Zight

Zight
Zight in an interview, 2022
Zight in an interview, 2022
Background information
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
Years active2020–present
LabelsUniversal Music Group (U-NXT), MIX FEED
Birth name
Traditional Chinese邱耀鋌
Literal meaningMountains, light, ore
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingJau1 Jiu6 Ting2
IPA[jɐw˥ jiw˨.tʰɪŋ˧˥]

Yau Yiu Ting (Cantonese: [jɐ́u jìːu.tʰěŋ]), better known by his stage name Zight, is an electronic dance music (EDM) producer and songwriter from Hong Kong.

Zight landed his first international collaboration "Fly Away" with British singer Sonna Rele in 2021.[2]

During a radio interview, Zight revealed that his stage name was derived from his middle name "light". He first applied his alias Zight on BeatStars because the user-name "light" has been registered by another user.[3]

Early life

During a live interview, he mentioned a huge vinyl and CD cabinet of his father, which contains very diverse genres of Western music.[4] Among the many genres of music, Eurodance was his particular favorite. He was a fan of Eurodance groups such as Vengaboys, Aqua and 2 Unlimited.[5] He explained that his childhood interest in Eurodance music lead him to become an electronic music producer after his graduation from music school.[6]

Zight studied creative media and music production at the City University of Hong Kong. During his college days, he started selling beats and rhythms to hip hop artists on BeatStars, where he first applied Zight as his stage name.[3]

Career

After his graduation from college, Zight spent several years to make music behind the scenes for local musicians and Japanese hip hop groups. In 2018, he visited London to further study electronic music at Point Blank Music School.[6] Later in 2020, he released his first electronic music single, "Paradise".[7]

In 2021, he landed his first international collaboration, "Fly Away" with British singer Sonna Rele.[8] The song was published by U-NXT, a subdivision of Universal Music Group to empower new electronic music artists.[9][10] The music video was shot in Ukraine, which has gained over 1.7 million views on YouTube as of November 2022.[11][12]

On 1 October 2021, Zight released his third single, "Everybody Keep Running" with Canadian singer Peter Forest. The music video took place in Cape Town, featuring Sibusiso Madikizela, a national marathon athlete from South Africa.[13] The song was later nominated and selected into the Asian electronic music compilation Billboard Electric Asia Vol. 5.[14]

In 2022, Zight released his sixth single, "Number One" with American singer Adam Christopher. The music video was shot at Winton Motor Raceway, a motor racing track near Melbourne, Australia.[1]

In July 2022, Zight released his seventh single, "Work It Harder" with American pop singer Chris Willis and Italian DJ duo Maximals. During an interview, Zight revealed that the music video was an implication to support Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War.[15][16]

Singles

As lead artist
Title Year Album Ref
"Paradise" 2020 Non-album singles [7]
"Fly Away"
(with Sonna Rele)
2021 [9]
"The Birth" Suite No. 1 in Z Major [17]
"On Rainy Days"
"Summer"
"What Is Love"
"Winter in the Woods"
"The Christmas Song"
"Everybody Keep Running"
(with Peter Forest)
Non-album singles [18]
"Daisy"
(with Oliviya Nicole)
[19]
"Number One"
(with Booty Leak & Adam Christopher)
2022 [20]
"Work It Harder"
(with Chris Willis & Maximals)
[21]
"Waiting"
(with Klapse & AndyBear)
2023 [22]
"Mongolia"
[23]
As featured artist
Title Year Album Ref
"Step into a World"
(MEKOLI featuring The Freeman & Zight)
2009 Non-album singles [24]
"Yamanote Line Dreamer"
(Midicronica featuring Zight & Low Jack Three)
2011 [25]
"Everybody Keep Running"
(TL Hon [zh] featuring Zight)
2021 [26]

References

  1. ^ a b "Interview: London Based EDM Producer Zight Talks About His New Single/Video "Number One"". 16 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Premiere: Sonna Rele Teams Up With ZIGHT On a New Powerful Single 'Fly Away'". 11 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b "【𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙎𝙝𝙍𝘼𝘿𝙄𝙊 原。電台】MUSIC BREWING ◆ 萃取音樂 細味咖啡 ◆ 16/7/2022 第7集". YouTube. FreShRADIO (in Cantonese). 15 July 2022.
  4. ^ "本地最強#36 (嘉賓:Zight)". YouTube. 藍寶石大台Sapphire (in Cantonese). 11 November 2021.
  5. ^ Barnaby (2022-11-16). "10 Questions With The Artist Who Brought You "Fly Away": Zight". Nexus Radio.
  6. ^ a b "In Conversation with Zight".
  7. ^ a b "Paradise, 2020", Spotify
  8. ^ "Interview: Zight and Sonna Rele explore the world of dreamers in their new single 'Fly Away'". 15 January 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Fly Away, 2021", Apple Music
  10. ^ "UNXT - UMG".
  11. ^ "Hong Kong Based Producer Zight Releases the Visual For His Song "Fly Away", Featuring Sonna Rele". 28 July 2021.
  12. ^ Zight & Sonna Rele - Fly Away (Official Music Video), 10 January 2021
  13. ^ "ZIGHT RETURNS WITH YET ANOTHER FANTASTIC SINGLE 'EVERYBODY KEEP RUNNING'!". 3 October 2021.
  14. ^ "BILLBOARD'S 5TH ASIA-FOCUSED COMPILATION COVERS ALL CORNERS & ELECTRONIC STYLES FROM ACROSS THE REGION".
  15. ^ "Zight teamed up with Maximals and Chris Willis on the vocals for "Work It Harder"!". 8 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Zight, Chris Willis & Maximals release 'Work It Harder'". Music News. 2022-07-17.
  17. ^ "Suite No.1 In Z Major, 2021", Spotify
  18. ^ "Everybody Keep Running, 2021", Apple Music
  19. ^ "Daisy, 2021", Apple Music
  20. ^ "Number One, 2022", Apple Music
  21. ^ "Work It Harder, 2022", Apple Music
  22. ^ "Waiting, 2023", Spotify
  23. ^ "Mongolia, 2023", Spotify
  24. ^ "Step Into A World, 2009", YouTube Music
  25. ^ "YAMANOTE LINE DREAMER (S), 2011", YouTube Music
  26. ^ "Everybody Keep Running (Cantonese), 2021", YouTube, 8 November 2021