All about Zhang Yixing

A blog of my fangirling journey 🪷

[xingmiduy]

The Power of His Music

The first time I knew that Zhang Yixing (LAY Zhang) composes and produces his own songs, I was really excited. I went to Spotify look for LAY and found his discography. When you listen to his songs, you can hear the evolution of his music. How he finds his identity from an idol to an individual talented artist. I was so amaze of how passionate he is towards composing. I'd say a perfect combination for an artist who loves music and dancing.

I've learned that he composes all the songs in his 4 albums. And not only that, he has a lot of singles which weren't released on international platforms (made me subscribed to QQ Music VIP), like he composes for his mother, songs for the brands and random compositions that he wanted to share with his fans.

His music is different. He calls it M-POP, Mixed Mandarin POP. A Chinese (Mandarin) song mixed with different genre, like western music or elements. Unique and I love it. I love it ever since. He is a type of artist who doesn't go with what's on trend. He makes his own trend. Just like his dancing, he specializes KRUMP rather than going with HipHop, which is the most common among idols (though he is very good with most of the dance styles). One thing he never forgets to write, his songs for his fans (Xbacks/Xingmis). He is such a sweet and lovable human being. That is why his fans would always be there with him through thick and thin.

I recommend you try to listen to his songs. May go with his MVs or practice videos to see his dance as well.

As of this writing he has released 4 physical albums and the rest are digitals. A total of 104 songs on international platforms including a few remix and collabs. He has collaborations with known western artists and producers.

Below are the 4 physical albums: 1. Lose Control 2. Sheep 3. Namanana 4. LIT Collecting these babies are so difficult, especially the 4th child. Lit Album was limited, the cost of shipment and you won't even know if you will receive it in good condition. One of which, it came with a torn exterior box for me. Thankfully the inside is all good. I am happy and proud to have found him. He is a very very talented artist.

[xingmiduy]

TO LOVE AND BE LOVED

I have never encountered a two way love between a fan and an artist before, but when I started to know more about Zhang Yixing, I have discovered that this kind of love is possible

Mostly we only see how a fan expresses her/his love to the artist he/she adores but we rarely see that love being reciprocated. Yixing is one of those artists who knows how to love his fans sincerely and dearly. He treated them as his distant relatives.

See Image Description (ALT)

He shows his love to them in his own way like, to hold a fan meet for his birthday and giving them letters of his appreciation, making music and songs dedicated to his fans (X Back, Gift to Xback, Don't Let me go, Bee With You).

He would always protect his fans the way they protected him.

[xingmiduy]

His Crazy Dance

I have learned that since Yixing was so young, he was already very talented. His dance moves were already exemplary. At the age of 17, he chose the path of being an idol. He trained for four years to make his debut.

As a fan, I have admired him so much for the hard work he gave during his trainee days. He was called the "god of all trainees" (keyword: sandbags). He practices every day, even until today. He doesn't know how to relax. As for him, relax means to practice, to make music, and to study.

The reason I like his dancing so much is that, as I see it, he danced with passion. He is not dancing for the sake of dancing. He dances to the music, every beat of it. He feels the music, eternalizes it, and executes it in his body. All parts of his body are moving very cleanly. (I am not a professional, so I am just trying to explain his dancing the way I see it.)

His moves is not more on K-pop, even if he is dancing to K-pop music.

He learns all types of dancing. He continues to learn even if he is already so good. He believes that there's still so much to learn. (He is very humble)

Credit to the owner shown on the watermark. A stage performance at Hunan TV Spring Festival 2023. Video Source: Weibo Song: Veil (by: Lay Zhang)

When you look at his moves, you might say that the steps are very easy. "Oh, I can do that." But when you try to dance, it will be very difficult. You cannot execute it the way he does. And why is that? My theory is that when he dances, he is so flawless and natural that you CANNOT see or feel that he is having a hard time doing the difficult steps. It is so easy on him. Unlike other dancers, in order for them to execute the difficult steps properly, they exert more effort, and it will be shown in their dance, so as a viewer, we also feel the difficulty of the steps.

He loves Krump and I am a fan of krumping.

Credit watermark. Source Weibo. Taken at Metamoon Festival 2022.

I recommend for you to check link below. You will be able to see Zhang Yixing's Dance Level. (May skip and go directly to his dance performances)

张艺兴舞蹈水平图鉴（至2022）_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

看看你能超过哪一年/舞龄多少年的张艺兴吧~本视频定位为【精选集】而非【全盘点】，视频选择上以强调张艺兴个人舞蹈实力为标准。欢迎各位把自己的心头好舞台放在评论区供大伙儿全面考古~, 视频播放量 66501、弹幕量 7849、点赞数 9696、投硬币枚数 10063、收藏人数 685

I like 6rystalis analysis of Yixing's dance. You may check her twitter and follow her. She is good at explaining why Yixing's dance is so much different from the other dancers.

[xingmiduy]

Liking an Idol

Maybe most of the solo stan started as group stans, but not me.

Ever since the Don't Fight the Feeling MV, I have been searching for more videos related to Lay Zhang, most of which you will see him in with the group. He's known internationally as LAY.

I was confused at that time about why he's always missing with the group activities, and later I learned that most of his projects are in China since the conflict between South Korea and China in 2016.

At the beginning, I contented myself by looking at the videos that he was showing. You know, the usual music videos, concerts, and a bit of variety. Those were his early years with the group.

Then I found Street Dance of China Season 3 (SDC3)

SDC3 is a reality show about street dancing. They showcase the street dance style in China. I became a big fan of his dance style, especially Krump. I finished the entire season within 5 days. He was so good. His movements are my type of dancing. I was also able to learn that he composes music because he uses his own compositions on his stages in SDC. (Note: this is just the 1st month of my fangirling journey ^_^ )

I loved his compositions when I first heard them on SDC, so after I watched the show, I started listening to his music. I will talk about it more in my upcoming blogs. It would be too long for this blog.

Video/Photo Cr: Youku Youtube and watermarks.

[xingmiduy]

How I started to be a fan?

I am a person who loves music. I like watching people dance. I admire how people dance to the music and are happy about it.

It started on June 7, 2021, when a friend of mine asked me to stream a video (she always does that for her idol). I had just come from a vacation at that time and was on my way home when I started to stream the music video for EXO's "Don't Fight the Feeling." At first, I was not interested in watching and just wanted to play the video, but since I was bored because of traffic, I watched anyway.

I am not a fan of K-pop, but I listen to some of the music. There are some I like, but mostly I don't (sorry, kpop lovers, we have different tastes).

Watching the MV did not hold much interest until it reached 2:09 minutes. The one dancing and singing captured a lot of my interest. I was glued to the music video after only 7 seconds. I was waiting for him to appear again, and he did! Wearing that red long-sleeve polo made him stand out. I repeatedly watch the MV many times, even skipping to his part.

I asked my friend, "Who was that guy?" She answered.

"That's their Chinese member, Zhang Yixing, aka LAY."

Video Cr: SMTOWN (EXO: Don't Fight the Feeling)