DJ Mag Top 100 DJ Lizzy Wang shares emotive single ‘Obsession’ as part of ZHANGYE’s ‘China EDM Vol. 2,’ the country’s first all-female EDM compilation
Lizzy Wang has spent a decade turning Chinese dance music into an export, and her new single is another step in that project. “Obsession,” released this week, is the singer, DJ, and producer’s contribution to CHINA EDM Vol. 2, a nine-track compilation curated by ZHANGYE and released via his Cyanhill Music label. It bills itself as the first all-female Chinese electronic music compilation, and Wang, currently the highest-profile name on it, uses “Obsession” to show the more emotionally charged side of her production rather than a straightforward peak-time weapon.
The track leans into feeling. Against the harder-edged material elsewhere on the compilation, “Obsession” is built around an emotive core, pairing propulsive dance energy with a melodic sensibility that reflects Wang’s background as a songwriter as much as a DJ. That instinct is not new for her. She built early hits like “Seeking Your Love,” remixed by trance titan Ferry Corsten, and “Shining,” her collaboration with Fiona Sit that pulled in more than 100 million streams on QQ Music, on the same blend of dancefloor function and pop melody.
A Compilation With a Mission
The context is the real story. CHINA EDM Vol. 2 is the follow-up to ZHANGYE’s 2024 debut volume, and its all-female framing is a deliberate statement in a scene, and an industry, where women producers remain underrepresented. The lineup gathers established names and rising talent from across China: alongside Wang, it features Future Rave artist DJ KAKA, hard-techno breakout MEGURU, curator DJ UNA, and cinematic producer SUNK, with additional cuts from Katastic and a 9uery and Shi Xitong collaboration. The project also reaches outward, with remixes from internationally recognized artists MATTN and Mariana BO extending its footprint beyond China.
The rollout matched the ambition. To launch the compilation, Cyanhill Music partnered with the Chinese apparel brand ubras for a large-scale beachfront event in Aranya, complete with a fashion runway and live performances from six of the featured artists. It is the kind of cross-industry, fashion-meets-music staging that signals a scene confident enough to build its own spectacle rather than borrow Western templates wholesale.
The Case for Lizzy Wang
Wang’s presence gives the compilation its clearest international bridge. Since debuting in 2016, she has become the first and only female Chinese DJ to enter the DJ Mag Top 100, arriving at No. 96 in 2023, and the first Chinese artist signed as a global priority by Spinnin’ Records in a joint venture with Warner Music Asia. She has played the mainstages of Ultra and EDC, the first female Chinese DJ to do so, and collaborated with the likes of Ummet Ozcan, Breathe Carolina, and Ferry Corsten.
There is also the detail that tends to surprise people: she completed undergraduate studies at Columbia and a graduate degree at Harvard, a background that fits an artist who has approached her career as a long-term institution-building exercise rather than a series of drops.
“Obsession” works as both a single and a signpost. On its own, it is a polished, feeling-forward piece of dance music from a producer with the melodic instincts to pull it off. In context, it is one artist lending her considerable international standing to a project designed to push the next wave of Chinese women producers onto the global stage. Wang has spent years being the first through various doors. CHINA EDM Vol. 2 is about making sure she is not the last, and “Obsession” is her contribution to holding the door open.
