EXO's Lay Zhang on his love for chilli crab, his 4 cats and learning Singlish for his concert
It’s a special year for the Chinese pop star, who celebrates a decade in the biz after his EXO debut: He's got a new EP, West, and he’ll be performing his solo show Grandline 2: Infinite Lands in Singapore on Oct 19.
Chinese pop star and EXO’s Lay Zhang in Singapore for his Grandline 2: Infinite Lands concert on Oct 19. (Photo: CNA/Kelvin Chia)
Penny Wong 18 Oct 2022 10:08AM (Updated: 19 Oct 2022 11:47AM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST “Music producer, singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor” is what Lay Zhang goes by. But we all know he’s much more than that – he’s also the CEO of Chromosome Entertainment, and an avid chilli crab lover.
In fact, the Chinese pop star and member of K-pop group EXO took the liberty to have chilli crab the very day he reached Singapore, after successfully wrapping up his concert in Malaysia the previous week.
His verdict? “It’s delicious and has a friendly spice level.” Safe to say, chilli crab is on Zhang’s list of favourites.
Lay Zhang’s in Singapore for his solo show Grandline 2: Infinite Lands. Ahead of his concert, CNA Lifestyle had a chat with the Chinese pop star and EXO member – and even got him to show us some of his dance moves.
Zhang’s concert, Grandline 2: Infinite Lands, will take place on Oct 19 at Resorts World Convention Centre. The dedicated singer has been preparing for the show since July, and expressed his delight to finally be able to showcase his music and performance for fans in Singapore.
When asked what message he wanted to convey through the theme of this concert, Zhang said: “I think of a captain steering a boat that’s continuously moving forward. Even as time passes, and the boat gets a little old, it keeps on going. As for me, I’ll keep on going as well, there’s no turning back.”
The concert will feature hits such as Namanana and Lit, and we’ve confirmed it personally: The multi-talented star will be playing his instruments on stage.
Zhang plays the piano, guitar, and a traditional Chinese gourd flute called hulusi. His musical journey started a little rocky. “I used to learn how to play the instruments on an on-and-off basis, but one day I realised I’d really fallen in love with these instruments, so I watched video tutorials and continued to learn them by myself.”
And as it turns out, Zhang is now a total pro with the instruments; fans who are bound for the concert are in for a treat.
Zhang picked I Don’t Care as the song that was closest to his heart in his latest album West. In short, the song is about ignoring the haters and unwanted opinions, and following your heart. To that, he has a tip for dealing with comments from Internet trolls: “Scroll away quickly! Don’t linger on them and focus on the supportive comments instead.”
During the press conference on Monday (Oct 17), the singer took on the challenge to learn Singlish phrases on the spot, and now boasts a Singlish repertoire consisting of “shiok” (cool), “chio” (hot), and “yan dao” (handsome).
Upon picking up the terms, he asked: “Should it be shiok concert or concert shiok?”
“Shiok concert!” the on-site reporters agreed. Hopefully, we’ll get to hear him say “shiok concert” as he compliments his fans with “chio” and “yan dao”.
