Shang Wenjie speaks to CNNGo about Chinese fashion and English music
Multilingual singer Laure Shang was recently featured on CNNGo, where she talked about her eccentric style, her language and music preferences, especially regarding her new album that featured three English songs written by herself, and her plans for the future. Read the entire article here.
“After each show, reporters always ask me about Lady Gaga this or Lady Gaga that, but I just want to say to them ‘It’s time we start paying attention to made-in-China creations,’” says Shang. “The outfits I wear are mostly by young Chinese designers, so why not ask about them? Why do we always have to say that we are copying others?”
Shang, an alumna of Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University, puts the responsibility for supporting made-in-China designs on local media. “The Chinese media should take some responsibility for encouraging creativity from within China,” she says of her critics.
The article also talks about Laure’s increasing number of songs written by herself, most of them in English, one of the four European languages she knows, rather than Chinese.
“But I realized that only I understand myself best. Music is a very personal thing and unless you can find a soul mate who fully gets you, it’s very difficult to express exactly what you mean.”
Composing in English is no barrier to the linguist — Shang studied German for two years and taught herself Spanish after being introduced to Latin American music — as she often expresses her emotions in English anyway.
She feels that European musicians, despite not being as popular as American bands, have plenty to offer too.
“Since I have the advantage of language, I hope to communicate and maybe collaborate with more musicians from Europe,” says Shang, a former translator who worked for a French firm in her pre-fame days…
