Crossover king

On his birthday, Oct 7, audience members from all walks of life and different ages gathered at an album preview event held by the singer. Each of the audience members had 30 seconds to listen to one song from Zhang's new album and offer up some feedback.

"I looked at their faces when they listened to the songs. Their reactions were pretty straightforward, smiling, frowning, laughing, or sometimes expressionless," Zhang says. "Before the preview, I was really confident about the new album. After that direct interaction with the audience, I felt mixed emotions, confident yet, at the same time, anxious. It was an interesting experience."

Also known by his stage name, Lay, Zhang, who was born in Changsha, Hunan province, listened to a diverse range of musical genres since he was young. He gave his debut on-screen performance at age 6 appearing in the TV drama, We the People. The self-taught singer-songwriter later took part in a number of TV music talent shows before launching his musical career in 2008 after winning a global casting audition for South Korean entertainment company, SM Entertainment. He rose to fame as a member of K-pop boy band EXO in 2012.

Since 2015, he has shifted his focus to the Chinese market and has become a pop star with a career that has extended to film, TV drama and reality shows, which greatly broadened his fan base. His Sina Weibo account has over 40 million followers.

He insists that he is primarily a singer-songwriter despite the fact that his career path has taken him beyond music.

"I write songs every day. Music is like water to me－it's a necessity. My acting career has been more about pure luck because I have been lucky to meet some great actors who introduced me to the industry," he says. His recent appearance was in Chinese comedy film, The Island, written and directed by Chinese actor-turned-director Huang Bo, and propelled him into the limelight.

"With the new album, I want to remind people that I'm still a singer-songwriter at heart," he says.

"I am aware that I haven't achieved my goal yet as a singer-songwriter, so I just keep writing songs."