ARTICLE 10 C-Pop Recommendations For K-Pop Fans

Polaris_Tae

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10 C-POP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR K-POP FANS
Written by: Polaris_Tae

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Chinese pop music is often overlooked these days in favour of Japanese and Korean pop. In this playlist I'm going to recommend 10 songs that I hope just might convince you into adding a few Mandopop songs to your heavy rotations!



#1- Rocket Girls 101 - 'Calorie'


Read the lyrics here (translated by sunflower for Hallyu+)

Rocket Girls
101 (火箭少女101) is an eleven-member Chinese girl group that was formed through the first season of a survival show, 'Produce 101 China,' and it's one of my favourite all-time girl groups right now! Two members, Wu Xuanyi and Meng Meiqi, are part of the Korean-Chinese group WJSN co-managed by 'Yuehua Entertainment' and 'Starship Entertainment', while Lai Meiyun is a member of SING女团. They made their debut on the 23rd of June 2018 with the single 'Rocket Girls'.

'Calorie' was released as an OST for the Chinese film 'Hello Mr. Billionaire' and it’s an electro-pop dance track with a killer hook and an extremely colourful music video. The lyrics tell the story about wanting to be thin and fit but due to having a large appetite they find it difficult to do so, therefore they have to work hard to keep up a healthy appearance and be strict on their diet by quitting greasy and unhealthy food.

My favourite feature of this song is the hook where they sing 'Bye bye, donuts, bubble tea, and instant noodles, hotpot, rice, and stir-fried chicken, take them from me... Bye bye, caffeine, no more cola or greasy food'. The lyrics could be somewhat seen as body shaming, that you can only be beautiful if you are perfectly thin, however I see this more as a fitness motivational song that actually inspires me to want to go out and join a gym (no joke). The bridge, however, is a bit jarring the first listen, where we see Yamy and Sunnee rap about striving towards their fitness goals, though becoming extremely addictive upon multiple listens, especially Yamy's part.

You'll like this if you listen to: Momoland, T-ARA, EXID





#2- Rocket Girls 101 - 'Born to Win'



'Born to Win' is a motivational single from Rocket Girls 101's 2018 album 'Collide' that encourages the listener by saying that anything they set their mind to is possible as long as they have the motivation to do so, strive for your goals and not give up. The electric guitar consistently played throughout the background of the track, as well as the rapping in this song which was written and performed by leader Yamy, helps to further enhance the ambitious nature of the song.

My favourite aspect has to be the vocal runs that are sprinkled around, like the guitar riffs, adding an extra dimension to the track that would make it feel slightly lacking without it. Sunnhee is especially great in this song, as we get to hear her participate in singing compared to only rapping, and Meiqi has some of the best vocals that I've heard from her. Keep in mind - I have never heard a WJSN song, so maybe I'm missing out...

You'll like this if you listen to: ioi





#3- Justin - 'Pick Up The Phone'


Read the lyrics here (translated by sunflower for Hallyu+)

Justin, also known as Huang Minghao, is the main rapper, lead dancer and youngest member of the Chinese group NEXT. Prior to debuting with his current group, he participated in the 2nd season of Produce 101 (Korea) but he was eliminated in the 8th episode. Following that, he participated in the Chinese survival show ‘Idol Producer’ where he placed 4th, thus making it into the resulting group NINE PERCENT. After the debut of NEXT in 2018, he participated in both NINE PERCENT and NEXT activities until the disbandment of the first one in late 2019. His most recent solo release ‘Pick Up The Phone’ is a slow RnB track, with an overarching guitar playing throughout the entirety of the song, where he asks the subject of his affections to pick up the phone.

You’ll like this if you listen to: Crush, Taeyang, Dean





4. XNINE - 'Big Show'



XNINE debuted in 2016 and it consists of nine members who were selected through the Chinese Tencent/SM Entertainment joint survival show XFIRE, ultimately forming the group under 'Wajijiwa Entertainment.' Three members - Zhao Lei, Xia Zhiguang & Yan Xujia - are currently promoting with R1SE, a temporary group formed from another survival program named 'Produce Camp' (2019). Xiao Zhan, who rose to fame following his breakout role as Wei Wuxian in 'The Untamed', is also a part of XNINE as the main vocalist.

