The hottest song in China: Wolf Disco

What is the hottest song in China right now? Apparently, a little rap song called Wolf Disco has been making waves, with its take on what life was like in the late '90s and early 2000s. Journalist Yew Lun Tian is reminded of her own teenage years, as she delves into what makes this song so popular.
Wolf Disco by Gem is the hottest song in China this year. (sohu.com)
Wolf Disco by Gem is the hottest song in China this year. (sohu.com)

A Singaporean friend recently asked me about this year’s hottest song in China. And a friend from China quickly shouted out the answer: “Wolf Disco (野狼 Disco)!”

The song gets in your head with its refreshing blend of Cantonese singing, dialogue in northeastern dialect, and Mandarin rap.

I felt really out of touch, and checked out the song as soon as I got home. I listened to it once — and was hooked. I wanted to hear it again and again. No cliched description could do justice to the penetrating power of this cutting edge cultural icon. A netizen put it well: “This is an amazing song that gets to your head and heart, and leaves you wanting more.” 

Wolf Disco by Dong Baoshi, stage name Gem, describes a man (“Uncle”) hitting the dance floor, showing off and trying to pick up young girls at the disco, circa late ’90s to early 2000s. The song gets in your head with its refreshing blend of Cantonese singing, dialogue in northeastern dialect, and Mandarin rap. Gem’s earnest but seriously inaccurate Cantonese pronunciation when singing “Flower of my heart, I wanna take you home” is especially funny, as he nails the endearing side of mainland Chinese when they try their hardest to sing Cantonese songs despite being no good at the language.

disco china
A disco in China, early 2000s. (SPH)

The song’s catchy beat and easy but evocative lyrics get people hooked; you just feel like dancing along. “To the left, draw a rainbow/and to your right, draw a dragon”; “Everybody put your head down/both hands to the front, wave them around”; “Hands to your head, move your hips/like you’re fretting”. 

For the mainland Chinese audience who exercised en masse in primary school, went for social dances as adults, and joined square dances in the neighbourhood during their twilight years, those lines would be somewhat uncanny. Listening to Wolf Disco is more satisfying than watching Psy’s Gangnam Style. No wonder some netizens say their three- or four-year-old kids have Wolf Disco as their morning alarm.

The song does not avoid or overuse the Hong Kong element, but uses it to just the right degree for entertainment purposes, while not being political.

With its brand of nostalgia, the song touches the hearts of the older crowd. The imagery of the dance hall and the references to Hong Kong popular culture capture the collective memories of a generation of mainland Chinese, as well as Chinese in the Greater China diaspora, including myself. “Slicked back hair, beeper call, 007 on the dance floor/Northeast b-boys in the house”, conjures up the hairstyles, beepers (known as pagers in Singapore), and dance moves of the time, while “Aaron Kwok hands across your chest” brought me back in a second to my pimple-faced days, singing and dancing along to his hit song Love You Endlessly (《对你爱不完》).

Many years ago, the hip young people in northeast China had their fun in entertainment joints that played Cantonese songs; big shots found triad bosses in Hong Kong movies cool, like the way Uncle “feels like Tony Leung in Infernal Affairs" (see note below) when picking up girls.

When Gem was producing Wolf Disco, Hong Kong was not yet in full-blown chaos. The song does not avoid or overuse the Hong Kong element, but uses it to just the right degree for entertainment purposes, while not being political. For example, just as Deng Xiaoping previously declared “horses keep running, carry on dancing” to say nothing will change under “one country, two systems”, Uncle says “the song keeps playing, carry on dancing” to hide his embarrassment at failing to pick up girls.

Wolf Disco is so popular not just because it brings together borrowed elements from Hong Kong and Western music genres such as rap, but because it uses these external elements to authentically tell the story of a young person from northeast China. Gem calls this combination “garlic-flavoured vaporwave” — vaporwave is a Western music subgenre that combines ’80s and ’90s music with electronic sounds.

Many netizens say the epitome of cheesiness is authenticity, and they are moved by the song’s depiction of a young person who does not lose their authenticity.

And then, while most people would take off their jackets when hitting the dance floor, Uncle’s “leather jacket stays on, don’t matter the heat”. In an interview with GQ, Gem explained that in northeast China, a leather jacket is cool, and a symbol of manhood. Some people only have that one presentable item of clothing — you can be wearing rags on the inside, but the outside has to look smart. This shows the face-loving quality of people from northeast China, and how tough it was for them when the economy in northeast China cooled down.

Many artistic elites have analysed this phenomenal song and noted the concept of a “cheesy high” (土嗨); the presentation and/or content may be cheesy, but it still gets people high. Many netizens say the epitome of cheesiness is authenticity, and they are moved by the song’s depiction of a young person who does not lose their authenticity.

gem with audience
Gem has created a cultural phenomenon with Wolf Disco. (Internet)

The way I see it, while many people go to high-end bookstores and restaurants and share photos with friends to hint that they are more westernised, artistic, and sophisticated, it works better to be plainly and unabashedly cheesy. While many stores try and attract customers with empty sales pitches, people like it better when one is not shy to show and laugh at their own unsophistication. When people are swept up by globalisation and get nervous or anxious that their foreign language skills are inadequate, it is extremely satisfying to hear the language of one’s hometown loud and proud on the big stage. 

