Taiwanese Mandopop legend Jay Chou‘s new single, “Mojito” dropped on Tencent Music at midnight on June 12. The Chinese internet promptly went nuts.
Based in Havana in Cuba, the song comes on the back of the singer’s Netflix series J-Style Trip, which is part travelogue and part magic show.
Lyrically, the track (written by Chou’s long-time collaborator Alang Huang) uses the titular Cuban cocktail as its central image, as the singer serves up lines such as, “Could I have a Mojito for my lover? I like the look on her eyes when she is a little bit drunk.”
The release of “Mojito” has been accompanied by a plethora of articles in Chinese explaining about the culture behind the famous drink, while bars around the country took advantage of the social media storm to promote their own mojito drinks deals.
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According to Channel News Asia, the Mandopop star wanted to go to Cuba to film the music video, partly because of the country’s variety of antique cars, which Chou is known for collecting.
The song and music video also got a shout out from the Cuban Embassy in China, with the Cuban Ambassador to China expressing hope that the video will bring more Chinese tourists to the Caribbean island.
Successful launch today in #China of video clip “Mojito” by renowned Chinese artist Jay Chou. Filmed in #Cuba, the video recreates images of #Havana. The video already has over 7 million views in a single day on QQ Music, #China‘s largest online music platform. #CubaChina60 pic.twitter.com/j5NGRTiYyS
— EmbaCuba China (@EmbacubaChina) June 12, 2020
Payment for the track on Tencent Music, which hosted the song, crashed as huge numbers of people went to the music streaming site to buy the track. As of publication time, over 4 million people have paid 3RMB (around 0.40USD) to buy the song. Chou’s previous single — “Won’t Cry” — had a similar effect, also crashing a streaming platform.
“Mojito” has also resulted in more than a few memes.
“Before marriage. After marriage”
“I forgot the lyrics” “You forgot the lyrics, didn’t you?” “I forgot the lyrics”
People have also been paying “tribute” to the catchy track and its colorful accompanying video:
Elsewhere, drug police in Hainan, an island province in the south of China, used the music video and song as inspiration for an anti-drug video.
As Cai Xukun fans found last year, Chou’s appeal continues to be strong within mainland China, two decades on from the release of his debut album.