If there were two words to describe the sound of XNINE I would use 'bubble-gum pop', they encapsulate it down to the smallest detail through manufactured upbeat music dominated by an intense hook. Their 2018 single 'Big Show' is a light-hearted and fun song that talks about how people broadcast themselves across Social Media but no one really knows who they are due to the fact that people hide behind pictures and usernames.

The only real criticism that I have about this song is that, even though Xiao Zhan is listed as the main vocalist in XNINE, he only has about three lines, being extremely under-utilised for his role.

You'll like this if you listen to: The Boyz





#5- SING女团 - '寄明月'



I first came across SING女团 due to the OST for the ‘Mo Dao Zu Shi’ donghua (Chinese Animation), 'Bu Xian', which is superb. SING女团 is a Chinese girl group that focuses on producing EDM blended with traditional Chinese elements.

If there is one thing that I would like to see in K-Pop it would be a girl group successfully attempting a traditional concept, as there have been multiple boy groups to pull it off but I struggle to think of a girl group who have used those unique elements in their concepts, which I think SING女团 pulls off wonderfully.

'寄明月', or 'Moonlight Thoughts' in English, is a song about unrequited love comparing the object of their affection to the phases of the moon.
"You are the dream that dyes the moon white which has various phases like the emotions of people."
I found the feature to stand out the most in this song to be the instrumentals rather than vocals, where the composer added some eastern musical elements, to what would otherwise be just a regular EDM trap beat, to transform it into the masterpiece that is the finished product.

Other great songs by SING女团 include: 千盏 (Thousands Cups); Bu Xian (No Envy); 团团圆圆 (Reunion) & 夜笙歌 (Night Strike).

You'll like this if you listen to: I*ZONE, G-Friend, WJSN


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#6- Lexie Liu - 'Manta'



Lexie Liu is a Chinese solo artist who rose to prominence after coming fourth place in the television show ‘Rap of China’, then she signed with the record label 88Rising paving out a successful career in the independent music scene. I first came to know of Lexie Liu through her music video for '好吗,好啦,好吧' which was spammed all over Twitter at the time.

‘Manta’ is her most recent single, a trap infused futuristic sounding song about how she doesn’t need to be held down by a person to be happy. The music video has a cyberpunk aesthetic, showing a similar look to Ghost in a Shell or Blade Runner, which just serves to further accentuate the futuristic concept of the song.

You'll like this if you listen to: 'Crush' era 2NE1, Kisum, Gray, Yoon Mirae





#7- NEXT -'WYTB'


Read the lyrics here (translated by Vanilla Cupcake for Hallyu+)

NEXT
debuted in 2018. The group consists of seven members, three of which (Zhu Zhengting; Justin & Fan Chengcheng) were members of the project group NINE PERCENT in 2018 up until their disbandment in late 2019. Following the success. the three were joined by four other trainees (Bi Wenjjun; Huang Xinchun; Ding Zeren & Li Quanzhe) to debut as NEX7 with the single ‘Wait A Minute’. In 2019 they rebranded and re-debuted as NEXT with the single 'WYTB' (What You Talking 'Bout).

'WYTB' is the group's latest single produced by Zico of Block B. The song talks about rising up beyond the expectations and to not give up when faced with challenges that society places upon you. The song is a trap-heavy EDM fusion that is very distinctly a Zico's production but still fits well with NEXT's prior discography.

I found that despite Zhu Zhengting being billed as a lead vocal, he had at most two lines through the entire song even with Fan Chengcheng missing from this release. On a side-note, NEXT is in the unique position of having three lead/main vocals in a single group, which is likely the reason for cutting the amount of lines. However, even despite the lack of singing time, I found Zhu Zhengting's section within the final verse to be one of my favourite aspects of the song, where he sings "We got it, how we got it? We know it, yes we know it! Měi yīgè dōu bèi jǔ qǐ péibàn nǐ, Let's get started!"

NEXT is probably one of my favourite C-Pop groups as of late. The majority of their discography is extremely solid with great B-sides such as: 'Excuses', 'Blooming', 'Want You', 'Open Your 爱' & 'Blah-Blah'.


You'll like this if you listen to: Monsta X, IKON, ATEEZ, Block B




#8- UNIQ -'Monster'



UNIQ debuted under 'Yuehua Entertainment' in 2014 after having been co-operatively trained with 'YG Entertainment.' Following the conclusion of their training, two members - Seungyoun & Sungjoo - who were signed with YG at the time, even left such a major Korean entertainment company to debut under Yuehua, the premiere label for Chinese idol groups.

