Friday Song: Champion by Jason Derulo ft. Tia Ray (official FIBA 2019 World Cup song)
China had a rough go at the FIBA World Cup this year, failing to make it out of the first group stage. But the country is hosting a pretty good tournament so far. Above is the official anthem of this year’s World Cup: “Champion” by Jason Derulo, featuring Tia Ray. This is the second international collaboration by Tia in recent months, following the success and reception of her collaborative single “Trust Myself” with New York-based singer-songwriter Gallant.
Tia Ray is an up-and-coming artist with huge potential to make a splash on the global scale — this song showcases just that. While we get a taste of Jason Derulo’s surprisingly decent Mandarin lyrics, we get an exhibition on the soulful power that Tia possesses. This song is a great model for other international collaborations we hope to see.
Worth listening to is Tia’s live performance from the Shanghai Jazz Festival in 2013, as well as this one from 2015, which are great examples of her raw musical talent rooted in jazz and soul. She’s got pipes and the improvisation skills to match (check 5:53 on the first link, 4:45 on the second)— certainly someone to keep an eye on as she continues to put out more music and perform. Also of note, she was on The Voice of China in 2014, where she placed 7th overall.
The FIBA World Cup knockout rounds start September 10, so there’s a good chance you’ll be hearing this tune quite a bit next week.
China crashes out of FIBA World Cup, but can still qualify for Tokyo
Friday Song is SupChina’s weekly sign-off. Let us know what you thought of the week that was in the comments below, or email editors@thechinaproject.com.
