Meet the Craft Gin Makers Hoping Local Ingredients Will Convert a New Generation of Chinese Drinkers April 9, 2021
The EXO graduate is back with the title track off his new albumLay Zhang has dropped the title track off his upcoming album “Jade”, and it’s got a little something for everyone.The track carries forward in the trap-era, Chinese-nostalgia-revivalist style pioneered in recent years by folks like Kris Wu. That makes sense, seeing that Kris and Lay used to perform together as part of K-pop group EXO, and along with other ex-members like Luhan, have become torch-holders in bringing back the polished professionalism of Korea’s sound and re-contextualizing it for Chinese fans.The track opens up on the unmistakable sound of Chinese opera percussion — Vava how we feeling right now? — before dropping into Lay’s verse. It doesn’t hurt that the beat is an absolute banger, produced by Murda Beatz.We gotta say, Lay has done a great job of balancing his linguistic approach, switching effortlessly in and out of English and Mandarin, sometimes mid-bar. The standout instance of this is his playing with the homophonic relationship between the English you and the Mandarin 玉 yù, meaning jade:玉 玉 玉 玉 玉 玉 没人比你珍贵 you (no one is more precious than you) 只有我懂的美 you (only beauty that I know) But ain’t nobody shine like 玉 玉 玉 玉 玉 玉 Ain’t nobody shine like you I know you like diamonds too But ain’t nobody shine like 玉Of course, the comments section is filled with fandom, much of it from the EXO-L fan community:“How many EXO-L here to support Lay?” reads the top-rated comment on the song’s official YouTube audio.“I also love how carefully crafted Lay’s songs are,” writes another. “He never disappoints.”Keep on shining, Lay Zhang — ain’t nobody shine like 玉.
Meet the Craft Gin Makers Hoping Local Ingredients Will Convert a New Generation of Chinese Drinkers April 9, 2021