The group has been on an extended hiatus due to the 'Hallyu Ban' that was enacted by China following the implementation of THAAD missile systems in South Korea, forcing the members to other activities: Wang Yibo is focusing on acting, shooting to stardom following the success of his most recent drama, 'The Untamed,' Wenhan is currently a member of the project group UNINE, Seungyoun was a member of X1 until its disbandment and Yixuan and Sungjoo have sporadic activities across Chinese media.

Their last group release together was 'Monster' in late 2018, which is about how they feel like they can’t measure up to the person that they love and compare themselves to a monster. The instrumental starts with a simple ballad-like structure, however, once the first rap verse begins, the electric guitar is layered on top of the piano instrumental. Sungjoo really shines in this song, it's only a shame that they’ve only performed it at the 2019 YH family concert.

You'll like this if you listen to: BTOB, UKISS, EXO





#9- Jolin Tsai - Lady In Red



Jolin Tsai is a Taiwanese singer, actress and she has been active in the Entertainment industry since 1999. She is known for frequently reinventing herself through both her music and image and she is recognised as one of the best sellers throughout Asia, having sold over 25 million records across the continent, making her one of the most successful female Chinese soloists. 'Lady In Red' is a 2019 single from her album 'Ugly Beauty' and it is a heavy trap infused song that gives off an experimental feel to it. I found that I especially liked the distorted violin and orchestral elements which act as a further dimension to an already great song. 'Lady In Red' is definitely one of those songs that has to be seen, as well as heard, because the music video - however disturbing it is - heightens the concept to the nth degree.

You'll like this if you listen to: (G)I-DLE, G-Dragon, NCT, Blackpink, basically any artist as Jolin Tsai literally has a song for every genre





#10- R1SE: '谁都别吝啬・Be Yourself'



R1SE is a Chinese idol group that was formed following the 2019 season of 'Produce Camp' where the top 11 contestants out of 101 gained a place through public votes, ranking and evaluation, later debuting in June 2019 with their single 'R1SE.' The group consists of members from different entertainment companies, many already belonging to various C-Pop groups, seven in total having already pre-established careers within the Chinese entertainment industry. (1)

Their 2019 single 'Be Yourself' is a song with a message encouraging you to live your life to the fullest. The instrumental is an EDM fusion track with traditional elements blended together. The unique feature was not the vocals but the traditional aspects of the instrumental, as the group played the vocals somewhat safe with almost zero challenging aspects throughout the entirety of the single, especially considering that they've shown great harmonisation in their previous OST releases. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to their future projects!


You'll like this if you listen to: Wanna One, Stray Kids


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(1) Within R1SE, seven members had already established entertainment careers, these include: Xiao Lei, Xia Zhiguang & Yan Xujia who are all from X-NINE, Zhou Zhennan is a soloist, Ren Hao from Zero-G, Liu Ye from SWIN-S and He Luoluo from Yian Music Club.



Special thanks to Sunflower and Vanilla Cupcake from H+ translations for their god-tier Chinese translations!
 

Mina

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I’m getting more and more into Cpop and have been looking for recommendations, so this was great help! :hehe:
 

Polaris_Tae

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I've usually been disappointed with C-pop idols/young men songs , do you have artist recommendations too?
I'll check out Lexie Liu

I tend to like female groups over male groups in C-Pop weirdly... I'd say most songs by SING, 'Excuses' & 'Blooming' by NEXT, and 'Lucky' by Wang Yibo, also 'Rent a Bus to the Moo'n by UNINE is quite good, the rest of their discography not so much...
For Rocket Girls, their B-sides are pretty good, my favourites being 'Alita' by Fu Jing & '造一架飞机' by Mengjie/Rainbow.
'Yu Nian' by Xiao Zhan, while not strictly CPop is probs my favourite Chinese song rn
Do check out Lexie Liu, she's great!
 

BlueNose

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jolin Tsai queen. i personally prefer chinese solos, but im vibing with the xnine song
Sing also have some nice songs and i like their concept
 

Kami

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I've usually been disappointed with C-pop idols/young men songs , do you have artist recommendations too?
I'll check out Lexie Liu

Solo artists >>>>> cpop groups

Julia Wu



Lexie Liu



Zhang BiChen



Crispy



J Sheon



Morrison



Shi Shi



KarenCici



Tia Ray

 
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Andrea

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Nice article and thanks for your recommendations! I plan to check those songs out soon.
 
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