Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Jia, now officially going by Meng Jia, definitely aimed at ripping apart her image as a former miss A member in her first release. While her image and confidence jumped through the screen, her sound did not. “Candy” might be the song to pull it all together, though.
It’s obvious to me upon first listen of “Candy” that this is the type of sound they wanted to execute in her first single, “Drip,” but ultimately failed to deliver. “Candy” differs in that the melodies are clear, catchy, and the instrumental is more modern and dynamic. The builds and drops that are meant to be the highlights of the track definitely work here without feeling overly repetitive, but also aren’t overwhelming the entire track. Elements like the lip smacking and the middle bridges that mimic a children’s song help keep things fun, but also push the track forward, preventing things from getting stagnant.
I also thought she sounded the most convincing she has thus far while rapping, but take that with a giant grain of salt as I’ll let those who actually speak the language give the official verdict.
Visually, this is just a lyric video that I’m hoping is a pre-release for an actual music video. But, since they clearly want us to know what Jia is saying, let’s take a moment to appreciate the English lyrics, yeah?
“Talk to my hand, talk, talk to my hand,
Candy like you, just talk to my finger,
Talk to the god, and nothing that you can get.“
Inspirational.
English aside, I think Jia is headed in the right direction as this marks her first official “win.” Her agency has done a stellar job at carving out a clear image for her as a solo act in China, and if she continues to release music like this I can see the potential of her brand as a full package coming together quite nicely.
