INTERVIEW: XENZU is an Alien Superstar
Alé Washington
A few weeks ago in Atlanta, XENZU, a multi talented musician from China, glided on stage at the Loft, an intimate club in Midtown.
“My voice is a little fucked up,” she said as way of introduction with the casualty of asking a friend if they want a drink. “But I’m gonna do my best anyway. Let’s go!” She then flipped her regal, golden hair which shimmered under the bright lights like a new Gucci belt, and proceeded to devour the stage. That night I was wearing new platform boots, in deep pain and regret that I prioritized an aesthetic over comfort, but XENZU’s performance was so powerful that by the second song, I was dancing.
XENZU’s music exists far outside of K-Pop, mainstream pop, or even hip-hop. If I were to categorize it as anything, it reminds me of the hype, trill music coming from SoundCloud in the mid-2000s. Gloriously excessive but unafraid of displaying vulnerability, XENZU lives into the contradictions you might see in her persona. Her music is euphoric: the banger of a track “Dom Perignon” from her EP Burn Book & Glow Up rips into your skull with the force of a sledgehammer thanks to a filthy beat and her hype vocals. “Now you feelin’ like you won the lotto,” she tells the listener. You probably have – because you found her music.
On stage XENZU spits fire. She’s a glamazon and a hurricane of opulence.“You only got one life,” she warns in the song of the same name and chews up the stage like she’s making the most of hers.
“Being vulnerable is the most brave thing you can ever do for yourself.”
-XENZU
XENZU moved to the United States when she was thirteen to study in San Diego.
“But I’m from everywhere,” she told me one afternoon on Zoom as she sat in a serene bedroom. “I’m a curious person. I’m always me when I’m traveling and exploring on the road.” Today she splits her time between Beijing and Los Angeles, but she is a drifter; a woman who is transient and can bring culture or art anywhere she goes. Home is wherever XENZU wants it to be. Her life is an art exhibition.
She grew up in what she categorized as a “typical” Asian family: XENZU was encouraged to study and to marry or find the perfect job. But XENZU’s attention was elsewhere.
“I’ve always loved music,” she said. She performed and sang often as a young girl, but the pressures of excelling in school kept her from solely focusing on her craft. “But I’ve always wanted to be in the arts,” she said. The wildness and the creativity of self-expression in art spoke to her.
While many Asian artists, particularly in Korea, are trained by large companies before debuting, XENZU’s artistry is entirely of her own making. “I am self-trained,” she told me. “I took dance classes when I was younger, but I couldn’t pursue my passions like I wanted because I had a lot of schoolwork. I [had to] work hard.”
XENZU didn’t begin making music “officially” until she was around sixteen or seventeen. At that point, she was very inspired by urban music, but she wanted to put her own twist on the genre. “People see me as a rapper, but I don’t really rap that much,” she said.
Instead of sticking to one particular aesthetic, XENZU wanted to find textures and sounds that felt right for her. She longed to pour all aspects of herself into her art. As a result, her toughness and her fragility coexist within her stages and her music. “I just do what I feel in my heart,” she said. “My music is probably edgy because that’s my personality.”
I saw XENZU’s ability to wear her heart on her sleeve onstage in Atlanta when she became emotional after performing a song. “I just wanna say,” she said to the crowd after composing herself. “If you like someone, tell them.” There was an audible gasp from the audience, perhaps not prepared for the emotion or the authenticity. I wondered what memories flashed back in that moment; who she missed and what she wished she could have said to them. But I also admired her ability to go there emotionally; to bring the audience inside her mind for just a moment. It was stunning and it added to her appeal. When I told this story to her, XENZU was touched.
“Being vulnerable is the most brave thing you can ever do for yourself. It’s hard as an artist to be vulnerable sometimes,” she explained. “No matter how edgy I am, I still have a vulnerable side. I’m a woman. I am that girl. Even though I’m all over the hot girl shit and female empowerment, I have that feminism inside of me that holds a space. I value it.”
