yung kai Imagines The Complexities Of Love And Yearning In Debut Album

yung kai ‘stay with the ocean, i’ll find you”

Flood Division / BMG

yung kai doesn’t consider himself a romantic.

Yet, you could never tell by the songs he writes and produces.

The 23-year-old Chinese Canadian singer-songwriter just released his debut album, stay with the ocean, i’ll find you, a collection of songs dealing with yearning, falling in love, heartbreak, and feeling alone. With his soothing harmonies and deep lyrics, you would think the singer has been through heaven, hell, and back.

“[I’m] not really romantic,” yung kai says over Zoom from his Vancouver home. “I like observing what my friends go through with their romantic phases or watching TV shows or movies. But me, maybe not. I don’t know.”

He admits he hasn’t fallen in love romantically yet, though he has a close call once. For him, love is a complex emotion to explain, which is why he likes to imagine what love means, with all these influences in his life guiding him on its definition.

“Let’s say something like [my song] ‘blue’,” he explains. Even though the song sounds like I’m falling in love, the lyrics are still all imagined. Most of it is imagination. That’s what it is. It’s all in my head from watching these K-dramas and C-dramas. It’s not exactly real life. That’s the kind of message that is in a lot of my songs.”

Nearly three years ago, the young artist began posting covers on TikTok, gaining a following for his soothing, melodic voice. It wasn’t until his song ‘blue’ blew up the summer of 2024, going viral on social media, leading to chart success and opportunities, including a collaboration on the song with i-dle’s Minnie and a spot to perform at this year’s Head In The Clouds. He decided that now was the best time to release his full debut album and go on tour, as it had always been his biggest goal.

“I could do it anytime, but I chose to do it now because I see all the love I’m getting from my music,” he shares. “It gives me a lot of motivation. Honestly, I want to share the feelings that I feel when I’m in my studio or finishing this drama and translating that into music, then sharing this feeling with my fans. That’s really it.”

His first-ever headlining world tour, flowers, moon, and star, will begin on September 30 in San Francisco, then stopping by Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Paris, and London. In the meantime, he’s been resting – the calm before the storm that is touring.

“I’ve been mentally preparing a lot [for this tour],” he admits. “Honestly, before this tour, I’ve just been hanging out with friends and taking it very easy. This is my rest time. My preparation is resting and hanging out with friends.”

Below, yung kai goes in-depth about his album, where he found inspiration, the idea of falling in love, collaborations, and his upcoming world tour.

Laura Sirikul: Tell me the significance of the album title, stay with the ocean, i’ll find you.

yung kai: There are a lot of themes in this album. The ocean is mentioned in a lot of my songs. I love the ocean. I love the beach and just watching the waves. That’s something that does inspire me because I’m at the beach a lot. There’s one song called “beach song” on my album that I’ve teased [on TikTok] a little bit. Honestly, I got the name of this album just listening to “beach song.” The message is that even if someone special to me leaves, please stay with the ocean. I will find you there—something like that.

Since you mentioned “beach song” inspired the title of the album. Why is “how do you dance” the title track? Why is that song the one leading the album?

I wanted the album to start with a happy vibe because “how do you dance” is a very dance-like song. Then, as you slowly go down the album, track by track, it becomes slower. The songs get slower. You can hear it. I think the message of the songs also becomes sadder. That’s how I wanted to organize it from top to bottom.

Why did you decide to make the tracks in that order? It starts hopeful, then becomes dark. People usually put things the other way.

Honestly, an album should start as happy. If you suddenly start off as super sad, I don’t want to make people cry immediately. It should be the process of listening to some happy stuff first and dancing around, then slowing down and going through a million emotions at once.

You said you get a lot of inspiration from TV dramas, friends’ love lives, and the beach. Were there other inspirations for this album?

