'Little Apple' sweeps across the Pacific
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E-mail CNTV, November 25, 2014
It may have been a night for the music industries top stars at the AMA's, but for Chinese fans, it was a home-grown band that stole the show. The song Little Apple, has been topping the charts across China for months. It was written and performed by The Chopstick Brothers and has become such a hit that the Brothers were asked to perform it at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles.
CCTV Hollywood reporter met up with the singers after rehearsals and asked them the origin of the song and how they think Americans will react to the hit single.
Is America ready for the Chopsticks Brothers? The Chinese duo—Xiao Yang and Wang Taili—are the creative team behind Little Apple, a song that’s become a sensation in China since its debut last summer. With its bouncy tune, simple lyrics, and outlandish settings, the music video for Little Apple is a viral hit and has been played 823 million times on China’s major music and video streaming sites. The origin of the song is as simple as the beat.
"In the spring of 2012, I finished writing Little Apple. It didn't take me very long to write it because the process was fun. Of course, we changed the notes several times but I liked to dance with it because the song delivers a concept of simple happiness," Wang Taili said.
Making it onto prime time on the American Music Awards with such A-list stars as Taylor Swift, Mary J. Blige and One Direction is a big deal, and not just for the Chopsticks Brothers. This is the first time a Chinese song will be showcased on the global stage. And the ingenious inspiration for the song came from healthy choices.
"I keep a very healthy lifestyle. One apple a day, keeps the doctor away. So I have one apple every day. That's how I thought about having Little Apple as the title. Little Apple keeps us healthy and happy. Our co-workers, families, boyfriends, girlfriends... everybody can be our Little Apple. I think that was a good name," Wang said.
Becoming number one in China is not an easy task and the Chopstick Brothers will not rest on their laurels. Coming to the United States to do the American Music Awards has been a lot of work.
"The challenge is very big. AMA has a very professional and top-notch choreography team. Little Apple might be something they've never done before. When the producer got our song and music video, he said the audience probably never would understand what we want to do here. It's refreshing but very challenging. Plus we're very new to this stage and it's our first time performing for Western audience. We were under lots of pressure. But we had lots of good chemistry with our choreographers. They found a way to make our dance moves very exaggerated and straightforward, which made them more powerful,"Xiao Yang said.
Undaunted by the work and inspired by the worldwide audience watching the Award show, the Chopstick Brothers have said that western music producers really like their style and even fans from around the world have created their versions of the hit single.
"We've met two music producers in the U.S.. They think our style is very refreshing and we should keep it, which is very rare to American market. Also we got lots of parodies videos and sing-along sound tracks from fans all over the world. They are full of creative ideas. The translated English lyrics are really funny too," Wang said.
The Chopstick Brothers are neither brothers nor born to be musicians but they say they have an opportunity to change the way the west looks at Chinese artists and that challenge is something they are willing to do.
"An American friend told me most of Americans think China is a country of good manners and artworks with depth. Some of them might think we are too serious. However, Little Apple changed that perception. They realized that Chinese have a great sense of humor and we enjoy all kinds of music. I think this is a very good start for Americans to be more open-minded to Chinese pop music," Xiao said.
Maybe China found its own "Gangnam Style." From Beijing parks to Shanghai skyscrapers and in Guangzhou factories to karaoke rooms in Macau, people are singing "Little Apple" — a song apparently so catchy it is even winning over the American public.
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