Boasting a bill that mixes EDM legends (Paul Oakenfold), ascending stars (KSHMR) and some of the city’s finest (Busy Gang), Nexxus Shanghai is poised to make a grand debut at the National Exhibition and Convention Center on December 19. While the stacked bill includes respected names like Norman Doray and DJ Falcon, the most exclusive performance will be a live collaboration between Shanghai bass overlord Conrank and China’s biggest world music star Sa Dingding.
Dubbed by the London Times as Asia’s Björk, Sa has sold millions of records. She’s the first Chinese singer to snag a Grammy nomination thanks to her signature mix of traditional instruments and electronic textures.
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Born into a mixed Han Chinese-Mongolian household, Sa soaked in traditional sounds while growing up with her grandmother in Inner Mongolia. Adept at the guzheng (zither) and morin khuur (horse head fiddle), the singer rocketed to fame in 2001 aged 18 when she won a TV contest to be crowned China’s Best Dance Pop Singer.
A few weeks after performing at London’s Lancaster House to an audience that included the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan, Sa breaks down her musical philosophy.
“The most important thing in music is expressing your ideas and personality; not the style,” she says. “I integrate all kinds of music to interpret my own. For contemporary musicians, electronic music allows us to fully use our imagination. You’re able to mix different sounds to create something that has no historical precedent.”
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Since re-emerging in 2007 with her sophomore album, Alive, Sa has used her early fame to push her unique musical agenda. She famously sings in Mandarin, Sanskrit, Tibetan, the near extinct Langhu language and another self-created dialect that’s inspired by the emotions of the music.
Deeply inspired by Buddhism, her performances are known to incorporate Tibetan pilgrims’ prostrations. Much like Björk, her stage costumes are a vibrant mix of color and creativity.
For 2012’s The Coming Ones, Sa traveled across the remote mountains, plains and hills of southwest China to capture endangered traditional sounds. That disc features residents of the remote Christian Miao village of Xiaoshuijing singing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, as well as her latest collaboration with EDM icon Oakenfold.
For her 2013 remix album Wonderland, she recruited Shanghai-based producer Conrank. “I felt I needed a DJ who understood Chinese culture but also had a background in dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass,” she explains. “I listened to a lot of DJs and found that Conrank’s style was very much in line with my thoughts and needs. His style has the most concise arrangements. They’re so clear and simple.”
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Conrank is equally complementary of his collaborator. “She’s up for taking risks,” he says of the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award winner.
“There was a great respect for each other’s sound. We wanted to create something that people who appreciated bass music without it being too difficult to understand for people who aren’t educated to that music.”
Coming off an outstanding year that included collaborations with DJ Shadow and the October release of the excellent Ma Fan EP, Conrank will team up with Sa for their first joint performance in two years. While she’s excited about reuniting on December 19 at Nexxus, expect the set to be a one-off. As we chat, Sa is putting the finishing touches on her fourth album, The Butterfly Dream.
Recorded in Beijing and Mumbai with producer Karsh Kale (Sting, Norah Jones), the album adds Indian flavors to Sa’s signature Chinese electronic sound. Flautist Naveen Kumar and Keralan singer/rapper Benny Dayal make appearances and Sa raves about recording in Mumbai, “where I got to understand the way Indian musicians write and record.”
No VPN? Listen on QQ Music.
“Following Spring Festival, I plan to embark on an Asian tour,” she adds understatedly. “I hope people can come.”
Sat Dec 19, 2-10pm; RMB380-580. National Exhibition and Convention Center, tickets. See event listing.
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