – KEY.L刘聪/ICE杨长青/盛宇DamnShine/Ricky

My latest variety watch is the latest season of The Rap of China Season 4 or something. I’m not an avid watcher of this variety show but this season is a competition of the best of the best or something so some pretty cool competitors in competition show. While I don’t really share a ton of variety show stuff, this one did get released as a single by one of the performers here but I still prefer the performance version more, mostly because I really do like ICE as a rapper and the whole guitarist Ricky is a super nice addition. Its a fun funky rap song which is kind of how I like hip hop music or just the fact that rap itself can be incorporated into so many different styles of music. This is a great example of it.

最後一堂課 Graduation – Eric Chou 周興哲
(“Mom, Don’t Do That!” End Theme)

I’m not sure if people actually watch Taiwanese series, even if they are Netflix series but I’ve had my eyes on them for a while and slowly catching up with it. The recent release of Mom, Don’t Do That! Is where this song is from. I do like Eric Chou quite a bit as well and he is diving into acting as he takes a cameo role in the series. The song does match certain parts of the series pretty well.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!

Music Obsessions – October 2021

Welcome to this month’s music obsessions! The past month has been quite interesting. Looking back, there hasn’t been a lot of new music that I’ve discovered since I’ve been watching a lot of variety shows and stand-up comedy shows. However, fret not, just enough fun music to share this time around! As usual, some fun extras from variety show Singing With Legends at the end.

Let’s go!

不超级的马里奥 Mario Is Not A Superman – Ma Ye 马也

I love funky music like this that plays on video games or other pop culture stuff in their own twist. The whole song has some really fun lyrics about how Mario isn’t super in his pursuit for Princess Peach and whatnot which breaks the norm and its fairly entertaining over with its rhythm and music.

你不適合兩個人 You Aren’t Suitable for Two People – Sunnee 楊芸晴

While I never followed Rocket Girls 101 much, I actually do like Sunnee a lot whether its from her appearances in variety shows or her performance ability. I’ve been going back to listen to some of her singles and they all are pretty good. This is her latest single (I think) and while the music video has some awkward overacting, the song itself is pretty good. The whole thing is pretty simple but somehow Sunnee’s voice is one that I find so soothing to listen to.

違背的青春 Against Youth – Joker Xue 薛之謙

I don’t really actively follow Joker Xue’s music normally but whenever his music pops up wherever I always end up searching up the music since his voice is very unique mostly for how he sings. This time its from the new season of Singing With Legends where he performs this song. The performance itself is also pretty good (even if something funny happens) but there’s nothing better than sharing the original so here we go! Its also a different song from previous songs that I’ve shared before of Joker Xue’s songs as its not about love but more about youth and life itself.

不良少年 High School Punk- Lil Ghost小鬼王琳凯

I’ve shared a good few Lil Ghost’s songs at this point. Its pretty nice to see that as he develops his music career, he has proved that he is a great rapper and hip hop artist but also equally capable in other styles of music. The last few songs that he’s released has broken away from the usual hip hop style from when he started and has changed slowly but its always very upbeat and fun songs.

Pull Up- Panthepack

Panthepack has definitely been releasing their song’s very regularly now. The last few weeks had a few new releases. Jackson Wang creating this hip hop group really is quite interesting especially after I recognized the other three artists. One of them being more familiar as he was a mentor in Listen Up Season 1. Either way, their songs and music videos have pretty decent budget behind it and really good production value. I do like this one a lot as it does feature a lot of different hip hop artists from the Chinese entertainment industry in the video. Plus, its super upbeat and full of positive and happy vibes. Its like the joy of having fun with friends. Good times overall.

Extras from Variety Show “Singing With Legends Season 3”

I absolutely love the Chinese variety show Singing with Legends. At Season 3, this season has some of my favorite singers gathered together so suffice to say, I can’t give up a chance to share some of George Lam’s duets. Both songs are basically Hong Kong classics. The favorite is a mesh of Danny Chan’s song with a little snippet from Rod Stewart’s Sailing. Its a great new rendition.

The second is from their performance after the group’s have been formed in A Team for George Lam and Fox Hu. George Lam is one of my favorite singers even if I don’t listen all time. This song of his is one of my easily Top 5 favorite songs ever. This rendition definitely didn’t disappoint. Its hard to imagine that George Lam is 74 years old and still sings so incredibly good.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to recently?

Music Obsessions – September 2021

September is here! Next Music Obsessions is here as the first weekend arrives! This month has been a decent mix. Its mostly songs that I’ve found through different variety shows and TV series. Considering there’s a lot of variety shows I’m watching that are music-oriented, so its pretty fun overall.