Alé Washington
When she first began releasing the music, she was ahead of her time for a Chinese female artist. While edgy, aggressive music from women can be common in the West, XENZU stood alone both in her looks and her vocal style. “Some people don’t understand my form of art yet,” she said with emphasis on the last word. “But my Chinese fans root for me. They want me to be happy. They will tell me how much they like me but the most touching thing is that they want me to be happy.”
When I told her that there is perhaps no one who is making music on her level from China, XENZU had someone in mind.
“There are a few artists doing this,” Xenzu replied. “But particularly Jackson Wang.” Jackson, the superstar rapper and singer from GOT7, is a close friend of XENZU’s. “He’s like an older brother to me,” she added. “We’re trying to do the same thing. He’s been doing this for ten years and I’m a baby. But I’m on my way.”
Jackson took XENZU under his wing after a former manager from his time at JYP found XENZU’s music online. She was immediately welcomed into Team Wang, Jackson’s label and creative team, which she tells me “is like family.”
“Not a lot of people are doing this work as a Chinese artist,” she said, which is what makes Team Wang and Jackson’s mentorship so important. Together they are forging a path for other creatives to follow, but there is no rulebook. There is no precedent for how far they can go or how much they can potentially shift culture with their art.
Perhaps merging cultures is what XENZU does best. Wherever she goes, she is dripping with a bit of Beijing glamour; of LA streetwear; of feminism; and of a long history of Asian women who have tried to make their mark on the music industry.
“I have to believe in myself, and I have to have faith,” she said. “I am what I am. I’m an alien. I don’t have to follow any rules. I am excited for my own way even if I don’t know what will happen.”
Alé Washington
When I told her that I appreciated an Instagram post she captioned, “Spreading a little Mandarin on stage” she thought about how her Chinese heritage is with her no matter where she goes.“I don’t care what other people think, I am culture,” she said. “Nobody knows what is going on artistically in China. They might see K-Pop, but we never see Chinese artists doing pop.”
“I hope we can leave some sparkles for the next generation because then we’re doing the right thing. It’s not only about our success. It’s about the wave we’re creating. It’s about this next generation.”
Perhaps this dissemination of culture is why artists like XENZU are so vital for our culture, specifically in North America, which is a melting pot of identities and ancestoraries. There are signs in pop culture, too, that the world is ready for this kind of artistic excellence: Just a few weeks ago Jackson’s theatrical, brilliant album “Magic Man” went to number 15 on Billboard, a first for a Chinese artist, and an upward path that XENZU will likely follow.
“I remember I was talking to my friend GALI, who is from ‘Rap of China’. He told me that as a performer, songwriter, and rapper, we [as Chinese artists] were meant to be misunderstood sometimes.” As artists who have often been marginalized and overlooked, XENZU explained, they could feel confused, frustrated or exhausted. But then something groundbreaking can happen with their art. “We are able to put [those emotions] out on the stage.”
XENZU sees her mission as bigger than herself. She is representing folks who look like her; who come from everywhere and who belong to no one. She represents the aliens, the “other”, the freak artists.
“I hope we can leave some sparkles for the next generation,” she said “Because then we’re doing the right thing. It’s not only about our success. It’s about the wave we’re creating. It’s about this next generation.”
Alé Washington
XENZU knows the power she holds in manifestation.
In 2017 she told herself she would work with 88Rising, the groundbreaking label that produces some of the most innovative Asian artists and the label that made waves at Coachella then at their own festival this year. Now, five years later XENZU is on the same label with several 88Rising artists. But XENZU is forward thinking. In another five years, the artist wants to be at the top of pop music and to sell out her tours. “I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur,” she affirmed.
In the next few months, XENZU has more music she will drop and an upcoming tour. She’s excited to perform at some festivals and to bring dancers onto her stage. She’s growing and manifesting all of her magical abilities to be the woman she’s dreamed of. “This is my purpose. I know I have something to do, to use, to spread in this lifetime. And I found it,” she said confidently. “I’m an alien superstar.”
Then she burst into laughter.
