PUBLISHED ONSeptember 05, 2024 8:50 AMByYeo Shu HuiWhen Chinese singer YoungCaptain shot to fame in 2020 with his song Na Li Dou Shi Ni (2017) blowing up on Douyin, it was an unexpected situation for him.
Speaking to AsiaOne in an interview while he was in Singapore for his Starry U World Tour in August, the 30-year-old shared: "My original intention of writing songs was for myself and to express my emotions, including lyrics, melody and structure of the song. I didn't have to consider anyone or anything else."
With his passion for music and a willingness to go all out for something that he loves without anything to fear, he appeared more often on stage, performing for his increasing number of fans in China and worldwide.
He became known on the internet as the "break-up song specialist" and "emo prince of romantic songs".
But fame for him also meant that composing music is no longer just for himself now, as he has to listen to recommendations and advice from many parties, including his record company and manager.
"But too much feedback got me confused instead and affected my songwriting," he said, adding that he has also written music of other genres, including rap.
YoungCaptain also told us candidly he has to do about two or three performances every week in China, and these, as well as other tasks, took up most of his time in recent years. His personal time has thus taken a back seat.
"I don't really have time to enjoy life and really think about composing music [that I like]. So sometimes, I think this is different from my original intentions," he admitted, adding that his ideal break would be to rest his mind by doing nothing.
Despite that, he has since made peace with himself and changed his perspective. He also went on to produce more hits, including 11 and Nuna, both released in 2022.
While he's known for his sentimental songs, YoungCaptain assured us he is not an emo person in real life.
He enjoys photography and videography and would bring his camera everywhere with him to capture his experiences.
He also told us that when he travels, he would have two bags in his luggage, one for his camera lens and other accessories, and another for his microphone and headphones, which he uses to record the audio for video content and music compositions.
When it comes to music composition, YoungCaptain believes in writing from his emotions and with "sincerity". He shared that he started composing songs at about 14 years old, inspired by his favourite singers, including Jay Chou.
He added that when he has a breakup, he captures the feelings of that moment with a song.
"Because those feelings are quite rare for a musician, I might transfer my sadness into my songs."
In fact, his songs Na Li Dou Shi Ni and 11 were both the products of breakups.
He told us the former was written fresh from his separation, while the latter was composed when he had a flashback about another split some years later.
YoungCaptain's concert at the Star Vista Theatre on Aug 16 marked the second time he visited Singapore.
He shared that he ate black pepper crab and bak kut teh the day before and looked forward to exploring other attractions, such as the Singapore Zoo and Gardens By The Bay.
On Spotify, he has more than 850,000 monthly listeners with over 128,000 from Singapore.
"I was in Singapore last year for just one performance and didn't expect to have so many people listening to my songs on Spotify. It felt miraculous. I was not familiar with Singapore before and it was after my performance last year that I slowly understood there are so many people in a place so far away from China who are listening to my songs," he said.
[[nid:699049]]
No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.
