An ear for China

Dadawa's new album captures a wide array of the Middle Kingdom's indigenous music, infusing it with contemporary energy. Xu Jingxi chats with the global artist in Guangzhou

It took four years and five months for Dadawa to put together her latest album Moonrise, which debuted in Guangzhou on Dec 7. The Chinese musician, whose real name is Zhu Zheqin, spent four months traveling through remote regions and collecting more than 1,000 samples from indigenous music masters from 15 ethnic groups. In the contracting recording industry, the artist took a big risk and worked like an "insane idiot" on the most important album for her in a decade. She worked with young musicians and breathed new life into the diverse samples by combining them with contemporary compositions.

"This album has found a new way for creating Chinese original music," she says.