A Quick Pitch for Chinese-Language Music

I don’t remember which came first anymore: the survival show or the playlist. 

The survival show was an idol reality show with 90-something young men training hard to debut (enter the music industry in a group, for those unfamiliar with idol terminology). However, it was the presence of one of the mentors, a singer called Zhou Shen I had vaguely heard of, who pulled me in to watch it with my family. We’d watched related survival shows over dinner, centred around acting or music, but I’d treated it as background noise. Soon, however, the familiar Chinese variety show humour and likeable trainees got to me as well as the music in it.

Meanwhile, the playlist had started out titled, creatively, “Chinese music.” It’s gone through several name changes but its purpose remains: to house all the Chinese-language music I like. I’d asked my mum for recommendations, racked my brain for names I barely knew, ended up with about six songs and decided it would be enough for now. Little did I know then that its initial goal would become partially obsolete. Now, I have multiple playlists for Chinese songs and this one is a whopping 14 hours long.

I started listening to Chinese music in July 2022 and I haven’t stopped. Not only has it improved my Chinese-speaking abilities, helped me make new friends, and simply given me a lot of great music to listen to, I’ve also become more open-minded to others’ musical tastes.

Since I no longer listen primarily to the type of music on the radio that is widely accepted by those around me, I’ve learned to not condemn other people’s music as well.

Although interest in East Asian music has been skyrocketing in the past handful of years, it’s always been Korean music that’s captured my friends’ attention, or Japanese music that my sister plays. The town I live in actually has many Chinese people in it and yet I’ve rarely heard anyone say, “I really love listening to Chinese music” (or Mongolian music, for that matter). When I was younger, I definitely didn’t listen to Chinese music either. But now, this strikes me as pretty strange. How come as Korean and Japanese music rise in popularity every day, Chinese-language music — including musicians from China, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, Singapore, and more, singing in Mandarin or Cantonese — has never garnered much attention in the West?

Most routes of reasoning I’ve considered stop at dead ends. Anything that can be used to explain the lack of interest in Chinese-language music has been foregone in the case of Korean and Japanese music. I do like Korean and Japanese music and have playlists for them as well. Yet, I believe that Chinese-language music is also worth a listen. It does not need approval from Western audiences, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve it.

As I mentioned before, Chinese-language music is very diverse. Here in the West, people might refer to it as a “genre,” but it isn’t a genre any more than English music is a genre or world music is still considered a genre. When I use the term Chinese music here, I’ll be referring to Chinese-language music as a whole, just shortened. Within the realm of Chinese music, you will find a variety of styles, people from different places speaking in different dialects, playing different instruments. As cliché as it sounds, I don’t think there is any excuse for someone to completely dismiss Chinese music without trying it first. 

Personally, I’m always discovering new artists and songs to listen to. At the time of writing this, some of my favourite Chinese artists based purely on music are Hua Chenyu, David Tao, and AK Liu Zhang. Hua Chenyu is a Chinese singer whose songs usually strike me as epic, with high notes, complicated melodies, and lots of emotion. David Tao (Tao Zhe) is a Taiwanese R&B singer who spiked in the ‘90s and 2000s with full albums of love songs. AK Liu Zhang is a newer Chinese rapper who incorporates everyday sounds, jazz influences, and deep lyrics.

As for songs, some of my favourites: 莲 (Lit) by Lay Zhang is a rap song with a lot of style and traditional Chinese music influences; 美人鱼 (Mermaid) by JJ Lin has a unique tune and a great rhythm; BUS STOP by AK Liu Zhang is a quiet, jazzy rap song with a fascinating theme; 小星星 (Little Star) by Silence Wang is an earnest love song that reveals a sad ending; and 无名之辈 (Anonymous) by Sean Tang is an inspirational rock song whose lyrics are relatable yet uplifting. Even with just five songs, they are all good in different ways. To every person, I think there’ll be at least one that sounds catchy or whose lyrics resonate with them.

Whether you speak the language or not, Chinese-language music is a treasure that remains mostly undiscovered by Western audiences. I don’t think music in any specific language should be set aside without reason any more than any specific language itself should be forgotten.

Search up some of those artists I’d mentioned, or any that you find online. Ask a Chinese-speaking friend if they happen to have any recommendations. I’m sure that if you take a listen, you will find some new songs that you like and maybe even some new genres or styles that don’t quite sound the same as they do in English.

There is so much out there to discover and explore behind this linguistic barrier. As goes the catchphrase of that first survival show I watched: Let’s break through it together. 

“我们一起闯!”