Los Angeles, CA – September 14, 2020 – The international music genius LAY (Lay Zhang) continues to bridge cultures and music together with hit after hit at Zhang Yixing Studio! Fresh off the success of his latest record-breaking cross-cultural album, LIT, LAY announced an explosive new remix for his hit tropical single BOOM from the recent album, with the internationally sought-after Moroccan-Dutch DJ, R3HAB. The Summer anthem, co-written by LAY himself is receiving a new fiery and progressive house mix that is set to transcend musical and cultural boundaries. To date, the album surpassed over 40 million streams outside of China and the music video for LIT has been viewed more than 13 million times. The album sales on China’s biggest music platform, QQ Music, hit 50 million sales within 3 months becoming the highest-selling digital album on QQ Music.
LAY has a sensational, cross-cultural music style that is new and innovative. He has worked in multiple genres and with different global icons, such as Jason Derulo, while R3HAB has worked with Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding, ZAYN, and most recently Amba Shepherd. No matter the genre, R3HAB always gives his remixes rich melodies and electric feels that brings high energy to any song. With an already smooth beat, the remix is sure to create the perfect fusion of tropical, hip-hop, and electro house beats.
LAY: “I have always respected R3HAB’s work and jumped at the opportunity to work with him artistically. I really enjoy collaborating with other artists, especially from other music genres and cultures. It always inspires me to see what twist another artist can add to my music and it shows me a lot about how they interpret it and how my music occurs to them. It challenges me artistically and pushes my creative boundaries and I think that it is important to push the traditional boundaries that have previously made up the music industry, to pave the way for others artistically. I am always looking for the opportunity to create more diversity within my music and bring fans from different walks of life closer together through it.”
R3HAB: “As soon as I heard the song, I knew instantly what to do. I have worked with the reggaeton and Latin sounds just recently, when collaborating with TINI and Reik, so that made working on ‘BOOM’ remix quite easy. I see the collaboration with LAY as an opportunity to push my artistic boundaries, who is also involved and interested in pushing his own, which I find very inspiring. At the end of the day we are exposing two musical genres that would traditionally not have been combined. It’s also not every day that you get the chance to collaborate with talented artists like LAY.”
LAY received tremendous success this year garnering international attention after joining forces with Steve Aoki and will.i.am for the hit cross-cultural collaboration Love You More, reaching #1 on the QQ Music China chart. He became a household name in Asia and one of the most beloved stars in the region with a loyal 49.8 million followers on Weibo and over 12.3 million followers on Instagram. As a solo artist, LAY’s career has skyrocketed from tremendous success becoming the highest-ranked Mandopop star on Billboard 200 chart and the first Chinese artist to enter the iTunes Top 60 in the US with his third album NAMANANA.
The pre-order for Lay Zhang’s new digital album LIT went live on China’s QQ Music platform, and 9 certification records were instantly broken as it went live. The digital album surpassed 1.5 million pre-orders within 7 minutes and 19 seconds of launch, locking in the #1 position on QQ Music’s daily and weekly album sales chart. The music video and first part of the album for LIT went on to break records for a Chinese artist. In 24 hours, LAY received over 1.6 million views on his YouTube channel, and over 5 million views in four and a half days on the music video for LIT. Organically, LAY received over 100 reaction videos on YouTube within a week of the music video’s release, which led to 1 million subscribers in that same week on LAY’s YouTube channel (officially June 6th). Additionally, the song LIT debuted at #22 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales Chart while LAY peaked on Billboard’s Social 50 Chart at #36. Outside of music, he is a powerhouse in the acting world of TV and film and hosted multiple top-rated reality shows in Asia, all while being the face of and representing top-tier brands such as Converse, and Biotherm Homme in Asia, as well as Calvin Klein, M·A·C, and Daniel Wellington Watches globally.
ABOUT LAY
LAY (Lay Zhang) is a multi-talented Chinese artist, producer, singer-songwriter, actor, dancer, fashion muse, and philanthropist. He is China’s current top #1 idol becoming the highest-ranked Mandopop star on Billboard 200 chart and the first Chinese artist to enter the iTunes Top 60 in the US with his third album NAMANANA. His big screen debut was the romantic-comedy film Ex-Files 2 and he won the Best Movie Original Soundtrack at 16th Top Chinese Music Awards for the film. His first solo single What U Need? debuted at #4 on China V Chart and Billboard’s World Digital Songs. His EP Lose Control stayed at #1 on Billboard’s China V Chart for 6 weeks in a row, reached #1 on the Gaon Album Chart, and reached #4 on Billboard’s US World Albums Chart. His second album Lay 02 Sheep broke five records on QQ Music, reaching Diamond Record in 9 hours and 11 minutes. His third album NAMANANA debuted at #21 on Billboard 200, ranking first on World Albums and Independent Albums chart.
LAY is the highest-selling artist from all Chinese digital music platforms. The album LIT sold 50 million copies in 3 months solely on QQ Music and is the highest-selling digital album on QQ Music. In 2019, LAY was invited as China’s Promotional Ambassador to attend the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. He reached unprecedented success when tickets for the concert at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China had sold out in eight seconds, while the stop in Nanjing, China had its tickets sold out in twenty-five seconds. He debuted in the music industry as a K-Pop idol with best-selling group, EXO.
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ABOUT R3HAB
Dutch/Moroccan DJ and producer Fadi El Ghoul, better known as R3HAB, has been trailblazing his way through dance music for the better part of the last decade. From his breakthrough hit remix of Afrojack, Pitbull and Ne-Yo’s “Give Me Everything” to his dance anthems, such as “All Around The World (La La La)” and “Lullaby,” which have collectively amassed over 600M streams, to his collaborations with the likes of ZAYN, Andy Grammar, Timmy Trumpet and more, R3HAB has proven to be one of the most talented and forward-thinking artists in the game. He partnered with Spotify and GATTÜSO to create the first-ever official “mint” single release. In 2016 he founded his label CYB3RPVNK, which has since collected a talented roster of artists like Cityzen, Skytech, Fafaq, and more to serve as a platform for talented up-and-comers. R3HAB himself continues to evolve and diversify his sound by working with a variety of artists around the globe, experimenting with everything from hip-hop to pop through his collaborations. With his combination of innate artistry and innovative attitude, R3HAB is only beginning his journey. Keep an eye out for what’s up to next!
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