Lay

Having established thriving paths across music and film, the award-winning Chinese performer Lay Zhang, active as a singer, songwriter, dancer, author, and actor, first rose to prominence in the early 2010s as part of the K-pop act EXO. While broadening his professional credits, he also broadened his global footprint, securing chart placements across Asia and inside the U.S. Merging K-pop craftsmanship with hip-hop and electronic elements, his opening EP, Lose Control, shattered records after arriving in 2016 and paved the way for the English-language album Namanana two years later.

Yixing Zhang entered the world in Changsha, Hunan Province, where he began performing as a youngster and appeared on multiple televised talent competitions through the early 2000s. He tried out for S.M. Entertainment in 2008, the same company that houses Shinee, NCT, and Super Junior. The label relocated him to Korea for idol preparation, during which he briefly toured as a dancer alongside Shinee prior to his official induction into EXO in 2012. One of the group’s twelve original members, Lay achieved widespread international acclaim with the ensemble, reaching the summit of charts in Korea, China, and the United States. Inside EXO he belonged to the EXO-M subunit that also featured Xiumin, Chen, and former members Kris Wu, Luhan, and Tao. While EXO kept releasing albums and circling the globe, Lay moved toward solo visibility through his 2014 EXO tracks “I’m Lay” and “I’m Coming.”

In 2015 the label intensified its campaign to establish Lay inside China. Beyond his appearances on reality programs, he contributed China-exclusive tracks to EXO album repackages, penned the autobiography Standing Firm at 24, and took roles in several feature films such as Kung Fu Yoga opposite Jackie Chan as well as Ex Files 2 and Oh My God. The following year he released his Mandarin-language debut EP, Lose Control, a sleek R&B collection anchored by the single “what U need?” Beyond claiming the top spot on Korean charts, the project set new sales benchmarks for a solo artist in Korea and climbed to number four on the U.S. World Albums chart. He matched that U.S. achievement in 2017 with his first proper studio album, Lay 02 Sheep, which also led the Chinese charts. The record contained the singles “I Need U” and “Sheep,” the latter later reworked by DJ Walkzz. Several months afterward Lay returned with his second EP, the holiday-themed Winter Special Gift, which arrived in time for the season and entered the U.S. World Top Ten.

Lay turned his attention toward American listeners in 2018, joining DJ Walkzz onstage at Lollapalooza to showcase their collaborative “Sheep” remix. He further engaged the English-speaking market by issuing his second full-length album, Namanana, which offered both Mandarin and English versions plus a duet with Michigan pop singer Bazzi. The project topped the U.S. Independent and World Albums charts while reaching number 21 on the Billboard 200.