Instead of their usual MIXX POP genre, NMIXX delved into Cantopop for their most recent digital single. Released on July 31, “FEIFEI” remakes Cantopop artist Sita Chan’s single “蜚蜚” (FEIFEI) from her 2012 album Let Me Find Love. Covers of Cantonese songs remain uncommon in K-Pop, let alone officially released ones. The single comes six months after NMIXX sang the cover in Hong Kong at their fan concert NMIXX CHANGE UP: MIXX UNIVERSITY.  

The Original Track

Released on December 19, 2012, “蜚蜚” (FEIFEI) appears as the first track on Sita Chan’s second album Let Me Find Love. The Hong Kong singer rose to prominence winning singing competitions, eventually releasing her first single in 2011. She joined Sun Entertainment the following year and would release her first and second albums under the label. Even after her passing in 2013, many continue to enjoy Chan’s music. 

Despite Chan’s song “Let Me Find Love” sharing the same name as the EP, “蜚蜚” became the associated hit. “蜚蜚” actually borrows from a 2012 song by South Korean soloist LYn. The track shares the same melody from LYn’s “Back in Time,” from the drama OST for The Moon That Embraces the Sun. The composition and Korean lyrics come from South Korean composer Kim Baksa, with an arrangement by 임현기. The Cantonese counterpart’s lyrics come from 火火, with production from Simon Chan and Walter Wong. 

While this borrowing could sound strange, it was common in Cantopop’s past. During Cantopop’s peak in East Asia during the 1980s, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean music intersected. Cantonese artists paid tributes to other East Asian artists, and vice versa. One of Cantopop singer Alan Tam’s most popular releases, 1984’s “愛在深秋,” borrows from Cho Yongpil’s “A Friend” (“친구여”) from the previous year. This also extended to other Chinese languages: for example, trot singer Hong Jinyoung’s 2016 single “The Moon Represents My Heart” covers Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng’s 1983 song of the same name. As someone whose Cantonese parents love blasting these songs in the car, these findings blew my mind. 

NMIXX’s Cover 

NMIXX’s cover of “FEIFEI” keeps the original composition and Cantonese lyrics, featuring an arrangement by Kim Seunghyun, and a remix by Swin/Neve Lee. “FEIFEI” uses a string-backed orchestral instrumental to convey the emotional ballad. With the original sometimes translated under the title “Gossip,” “FEIFEI” discusses a tragic romance saddled with rumors. In Chinese, there is an idiom for “unfounded rumors and malicious gossip”: 流言蜚語, which the song’s title likely refers to.

This cover adds a new ballad for NMIXX, whose repertoire lacks many ballads. They had not explored an emotional ballad such as this one. It was a treat, especially as a Cantonese person, to hear Haewon, Lily, Sullyoon, Bae, Jiwoo, and Kyujin covering this song. For a group whose discography has drawn on multiple languages previously—Latin and German through their EP names, French through the “Young, Dumb, Stupid” melody, and Spanish in “Soñar (Breaker)”— they now draw from Cantonese. “FEIFEI” is available for streaming on platforms such as NetEase Cloud Music, Melon, FLO, genie, VIBE, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Apple Music.

Edited by Clark Royandoyan