Ling Kai

Ling Kai
Born (1986-10-26) 26 October 1986 (age 38)
Singapore Singapore
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Years active2008–present
Musical career
OriginSingapore
GenresAlternative Rock, Folk, Pop
InstrumentVocals
LabelsLempicka Records (2009 - 2010)
Wise Entertainment (2013 - 2015)
Cross Ratio Entertainment (2017 - Present)
Websitehttp://lingkaimusic.co/

Ng Ling Kai (simplified Chinese: 铃凯; traditional Chinese: 鈴凱; pinyin: Líng Kǎi; born October 26, 1986), is a bilingual Singaporean singer-songwriter. She won the Indie Artist Of The Year at YinYueTai 2nd Annual V Chart Awards in Beijing.[1]

Biography

Ling Kai was born in Singapore in 1986. Her father is a Singaporean shipping logistics manager, and her mother is a housewife. She has a brother and a sister.

When she was in Victoria Junior College, she excelled in literature in English, and poetry in particular, and completed Special paper for Literature in English at A levels.

She holds a Bachelor's in Communications from the Nanyang Technological University Wee Kim Wee School of Communications. During her time in university, she was inspired by Philip Larkin's poem "Sad Steps" and wrote "Larkin Step" in 2007 while recovering from a kneecap injury. She posted a grainy YouTube video of her playing her song on Youtube.

The song got over 1 million views on YouTube.[2] overnight when it was published.

Music career

After Ling Kai uploaded her first original song which is "Larkin Step" on YouTube, the video achieved more than one million views.[3] Ling Kai released her first English language EP "Honestly" in 2009 with Australian indie label Lempicka Records and toured around Brisbane.[4]

On July 23, 2011, Ling Kai performed at Singapore Heritage Festival, one of the song that she performed is her original song titled Growing Old.[5]

In September 2012, Ling Kai was invited by YinYueTai which is one of the major music video sharing sites in China to attend FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL as a special host in Japan.[6] At the same time, Ling Kai took part in a major music programme, Red Bull Singer-songwriter contest 《红牛新能量音乐计划2012成长纪》 in China.[7]

Back in Singapore performing for Mosaic Music Festival 2011 at the Esplanade, Lee Shih Song chanced upon the outdoor public performance of Ling Kai and her experimental band Ling and the Kings, and signed her under his Beijing-based label, Wise Entertainment. They produced Ling Kai's first bilingual and full-length album "LinK", which was released in 2013 in Beijing, Malaysia, and Singapore and featured "Larkin Step" as well as several new works.[8] After Ling Kai released her first album《LinK》, she did her live showcase in various regions of the world including Singapore, Malaysia and China.

In 2014, Ling Kai was invited to compete on Chinese reality TV singing show Sing My Song 《中国好歌曲》which aired on CCTV.[9] She appeared as the only one Singaporean and the only female singer-songwriter candidate to make it to the finals, and she was mentored by singer-songwriter Tanya Chua.[10]

On April 15, 2014, Ling Kai attended YinYueTai 2nd Annual V Chart Awards at 10,000 seater Mastercard Center Wukesong in Beijing. She won Best Singer Songwriter 2013. She performed with Chinese artistes Li Rong Hao, Cui Long Yang 崔龙阳 and Liang Xiao Xue 梁晓雪 during the show.[11]

On September 1, 2014, Ling Kai was invited as the musical guest for Project Superstar Season 3. She performed "随机播放" which from her new album "LinK" in Project Super Star Week 3.

In year 2014, Ling Kai was nominated as the best newcomer in YES 933 Singapore Hit Awards 2014. Other than that, Ling Kai won SPH Media Award - Best New Artiste from Singapore E-Awards.[12]

On June 18, 2016, Ling Kai was invited to perform at "AL!VE SINGAPORE" 2016 which is presented by IMC live. It is a charity concert featuring 13 music acts from Singapore and one guest performer from Hong Kong.[13]

On August 27, 2016, Ling Kai performed with Diya from the Freshmen as a duet at Singapore Rhapsodies - The Concert 2016.[14]

On August 5, 2017, Ling Kai performed in the SKETCHERS Sundown Festival 2017.[15]

On October 5, 2017, Ling Kai held her 3rd EP "Unlearn" Launch Party with a live showcase.[16]

On November 4, 2017, Ling Kai was part of the lineup for Starker Music Carnival 2017, headlined by Taiwanese vocal powerhouse, A-Lin.[17]

TV appearance and live performances

TV appearances

  • Ling Kai appeared on CCTV-3 for a singing competition which is《Sing My Song》中国好歌曲.[18]
  • On April 12, 2014, Ling Kai attended 《Global Chinese Music Charts》which was live broadcasting on CCTV-15 Music Channel.[19]
  • On April 15, 2014, Ling Kai attended YinYueTai 2nd Annual V Chart Awards at 10,000 seater Mastercard centre Wukesong in Beijing.
  • On September 1, 2014, Ling Kai was invited by Project Superstar to be the musical guest in Episode 3 of Project Superstar.

