Dazed100 musician Lexie Liu dropped her debut EP 2030 earlier this year at just 20-years-old, and she’s been on the rise ever since, even being dubbed “the voice of a Chinese generation” – something she sees as a “double sided thing”, as she explained to us back in February.

In this new short film, Liu tells us how she would describe herself as a musician, opens up about her six months on Korean reality TV show K-Pop Star in 2015, and what it was like telling her parents she was dropping out of school to do music full-time.

“I feel like music has just always been there in my life,” says Liu. “Choosing to devote myself 100 per cent in music was the only option for me that seems reliable and trustworthy.”

“Telling my parents is a little hard because I wanted to go college in the States when I was in elementary school. We’ve been preparing for this for a long time, but this abrupt decision of mine shocked them for a bit, but they still supported and went for it,” she explains.

About her time on K-Pop Star, Liu – who performs in both Mandarin and English – told us that she was “actually intrigued by being part of them instead of just imagining what that would be like”, but she mentioned feeling restricted, saying “I don’t really want to be the one that’s copying or repeating what someone put in my head. I’m a very selfish person when it comes to making music.”

“Not only am I trying to crack the barrier between languages, I’m trying to crack the barrier between genres too,” she continues. “I try to combine rap elements, R&B elements, even pop music elements. And like, all together and become, me.”

Watch the full film below, and vote for Lexie Liu on the Dazed100 now.