In 2019, a year of anniversaries, official publicity is full of big stories and lofty emotions, people would welcome a bit of unsophisticated, ordinary food for the soul.

Note:

Infernal Affairs is a Hong Kong movie released in 2002, directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, starring Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu Wai.

 

Lyrics

心里的花我想要带妳回家

Flower of my heart, I wanna take you home

在那深夜酒吧哪管它是真是假

In the late night bar, don’t matter if it’s real or fake

请妳尽情摇摆忘记钟意的他

Sway your body, forget the one you love

妳是最迷人噶 妳知道吗

You’ve caught my eye, don’t you know

 

这是最好的节拍 这是最爱的节拍

Here comes the beat, it’s the best, the favourite

前面儿哪里来的大井盖 我拿脚往里踹

Is that a manhole cover? Gonna kick it aside

如此动感的节拍 非得搁门口耍帅

I’m feeling the beat, just look cool outside the door

我蹦迪的动线上面儿怎么能有障碍

Clear the way, I’m heading to the floor

大背头 bb机 舞池里的007

Slicked back hair, beeper call, 007 on the dance floor

东北初代霹雳弟 dj瞅我也摇旗

Northeast b-boys in the house, DJ staring, I’m trippin’

不管多热都不能脱下我的皮大衣

Leather jacket stays on, don’t matter the heat

全场动作必须跟我整齐划壹

Everybody gotta follow my moves

 

来 左边 跟我一起画个龙

To the left, draw a dragon

在妳右边 画一道彩虹

To your right, draw a rainbow

来 左边 跟我一起画彩虹

To the left, draw a rainbow 

在妳右边 再画个龙

And to your right, draw a dragon

 

在妳胸口上比划一个郭富城

Aaron Kwok hands across your chest

左边儿右边儿摇摇头

To the left, to the right, just shake your head

两个食指就像两个钻天猴

Two fingers like sky rockets

指向闪耀的灯球

Point ’em at the disco ball

 

心里的花我想要带妳回家

Flower of my heart, I wanna take you home

在那深夜酒吧哪管它是真是假

In the late night bar, don’t matter if you’re real or fake

请妳尽情摇摆忘记钟意的他

Sway your body, forget the one you love

妳是最迷人噶 妳知道吗

You’re the hottest, don’t you know


 

玩儿归玩 闹归闹 别拿蹦迪开玩笑

Play around, mess around, but get serious when you’re dancing

左手一晃真像样 右手霹雳手套

Wave my left hand, glove on my right

金曲野人的士高都给我往后稍一稍

Disco savages take a step back

没事儿不要联系我 大哥大这没信号

Don’t be calling me, no signal on my bigass phone

小皮裙 大波浪 跳起舞来真像样

Leather mini skirt, major curves, looking so fine with her moves

喷的香水太香 好想和她唠一唠

Her perfume delicious, wanna get up close

感觉自己好像梁朝伟在演无间道

Feeling like Tony Leung in Infernal Affairs

万万没想到她让我找个镜子照一照

She tells me to look in a mirror, major burn

手照摇 舞照跳

My hands keep waving, carry on dancing

假装啥也不知道

Act like I know nothing

没有事 没有事 看着天空笑壹笑

I’m fine, I’m fine, I smile up at the sky

使劲儿扒了扒了前面儿的士高的小黄毛儿

Slapping the disco noob in front of me

气质再次完全被我卡死别跟我闹

Throwing all my shade on him, don’t mess with me

 

来 全场 一起跟我 低下头儿

C’mon everybody put your head down

左手右手往前游

Both hands to the front, wave them around

捂住脑门儿晃动妳的垮垮轴

Hands to your head, move your hips

好像有事儿在发愁

Like you’re fretting

 

心里的花我想要带妳回家

Flower of my heart, I wanna take you home

在那深夜酒吧哪管它是真是假

In the late night bar, don’t matter if you’re real or fake

请妳尽情摇摆忘记钟意的他

Sway your body, forget the one you love

妳是最迷人噶 妳知道吗

You’re the hottest, don’t you know

 

来 左边 跟我一起画个龙

To the left, draw a dragon

在妳右边 画一道彩虹

To your right, draw a rainbow

来 左边 跟我一起画彩虹

To the left, draw a rainbow 

在妳右边 再画个龙

And to your right, draw a dragon

 

在妳胸口上比划一个郭富城

Aaron Kwok hands across your chest

左边儿右边儿摇摇头

To the left, to the right, just shake your head

两个食指就像两个钻天猴

Two fingers like sky rockets

指向闪耀的灯球

Point ’em at the disco ball

 

来 全场 一起跟我 低下头儿

C’mon everybody put your head down

左手右手往前游

Both hands to the front, wave them around

捂住脑门儿晃动妳的垮垮轴

Hands to your head, move your hips

好像有事儿在发愁

Like you’re fretting

 

时时刻刻妳必须提醒妳自己

You gotta tell yourself

不能搭讪

Not to get friendly

搭讪妳就破功了 老弟

Otherwise you’re a goner, buddy