#namewee

Get To Know Me ✧ Favourite Music Videos [8/10]

↳ Stranger in the North 漂向北方 - Namewee ft. Wang Leehom 黃明志 ft. 王力宏 (2016)

“Stranger in the North” is a hip hop/ rap collaboration that describes the struggles and disillusionment of beipiao, or Beijing drifters - migrant workers who hope for a better life “up north” only to find that dreams can sometimes lead to disappointment. They are the people who make up the capital’s increasingly diverse “floating population” - the millions of migrants who leave their hometowns and even families behind in search of opportunity but lack the Beijing residence permit (hukou), barring them from obtaining basic services like education and health insurance. The term beipiao is a catchall for anyone working in Beijing without the Beijing hukou, from rural laborers to white-collar workers and even the scrappy musician that Namewee portrays in the music video. The dichotomy between dreams and despair, hope and hopelessness is reflected in the haunting melody sung by Wang, which floats above the gritty tongue-twister rap that Namewee churns out below it.

[Source: singchinesesongsinenglish/wordpress, radiichina]

忍着泪 (不听也不想不敢回头望的遗憾) holding back tears (not listening, not thinking, not daring to turn back to face my regrets)

掩着伤 (扛下了梦想要毅然决然去流浪) covering up wounds (shouldering my dreams, resolutely wandering)

抬头看 (卸下了自尊光环过去多风光) looking up (letting go of my pride, my halo, my brilliant past)

着斜阳 (就算再不堪败仗也不能投降) at the setting sun (never surrendering no matter how bitter the failure)

亲爱的 (再见了南方眺望最美丽的家乡) my loved ones (farewell to the south, gazing at my most beautiful hometown)

在远方 (椰子树摇晃梦境倒映着的幻象) are faraway (the coconut trees are swaying in the illusions from my dreams)

这城市 (雾霾太猖狂不散都看不清前方) this city (the haze is unrelenting, unfading, I can’t see the path ahead)

玻璃心 by Namewee + Kimberley Chen. I saw this around the time of release largely by coincidence, and didn’t think too much of it, but apparently it’s now gone a bit viral and even has news networks doing detailed analyses of the lyrics and imagery. Some things I still looked up:

割韭菜 : Literally “cutting chives”, referencing how chives grow back quickly if you cut them. If you look at a Chinese source, this refers to big companies taking advantage of small investors in the stock market. If you look at a Taiwanese source it refers to the exploitation of the lower class in China:  「 此外，依照「維基百科」說法，在中華人民共和國文化中，「韭菜」是對於「被壓榨者」的比喻，亦因此被引申為被壓榨的底層民眾。 」壓榨 yāzhà / press, squeeze, to extract something by squeezing 

NMSL: 你媽死了

森七七 ：also written 森77, a cute way of saying 生氣 (originating from PTT)

A couple words I thought were interesting from watching an analysis:

敢言 gǎn yán /  to bravely speak one’s mind without fear of offending others 「 那邊有黃明志，他的確是一直都非常的敢言 」

Funny Japanglish Song for Tokyo Olympic!【Tokyo Bon by Namewee】

This music video about a tourist finding his way around Japan always cracked me up and the song is as addictive as Gangnam Style. 😂

Namewee w/ Kimberley Chen, “Fragile” (玻璃心)  (2021)

城墙 (chénɡ qiánɡ) — city wall 挡 (dǎnɡ) — to obstruct 忧伤 (yōu shānɡ) — weighed down with grief 无恙 (wú yàng) — to be in good health 肩 (jiān) — shoulder 沉重 (chén zhònɡ) — heavy, serious 行囊 (xíng náng) — travelling bag 惆怅 (chóu chàng) — melancholy 手足无措 (shǒu zú wú cuò) — at a loss as to what to do 残破 (cán pò) — dilapidated 毅然决然 (yì rán jué rán) — resolutely and determinedly

摇晃 (yáo huànɡ) — to shake 倒映 (dào yìng) — to reflect, reflection 脏 (zāng) — dirty 混浊 (hùn zhuó) — turbid 混乱 (hùn luàn) — chaotic 匆忙 (cōng máng) — hurried 斜视 (xié shì) — squint 冷漠 (lěnɡ mò) — indifferent 强迫 (qiǎnɡ pò) — to force

蹒跚 (pán shān) — staggering 败仗 (bài zhàng) — defeat 投降 (tóu xiáng) — to surrender 椰子 (yē zi) — coconut 雾霾 (wù mái) — smog 猖狂 (chāng kuáng) — savage 飘散 (piāo sàn) — to drift away 扑朔迷离 (pū shuò mí lí) — complicated and confusing 残酷 (cán kù) — cruel 销声匿迹 (xiāo shēnɡ nì jì) — to keep silent and lie low 尸体 (shī tǐ) — corpse 踩 (cǎi) — to step on