As tough as it is trying to make it in the music industry, it takes much more courage to make a breakthrough in a foreign country, with an unknown audience and in a new language.
This is exactly what 27-year-old
South African-born singer and songwriter Eli Zaelo has done. She took up the challenge, crushed it and became a household name in Hong Kong, with performances in jazz, blues and R&B in venues across the city.
Earlier this year, she released her first R&B Mandarin single titled Aiqing Gushi (Stories About Love), followed by an English single titled Human.
In a blend of R&B, house, reggae and African instrumental, Zaelo is looking to make the most of China's rapidly growing digital music industry, which surged with the pandemic as demand grew for homegrown talent.
"I'm just studying the (Mandopop) greats and seeing how they did it. Hopefully, I can follow in their footsteps," Zaelo said in an interview with CNN.
"I'm hoping it (her singles) will open up the doors to other people who have thought about doing it, and maybe it will spark something in them," she said.
Zaelo's journey started as a drama student at Pro Arte Alphen Park in Pretoria before she moved to California in the US at the age of 19.
In the States, she underwent an 18-month music programme at the Los Angeles College of Music, where she attended seminars by music icons such as Black Eyed Peas and Damian Marley.
According to the South China Morning Post, she moved to Hong Kong for a role in Hong Kong Disneyland's Lion
King musical in 2015, where she spent 18 months.
"After Disney I went back to South Africa and got a tutor from Taiwan. I wanted to sing in Mandarin," said Zaelo.
She also teaches African dance, which allows her to introduce her culture and "bridge Africa and Asia". |
