Meet The Malaysian 'Banana' Songstress Who Sings In Both English And Mandarin
SHN is now two years into learning Mandarin!
By Jia Vern Tham — 12 Feb 2019, 08:07 PM
Many 'bananas' will find it hard whenever they are required to speak in Mandarin.
Let alone singing in a language they don't understand.
24-year-old Chloe Soh, known as SHN on stage, is an up and coming 'banana' indie pop songstress who performs in both English and Mandarin
"(Singing in both languages) was actually the agreement when I joined Jumuro (music label)," SHN told SAYS in a recent interview.
"Signing to them (the label) meant that I had to take up the challenge to learn Mandarin, because I'm a total banana," she added.
SHN, who has been learning Mandarin for two years, initially wanted to produce only English music
"The Malaysian market is pretty small. If I want to do only English music, it's pretty niche," the 24-year-old said, before adding that she has picked up Mandarin in an attempt to break into the Chinese market.
"When I write songs, I want to tell my stories. If the market is so niche, how many people can I reach to tell my stories? (I think) it's pretty interesting as well for my stories to reach an overseas audience," SHN added.
The songstress revealed that her Mandarin tracks were first written in English, before they were translated into Mandarin
"For those songs, musically it's still me, but lyrically they have been translated," SHN said.
She noted that it has been tough for her to converse in Mandarin despite her journey so far, but remains hopeful that there will be people who accept an artist who performs songs in different languages.
"It's been quite a challenge honestly, especially when it comes to interviewing in Mandarin and you can't even speak the language... But I definitely want (my songs) in both languages to take off," she added.
Here's a Mandarin track from SHN, 'I Won't Go':
SHN has been putting out singles in both languages. Her latest one, 'Happier With Her', tells her side of the story in a relationship.
"I'm not a very jealous person, but when I wrote this song it came from a place of jealousy," she told SAYS.
"I felt that for the first time in a very long time, like you know when you're jealous you get paranoid and you start envisioning this made-up story in your mind... You imagine how this other person you're with will be happier with somebody else," the songstress added.
"I decided to turn it into a song, because why not?" SHN said.
This feature is part of the #saysplaylist series, providing your playlist with a breath of fresh Malaysian air.
If you know any Malaysian bands, singers, or songs that you think we should feature, let us know in the comments below!