我只能離開 I Can Only Leave – Renzhong Yan 顏人中

While I have my opinions on Chinese drama A Little Thing Called First Love and should get a TV binge out for it at some point this coming month, this song is really good. I always catch music by Renzhong Yan here and there but never can pinpoint his music specifically. However, I do like his voice overall. Its pretty unique. Plus, this song worked really well in the series in terms of the lyrics so it was a memorable one.

3189 – 焦迈奇 Maiqi Jiao

3189 is an absolutely unique song. The most random song ever if anything right from the lyrics to the music video itself. Something about getting sleep back and happiness and a bunch of odd things and yet, somehow there’s this very catchy element of all the conversation where it feels somehow relevant to what its about as it pulls in Mary Had A Little Lamb but a flipped version of it but its all about trying to go to sleep, counting sheep and stuff..at least that’s my interpretation but then its a little bit more and somehow I find some of it feels relatable. Its just really random and I like odd stuff so this is right up my alley.

With that said, I found this while watching the cover from the performance on “Call My By Fire” by one of my fave groups there with Jordan Chan, Michael Tse, Jerry Lamb, Julian Cheung, Edmond Leung, all big names in Hong Kong. Either way, you can find their performance here also which has a pretty fun twist to it.

The Oath of Love 余生，请多指教- Andy Yang 杨紫 & Sean Xiao 肖战
(Tencent TV series “The Oath of Love” Main Theme)

The Oath of Love finally is launching on Tencent in September. Consider me happy. Big fan of the two main leads who also sings this duet. This duet makes me anticipate the series even more as they seem to have fantastic chemistry. Maybe finally have a series that will follow the wonderful dynamic of the leads following Go Go Squid!. I’m getting carried away but nice sweet song overall.

再見，少年 Farewell, My Lad – 梁靜茹 Fish Leong
(“Farewell, My Lad” Main Theme)

I honestly think that Farewell, My Lad is the upcoming film that will be a family of stories that follows Better Days. I mean, look at the typography they use. Either way, just a small thought on this new Chinese film. I’m hoping that this film will be available. Big fan of Fish Leong. She’s probably one of my top 5 favorite female singers and this song is just so good. I do think the whole scenes from the film does fit the song a lot also.

Let’s Do This! – Cacien Team
(“Girls Like Us” Performance)

I usually don’t post up performances for any of the variety shows as their own part but most of my playlist right now is from performances from “Girls Like Us” Chinese female hip hop competition. Cacien’s group is very unique and the songs that they make is super positive. This performance is pretty good plus the song makes me feel happy so its a good one to wrap up this month’s music obsessions.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to?

Music Obsessions – December 2020

Its the last music obsessions of 2020! There’s a lot of songs to get through so I added a little bonus at the bottom just for fun. Its the last one of the year and I wanted to those out. Let’s get straight to business!

暗夜蔷薇 Dark Night Rose – Joseph Zeng
(“The Journey Across The Night” Theme Song)

The Journey Across The Night was a really good series this year. It took forever to be released and then it didn’t really get a lot of views but one that I really loved for its direction. There were some issues with it but I’ll talk about it in a TV binge hopefully soon (I’m working through backlog to prioritize what to write up first for TV binge posts). The theme song is sang by the lead actor Joseph Zeng who really has popped in a lot of places including Netflix Chinese series Take My Brother Away (which I have yet to watch) but he also plays in recently released Hong Kong series Line Breaker 3 (which I honestly need to catch up on the previous 2 season). Either way, this song is really great. I love the mysterious style.

Really Want to Love This World 好想愛這個世界啊 – 華晨宇 Chen Yu Hua

I’m pretty selective about Chen Yu Hua’s music. He has very unique music and this one shows off his very great skills as he does the music but its the lyrics that truly are great. Plus, the melody is a little abnormal so its a rather challenging song in general. The song essentially is one that he said in The Singer 2020 that the wrote during the lockdown in China and its about depression and the inner world of someone who has depression and the message that people should reach out of those they care about with this disorder. Its a really meaning song.

Who Am I 我是谁 – Jolin Tsai feat Jony J
(“The Wolf” Main Theme)

I’ve fallen rather behind with The Wolf since I can see the frustrations that it will get down the road. Call me a pessimist if you would like but my predictions of Chinese dramas are really on point and about 5% of the TV series released nowadays truly surprise me.Still, I will hold my thoughts until I finish the series (which will run into 2021 so still lots of time to see where this all goes). All that aside, The Wolf has a fantastic soundtrack. The main theme is by Jolin Tsai, a singer that I listened to a lot in my college days. Not to mention, she’s paired with Jony J, a rapper that I recently knew about through Youth With You 2 that is truly rather impressive.

