Zhang Liyin brought new single “Not Alone” to Peng Peng interview, shared the song’s backstory, as well as her experiences working alone in Korea and the relationships between SM artists.
“Success is not easy. Behind success, you must work hard, and even after working hard, you may not even be successful.” Zhang Liyin believes her inner strength has changed the most since her debut eight years ago. She admits that during the long time when she was without new songs or without performances, she considered giving up many times, and even considered becoming a regular 9-to-5 commuter worker.
“Not Alone” continues to be a ‘tearful song’ like “Agape”. As the follow-up song to “Agape”, Zhang Liyin has expressed that both music videos must be seen together. “‘Agape’ represents the strength of a mother’s love, while ‘Not Alone’ speaks of Tao’s life experiences after leaving his mother.” Having specially invited Tao and Victoria Song to act in her music videos this year, Zhang Liyin was full of praise on the two people’s acting, “Victoria acted the roles of the mother and the young girl with two different feelings, Tao’s emotions were on point, very touching.” Having seen the two people acting, Zhang Liyin hopes she too will have opportunities to enter the acting industry, “When it comes to acting, I hope to display a natural acting, to act a role of a simple and pure girl.”
Previous male-female duets “Timeless” and “Breath” were also popular. Zhang Liyin has revealed that there are future plans for a collaboration with a male singer, but as for who it is, Zhang Liyin could not say. She hopes she can collaborate with more Mainland Chinese singers, and has expressed that since she was young, she has liked Sun Nan and Han Hong. “I hope to collaborate with Han Hong, to spark a different chemistry.” Also, the ballad specialist Zhang Liyin has indicated that she will try dance choreography songs, “I think it is time to transform; soon I will show everyone a dance song where I’m singing and dancing at the same time.”
Zhang Liyin who has previously always developed in Korea is currently focused in developing in China, compared to promoting in Korea. Zhang Liyin feels it is more intimate in China. As she sees it, Chinese and Korean TV shows have their own individual characteristics, “Chinese shows has a wide variety of shows to choose from, whereas in Korea there are fixed weekly chart shows.” Talking about when she first arrived in Korea, Zhang Liyin admitted that it was very difficult, even eating one whole month of only ‘budae jjigae’. Due to the language barrier, she would unintentionally make a lot of jokes. Eventually Zhang Liyin worked hard in learning Korean, starting from learning her first word as ‘hello’ to her fluent Korean now.
Having left to go to Korea alone when she was only 10+-years-old, for Zhang Liyin, to leave her mother was a very arduous task, but her company was much like a family, making her feel warm (with affection). Zhang Liyin revealed that during Chinese New Year, she would often meet up with Victoria Song, Tao and other Chinese singers who are developing in Korea, to talk and drink. As for the company’s many handsome male artists, Zhang Liyin expressed she herself likes a “warm man” who can take care of her. “Earlier, when I collaborated with Chen, I felt he has a sunny personality, very professional, and very considerate of employees, and especially lovely and cordial, much like a Zhou Mi kind of warm guy who attracts many females.”
On hiatus from the entertainment industry for five years, these several years has made Zhang Liyin understand and treasure the true value of success. “Success is not easy. Behind success, you must work hard, and even after working hard, you may not even be successful.” Zhang Liyin believes her inner strength has changed the most since her debut eight years ago. She admits that during the long time when she was without new songs or without performances, she considered giving up many times, and even considered becoming a regular 9-to-5 commuter worker. But because she has always felt a passion towards having a music career, as well as her mother’s constant encouragement and support, and fans never leaving or giving up on her, she continued on these five years; finally making her return.
