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Aarif is Arabic. It means “knowledgeable.”
My dad’s Chinese and Malay, my mom’s Chinese. We’re quite Western, but at the same time, very Hong Kong.
I was quite an introvert when I was a kid; still am, but I’m a little better now.
When I was about 15, I realized that my creative passion was in music. So I stuck to it.
For some reason, I did physics at university, which has nothing to do with music. Physics is cool, contrary to common belief.
I was terrible at math, then I met a really good teacher and he helped me tackle it.
And it proved that even if you aren’t talented at something, you can work hard to overcome it. Once you make that leap, it’s like an addiction; you’ll want more challenges.
Challenges are potentially very hazardous to my emotional health, though. Because when I fail at a challenge I drop into extreme depression.
I’m a Pisces—we’re a pretty messed up breed. I’m seriously emotional.
I can be overwhelmed with joy in the morning, and at night be depressed beyond comprehension.
Although, the best songs I’ve written are when I’m most emotionally disturbed.
That’s why people create, because they need to say something.
It was quite scary to do an entire album on my own. I have really high standards. But Leon Lai convinced me to give it a shot.
I feel honored he has faith in me. But I had doubts—what if I simply couldn’t?
Inspiration comes in very short intervals. You’re seldom inspired for a long period of time. The rest of the time is about using production skills to take that inspiration and develop it.
This is the advice I got from a big producer so I’ll pass it on: You’ve got to keep writing. Just write and write and write and write.
Yeah, I’m topless on my first album cover. It was the decision of the photographer—and my company. They said: “This is our concept. You have to take off your clothes.”
At that point, I was like, “I don’t care, just don’t mess with my music.”
My favorite element in music is how it brings out a particular emotion. When you listen to a sound, a particular melody or arrangement, and it stimulates you, there is something about it. The lyrics don’t have to have a very clear message, it’s the sound.
A lot of the time I’m not 100 percent clear on lyrical message or whatever.
I think what impedes our progress as human beings is our inability to communicate in a precise way most of the time.
People throw around vague terms, their sentence structure is all weird and they don’t really communicate concisely.
We’re not very specific. 0.3 joules is a specific number. If only we could communicate like that.
My first film is Law Kai-yui’s “Echoes of the Rainbow” with veteran actors Simon Yam and Sandra Ng. It was tons of fun, and I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity. Just fantastic.
I was head boy at my high school, King George V. In a way it was a preview to what I’m doing now.
You’re given this huge responsibility, and all of a sudden, you’re a role model student, but you’re still a student like everyone else. You still need a life.
When you see one of your mates smoking in the toilet, you can’t just go up and say “Oi, don’t smoke!"


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Aarif Lee

Magazines

Up-and-coming singer-songwriter Aarif Lee has quickly become Cantopop’s new It-Boy after appearing topless on his debut album cover last year. The 22-year-old talks to Johannes Pong about his path from model student to stripping for music.