亞亞亞 Ya Ya Ya – Joey Yung

Its been a while since I’ve listened to Joey Yung’s stuff. I used to be a huge fan in her early days as a singer until she just started singing similar songs but really technical that I stopped. Thanks to Chinese variety show Our Song (Season 2), her participation resulted in a really great rendition of this song. Its a really fun one. Upbeat and fun..plus, we had a good laugh over her dance in the song. You have watch it for that. Joey Yung does have a great voice though and I do need to get back to catching up on some of her music.

Write A Poem For You 為你寫詩 – 吳克羣 Kenji Wu

This isn’t exactly a new song and the oldest of this list but I used to love this song. Kenji Wu is a king at writing songs to confess love. This song is fantastic and I’ve been relistening to it and its still so great. The lyrics are super romantic as its about a guy learning piano and writing lyrics for a girl he likes. Its a little dreamy and such but still, its a sweet little song. Still as great as when I first heard it.

BONUS: Our Song Season 2 Fave Performances

Young and Dangerous franchise is probably one of the longest running film franchises in Hong Kong and for that, its been accompanying a lot of people with some iconic songs in its soundtrack through its many films. In the team battles, this crew with Jordan Chan (known most for his role in Young and Dangerous films) leads the other guys GAI, Roy Wang and Shilei Chang, calling themselves the Hotpot Heroes as he does this new cover of one of the songs called Super Star in Trouble Times.

Hotpot Heroes does the most recent performance which earns them the final win for their group and pushing two of them directly through to the finals. This one is a great one that does a medley going through popular songs from the different decades using the backdrop of a radio program and the emotions. Its a fun one. Probably means more to me since I liked almost all the songs that they chose and a lot of them were playing on repeat when they were released and songs that I go back to frequently starting from the first song Stupid Child by Andy Lau and ending perfectly for the quattro for Meteor Shower from the original Meteor Garden series by F4. Memories…nostalgia…I just can’t believe that I was supporting Jordan Chan when people argued over this singing and now look at him, still doing so well in the business. This medley is so awesome! I could put so many more of these performances since Our Song Season 2 had a Hong Kong singer in every group so it was quite the treat to see so many familiar songs pop up.

I kind of cheated this Music Obsessions but here it is!
What have you been listening to?

Music Obsessions – October 2020

Welcome to the next Music Obsessions! Its been quite a good month with some nice music that popped up on my radar. Maybe slightly less selection than previous months but there’s some decent choices here.

Enjoy!

You Are My Hero (“Chasing Dream 我的拳王男友” Main Theme) 你是我的英雄 – 刘艾立 Erika

Johnnie To is a director of a wide range of movie genres although probably he is most known for his action films. Chasing Dream (review) was something of a hidden gem for this year’s Fantasia Festival and I ended up liking it a lot more than I expected. The main theme is pretty awesome.

Pretty Please – Jackson Wang & Galantis

Jackson Wang’s music this year has been fantastic. Starting with a killer hit with “100 Ways” and then using the same actress to create this video with some great vibes and rhythm of chasing a girl down the street. Its giving some strong vibes of Ne-yo’s video “One in a Million”, right? Either way, its super feel good. I do like this new direction that he’s been choosing for his music instead of the pure rap music. I like this style of Jackson Wang more than the bad-ass Jackson Wang a little more. Granted, I do think Papillon is a pretty cool song in general.

I Really Like You – Jerry Yan & Shen Yue
(‘Count Your Lucky Stars’ Ending Theme)

Easily one of my favorite series this year, the main theme for the series is pretty good for Count Your Lucky Stars but I love both Jerry Yan and Shen Yue even if this was a huge gimmick for the Meteor Garden fans (old and new version) but they really do have chemistry even if everyone moaning about the age gap. Back to the music, the ending theme is so cute. Paired up with this video, its just a perfect match and wraps up the really cute vibes from the series.

My Little Night Light 小夜燈 – 鄭欣宜 Joyce Cheng

The latest find for the month has to go to Joyce Cheng’s latest music release. I don’t know if its the fact that I still have a night light or the lyrics itself that seems to really connect with me but this song just tugged at my emotions quite a bit. Its a nice song whether its the melody or the lyrics, its actually quite beautiful.

That’s it for this month’s Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to?