The Talented Stephanie Sun (孙燕姿)

I’m one of those people that is just a little (一点点） obsessed with music. I love all different styles and genres, and I am especially fond of music from different countries…as a matter of fact a majority of my music collection is in a language that I can’t even “understand”, yet I love the rhythm and the feeling it has so I listen nonetheless.

On my first move to Asia (Singapore) I was excited to find some great Asian music, but was surprised to that great Asian music was not as easily found as I had previously hoped…most of the population loved either American/western bands and musicians, or Chinese “pop” music (liúxíng yīnyùe-流行音乐). There are some amazing western bands and musicians, but as far as I’m concerned Chinese pop music (and pop music in general) is nothing too spectacular; once you’ve heard one you’ve heard them all. So, you might understand my pain when upon first arrival all I heard everywhere was either, music I had already heard while in the states, or a pop song that sounded just the same as the one before. (I understand that by saying this some of my Chinese friends might beat me up, but that’s okay )

I quickly overcame my disappointment when some friends introduced me to some “good stuff” that was truly, “music to my ears”. The following is one of the “good stuff” that I have come to love and enjoy over the last couple of years living in Asia. Her name is Stephanie Sun (sūn yàn zī-孙燕姿）and she is probably my favorite Chinese female singer song writer.

Sun Yanzi (English name= Stephanie Sun) was born in Singapore on July 23, 1978, and according to wikipedia has sold over “10 million copies” of her 10 albums thus far in her career (and probably twice or three times that amount have been downloaded “illegally” on line–which is very very common in China especially). Most of her songs are sung in Mandarin Chinese, with the occasional English or Hokkien (fú jiàn hùa-福建话) song thrown into the mix.

Now, to understand why I enjoy Sun Yanzi I will tell you a little bit about my taste in Music. I am not super analytical when it comes to why I like a certain bands or musicians, it normally comes down to one thing, “how does it make me feel?” . I like music that brings a certain emotion with it; whether it makes me happy, sad, euphoric, upset..or want to dance uncontrollably… etc. So if a song is able to carry with it pretty much any emotion (except for “annoyance”) then to me that is a great song, and I will enjoy the listening experience.

Sun Yanzi is definitely one who fills her songs with feeling, rhythm and emotion. Her vocals are unique, but pleasant to the ear, and her songs combine many different elements of Singaporean culture. Although some of her recent songs are a little too poppy for me they still carry enough of Sun Yanzi signature vocals that they are still quite pleasant to the ear just not as amazing as some of her others.

Well, I won’t bore you any longer with writing about Sun Yanzi. After all, the best way to find out if you like a certain musician is to listen to their music.

So…in the words of Jordy laforge, from Reading Rainbow, “don’t take my word for it” have a listen and tell me what you think.