Music Obsessions – August 2021

It’s August and time for the next music obsessions! Plus, its a little break from all the film reviews lately as we jump into some of the music that I’ve discovered in the past month! Let’s go!

DNA – Panthepack

Jackson Wang’s Team Wang is definitely growing as it starts bringing in other artists and such starting with his promotion of Panthepack and their new song DNA for the past while. Of course, I’ve only heard it recently because of the new Tencent hiphop competition show Girls Like Us where he performs this song.

泊 Anchor – Corsak

Corsak has definitely been finding his groove lately. His last few songs have been very fun. Anchor is really relaxing to listen to and his vocals are pretty on point. There’s something really soothing about the whole song here from its lyrics to the tune itself that has a nice balance. Its a pretty meaningful song overall.

WULEI – Yanqi Zhang

Honestly, I don’t have a lot to say about this one. I’m a big fan of the latest competition show Girls Like Us because it gives a highlight on the female hiphop artists in China especially as they are rather talented and gives them a voice. However, I’m also really happy that they got Yanqi Zhang, who is a former R1SE member and the trainee from Produce Camp 2019 that I liked right from his first preliminary stage as he is a fantastic hip hop artist with both his producing skills to his rapping skills, to host the public performances for the show. I think this performance really shows his abilities and I just really like it a ton.

Woman – Yico Zeng 曾轶可

I told you before that I’m a big fan of the show so other than Jackson Wang, I think the biggest discovery for myself is a Chinese female singer Yico Zeng who has a fantastic sort of style. I like this type of unique creative which takes a very different approach and her new song performed on the first episode as her entrance is called Woman which matches the show so much. The lyrics and the whole tune and rhythm is so different from the other mentors that are part of this show. Next mission is to start going through her discography. I’ll report back in the future with more of her songs, I’m almost positive.

對峙 Confrontation – Nicholas Tse
(‘Raging Fire’ Main Theme)

Raging Fire is hitting theatres at the end of August and its a movie that I’m absolutely looking forward to see since its Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse. Anyone frequent here may know that I’m a mega fan of Nicholas Tse almost since his debut. He’s just gone through so much and worked so hard to create change and his latest songs have been all so meaningful. Either way, there’s not much to say about this one but it doubles as a trailer of the upcoming film.

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

Music Obsessions – September 2019

Another month as passed by. Its been a very odd month since it feels like I haven’t quite found a ton of new music but then there’s been some interesting finds at the same time. Its been quite random or related to whatever I’ve been watching and such.

好好說 – Sammi Cheng 鄭秀文

If we were to talk about a singer that I’ve adored for a long time, it has to go to Sammi Cheng who inspired a lot of my own love for pop music in terms of female singers especially for Cantonese pop music. This song is for her upcoming movie which I hope to get a chance to see as I like a few people in the cast as well but I absolutely love this song. The lyrics and her singing and everything: still love her even after so very long (we’re talking almost two decades).

谁都别吝啬 – R1SE

I was a bit skeptical of R1SE or lets say, Produce Camp but this group has really made its mark as its been associated with a lot of different songs for TV shows and having their own music and such. Its definitely nice to be on the Tencent platform or to have come out of a show on the Tencent platform. Adding into their own singing abilities, its a group that works. As much as I like this song, I do hope that they all get to find their place as a few of the boys in this group are quite good at the overall music production from lyrics to music. Hopefully, they’ll get a chance to flex those skills. For now, their music is always a constant fun and energetic company.

Bad Guy – Billie Eilish

Its taken a few listens but I’ve been into this song lately. The video is a bit weird in my opinion but hey, the song is quite fun. I’m not sure whether its going to be a permanent thing in my playlist but this past month, its been quite entertaining to have on and keeping the energy level high.

The Coming One 3 Highlights
White – Rohar Ye & Tian Yi

漂浮群岛 – 张颜齐 & 洪一诺

The Coming One 3 is done but I can’t get over the collabs show they did. That episode was my favorite and these two performances above are my absolutely faves.  I’m doing it as a unit because they are simply highlights from the show. Both of them didn’t end up winning in the end but these two girls are my faves of the competition. Rohar Ye is my absolute fave right from her first song so I’m hoping she continues tackling the rest of the colors and make them into songs while still making other songs true to her style because I’m totally down for it. She’s different and its very indie and I’m not sure the audience she’s aiming for will easily accept it but I sure hope she still finds a way. On that note, White is a great song. She’s done Blue and Black at this point during the competition.

我還是沒改變 I’ll Never Change – 大壯 DZ

DZ has come out with three singles at this point, I think. And all of them are really good. They remind me a lot of the really nice days of music when songs were filled with well-written lyrics as well as nice ballads/tunes. Its one of the reason why I like DZ and his work so much. Three for three is not easy and I hope that he keeps making music and keeps such a high quality.

忘情森巴舞 -草蜢 Grasshopper

I really wanted to add in this one for this round-up even if this time feels a tad heavy. Hong Kong has been on my mind a lot lately and being a long-time fan of Grasshopper since I was young, I wanted to share something from the 80s that always makes me happy to listen to. Its very dated but hey, its been playing on repeat these days on my playlist. Grasshopper members may all be in their 50s but they really remind us of staying young at heart as they still give great performances full of energy and pull of their dances and stuff well still.

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