Yeah! There is! How could I forget this! My cat. My cat, Stinky, is a big inspiration to me. One of my songs is called, “i hope my cat loves me.” This is something I really wanted to say. “i hope my cat loves me” is the final track of the album. And, to be honest, it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, because it is sad. This song is the saddest beat I’ve ever made, and the message is just so sad. It’s basically a song I wrote inspired by cats – not exactly my cat, but if you listen to the song and see the lyrics, you’ll understand that. It’s a sad song that says even if [this girl] doesn’t love me, I hope my cat will. That is the main message of that song. It’s not too clear in the lyrics, but I really wanted to explain it to people. The message is really cool. There are a lot of songs out there with the cover of the album being of a cat, or the song is called “Meow” or something like that, and it’s a cute song, but THIS song is very different from those cutesy ones. I feel like it doesn’t make too much sense when you hear it, so I had to explain it. I might do a TikTok video explaining that one song.

You have a song, “my light,” that mixes in some Mandarin. What made you decide to add that? What made you decide that’s the song that will have Mandarin?

I have two songs in Mandarin: “my light” and “where the sunlight goes” with Sunkis. The big reason is that I listen to a lot of Chinese music. I grew up listening to a lot of Chinese music, even though my Mandarin is not the best. Also, a part of it is making my parents proud that I can write a song around it. I just love Chinese music so much.

We talked about your grasp of Mandarin last May. How is that going now?

It’s slightly improving. I’m trying to talk to my parents and my friends, who do speak it, in Mandarin. Just to practice and improve my lyrics.

Is there a song or lyric from the album that resonated with you the most?

It’s definitely “beach song,” especially the lyrics in the chorus. I’ve teased this on TikTok. The entire chorus is good, but it’s: “now your tears are with the waves, and I watch them every day just so they don’t float away, and hope that I’ll find you.” That’s my favorite lyric.

Your lyrics are so deep about love and loss, despite not truly experiencing it. Do you feel like your music would change when you experience falling in love and the complexities of it?

For sure. I’ve thought about that because most of my music is imagination. I wonder when I do find the right one for me [and] fall in love, how would that affect my music? I know 100% it will. I really don’t know how it would, though. Will I start writing ‘I love you’ songs? I wonder how it will change, because I know it will.

I know you have tons of songs written and in the vault. What inspired you to create this playlist, specifically including these songs but not others? Will fans be able to hear the songs that could have been?

I don’t have too many unreleased songs. Most of the time, when I start a song and I know immediately whether I like it or not, and I just delete the file. Even if I spent two hours on the song on the lyrics and instrumental, it’s just gone. It’s literally gone forever. I do have some in the vault that I honestly come back to once in a while. They’re good songs. Maybe they’ll be put out one day, but for now, these songs on the album fit the concept really well. The messages of these songs also connect very well with each other.

You’ve collaborated with Sunkis, Minnie, NYK, and more. Are there any artists with whom you’d like to collaborate?

My number one is Wave to Earth. I really want to collaborate with more K-pop idols because I’m a fan. Another one of my favorite singers is 10 cm. I love 10 cm.

Your music has been featured in multiple fandom edits, including K-pop, dramas, movies, and more. Recently, your music has been used for streamer IShowSpeed’s fan edits. He’s expressed that he wants to meet you and collaborate. How are you feeling about that? Any plans?

First off, W Speed. He has DMed me. Yeah. Maybe it’ll happen. I think it’s cool. I used to watch Speed a lot and watch him on my TikTok.

Are there any other influencers or content creators that you’d like to work with?

I used to play Valorant a lot. I still do. The Valorant streamers are my idols. I saw TenZ at Head In The Clouds. I would say TenZ.

You’re headlining your first-ever headlining world tour, flowers, moon, and star, which sold out during presale. What can you tell me about the name of your tour?

When I was thinking of the tour name, I was with my manager trying to come up with titles. Sometimes he makes fun of me and starts [jokingly] singing my songs. He’ll sing, “Oh, I’m a flower. I’m a moon. I’m a star.” He does that. So I was like, “Wait, flowers, moon, and star. That’s how we got it.

What can you hint about this tour? What can fans expect?

There’s not much for me to hint at. [pauses] I will be doing a few covers of my favorite songs of all time.

What are you looking forward to most about touring?

[I’m] definitely [looking forward to] performing and going to these cities because a lot of my friends will be coming to the shows in every city, especially in New York and LA. I’m excited to see my friends and for them to see me perform because they’ve been my day ones.

yung kai’s debut album stay with the ocean, i’ll find you is out now, and available on all streaming platforms.

This interview has been edited for length, brevity, and clarity.