Chen Chusheng Commissions 14 Paintings From Li Erpeng for Vinyl Release

Chinese pop star Chen Chusheng commissioned 14 original paintings from Hong Kong-based contemporary artist Li Erpeng for the vinyl edition of his album "Wasteland of Wonders." QQ Music awarded the vinyl its "Double Diamond" sales certification on June 9, the day pre-orders opened.

Chen won Hunan TV's "Singer 2025," the channel's biggest singing contest, and first became a household name in China in 2007 after winning the broadcaster's "Super Boy." He's now treating a record release as a cross-disciplinary art project.

What does the collaboration look like?

The 14 canvases came together gradually as Li painted alongside the music. Some respond to specific tracks. Others grew out of stories and imagined scenes that surfaced during the process. Together they build a visual landscape around the album, giving listeners a second way into its moods.

"I've always felt that music is more than something we hear," Chen said. "With this LP, I hope that, alongside listening, people can also see the emotions, fractures and growth within 'Wasteland of Wonders.'"

Chen called Li an artist he admires greatly, and thanked him for turning the record into "a work of art I want to keep forever." Winners Gallery, Li's representing gallery, brokered the collaboration.

Because the paintings are built into the vinyl package, the artwork becomes part of how fans absorb the album, linking the recordings to the visual stories placed alongside them.

Who is Li Erpeng?

Li is based in Hong Kong and creates collector pieces modeled on legendary figures, among them athletes. His recent works pair painting with elaborate sculptural frames, so the portrait and the structure around it function as a single artwork. The Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Beijing and Sydney's White Rabbit Gallery hold his work in their collections.

In Li's view, strong music builds its own world, and his job was to put that world on canvas. "When people receive this physical LP, I hope they won't just hear the songs, but also see the life, growth and hope within the images," he said.

Beyond this commission, Li's practice has moved into film. He is doing preparatory work on a CG-animated world for a film now in pre-production.

How big is Chen's audience?

Chen's commercial pull is measurable. His April 2026 stadium concert in Nanchang drew roughly 50,000 fans, a personal attendance record at the time. According to Beijing Radio & Television, all 50,000 tickets sold out within 24 minutes. A report from Nanchang's state-assets authority attributed close to RMB1 billion ($149 million) in local consumer spending to the show.

What does this change for the vinyl market? It shows pop stars with Chen's scale can treat physical formats as commissioned art objects rather than plain merchandise, and the Double Diamond certification on day one suggests fans will pay for that proposition.