Live performance

  • In Jan 2010, Ling Kai performed at different Starbucks in Singapore to promote her first EP 《Honestly》.[20][21]
  • On July 23, 2011, Ling Kai performed two songs at Singapore Heritage Festival.
  • On April 3, 2014, Ling Kai went for Sound Of The Xity (SOTX) Music Festival in Beijing, China. This is her first live show following her TV appearance on Sing My Song.[22]
  • On June 18, 2016, Ling Kai was invited to perform at "AL!VE SINGAPORE" 2016 which is presented by IMC live. It is a charity concert featuring 13 music acts from Singapore and one guest performer from Hong Kong.[23]
  • On August 27, 2016, Ling Kai performed with Diya as a duet at Singapore Rhapsodies - The Concert 2016.[24]
  • On August 5 2017, Ling Kai performed in the SKETCHERS Sundown Festival 2017.[25]
  • On October 5, 2017, Ling Kai held her EP "Unlearn" Launch Party with a live showcase.
  • On November 4, 2017, Ling Kai was part of the lineup for Starker Music Carnival 2017 which headlined Taiwanese vocal powerhouse, A-Lin.
  • On 19 January 2018, Ling Kai performed at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre TGIF Music Station.[26][27]

Discography

EP

Year Album Title Label Track Listing
2009 Honestly Lempicka Records
  1. Facebook Photograph
  2. 8am
  3. Suburbia
  4. Midas Matches
  5. Larkin Step
  6. Distraction
2017 本能

Unlearn

Cross Ratio Entertainment
  1. 目瞪口呆
  2. 吃喝拉撒
  3. 狼来了
  4. 本能
  5. 十八

Album

Album Information Track listing
LinK LinK
  1. Little World
  2. Lost & Found
  3. Facing the Sun
  4. 偶然
  5. 找回
  6. 起点
  7. 遗失的冒险
  8. 爱不释手
  9. Larkin Step
  10. 随机播放

Awards and nominations

Year Award(s) Category Result
2014 YinYueTai 2nd Annual V Chart Awards
第二屆音悦V榜年度盛典－音悦台 		Indie Artist Of The Year
年度音悦人 		Won
YES 933 Singapore Hit Awards 2014
YES 933－第十九届《新加坡金曲奖》 		Best Newcomer
最佳新人奖 		Nominated
Singapore E-Awards
e乐大赏 		SPH Media Award - Best New Artiste (Female)
e 乐传媒推荐新晋女歌手 		Won
2019 Star Awards 25
红星大奖 25 		Best Theme Song
最佳主题曲 		Nominated
2021 Star Awards 2021
红星大奖 2021 		Best Theme Song
最佳主題曲 		Won

References

  1. ^ "Ling Kai 铃凯". Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  2. ^ "The Nanyang Chronicle Vol 15 Issue 05". issuu. The Nanyang Chronicle. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Larkin Step (Original)". YouTube. Ling Kai 铃凯. 17 March 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  4. ^ "LING KAI – POWER OF POP". www.powerofpop.com. KEVIN MATHEWS. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Singapore Heritage Festival: Hilly Happenings @ Fort Canning (23 July 2011)". Blending our lives with different colours. FLYINGTAZOS55. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  6. ^ "音悦人富士摇滚音乐节之行 片段五 - Ling Kai富士摇滚音乐节". 音悦Tai (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Redbull Songwriter competition". YouTube. Ling Kai 铃凯. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Introducing Singapore new musician 铃凯 Ling Kai – 首张个人专辑 1st Studio Album LinK". www.tysoh.com. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Making the most of both worlds". TODAYonline. HON JING YI. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  10. ^ "22 Singaporean artists that have made us proud". www.msn.com. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  11. ^ "第二届音悦V榜年度盛典 - 音悦台". vchart.yinyuetai.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  12. ^ "第 6 届新加坡 e 乐大赏得奖名单 Singapore Entertainment Awards 2014 Winners" (PDF). Singapore Entertainment Awards 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  13. ^ "[EVENT] AL!VE Singapore 2016 set to take place on 18th June featuring MICappella, Ferlyn G and more! - KAvenyou.com". KAvenyou.com. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Singapore Rhapsodies - The Concert 2016". Singapore Rhapsodies - The Concert 2016 | Gig | Bandwagon - Live music, bands and concert guide for Singapore, Manila and Jakarta. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  15. ^ "SKETCHERS Sundown Festival". sundownfestival.sg. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  16. ^ "铃凯 全新 Ep《本能》试听会 Ling Kai Brand new EP 'Unlearn' Listening Party | Singapore Gigs". singaporegigs.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-27. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  17. ^ "Starker Music Carnival 2017". Peatix. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  18. ^ "Singers fly Singapore flag". AsiaOne. Bryna Singh. Archived from the original on April 12, 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  19. ^ "[全球中文音乐榜上榜歌曲展播]歌曲《一个人》 演唱：铃凯_CCTV节目官网-CCTV-15_央视网(cctv.com)". tv.cctv.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  20. ^ "Starbucks Singapore". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  21. ^ "Ling Kai performing at Starbucks - DKSG". DKSG. Darryl Kang. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  22. ^ "Welcome to SOTX!". www.sxity.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  23. ^ "IMC LIVE PRESENTS "AL!VE SINGAPORE" 2016 | IMC Group". imclive-group.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  24. ^ "Listen, eat and make at Singapore Rhapsodies – The Concert". www.scape.sg. SARA JANE ONG. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  25. ^ "SKETCHERS Sundown Festival". sundownfestival.sg. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  26. ^ hermesauto (2018-01-05). "Catch free performances by Singapore singers in the CBD". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  27. ^ "TGIF Music Station (19 Jan)". Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre -. Retrieved 2018-04-10.