Ping
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Ping (real name: Nathalie Greenfields) is a famous pop singer in West Ariddia. She is actively pro-communist, which, in an ultra-capitalist society, has no doubt helped increase her fan base.
She was born in a relatively poor family in the town of Port-Rochebleue, on the southern coast of West Ariddia. She grew up in a desperately poor area of the town, seeing beggars every day as she went to school. At the age of 13, shortly after she had begun work at a factory, she was arrested for stealing food in a supermarket. These experiences left her deeply embittered, but she used them to fuel her creative talent.
It was while singing in the street for money at the age of 17 that she was noticed by a record company, who decided to take a risk and give her a chance to express her talent. Within months, "Ping", as she chose to call herself, was a phenomenal success. Within two years, she was organising free concerts as well as paying ones.
Finding herself suddenly wealthy, Ping moved herself, her family and her friends to better housing, and was able to pay for their healthcare. She also now had the money to attend university, and enrolled in economics courses, paying for the studies of her younger brother and several long-time friends as well.
"I want to find out why our society isn't working, and what can be done about it," she told the media when asked why she was choosing to study economics.
As her popularity increased, she began to openly express support for the Democratic Communist Party, and appealed to those who would not usually vote to cast a vote for communism. "It works up in North-West Ariddia," she explained in an interview. "It's all about social justice and treating people like actual human beings, and we can make it work here too." She has expressed admiration for DCP leader Ea L'lew.
Ping's songs centre around precisely these themes. She has become a strong voice for social justice, expressing the belief that radical change is possible in West Ariddia. Many young and not-so-young West Ariddians facing socio-economic hardship, or simply sympathetic to her cause, have come to see her as an icon of left-wing radicalism, and a symbol of hope.
Others, however, simply enjoy her music, melodious, rhythmical and fast-paced, or her lovely singing voice, and her recent decision to actually join the DCP created some mild controversy amongst her fans.
Amongst her most popular songs are "No Despair", "Streets of Grey", "Tomorrow" and "Young and Hopeful".
Quotes
- "I'm not an intellectual. I'd like to be. I grew up too poor to be an intellectual, but now I'm studying hard, I'm trying, I'm reading a lot to become more educated. And I'm learning a lot. But mainly I just see the injustice, the poverty around me, and I react to it. I feel pain, sorrow, and anger I suppose, but I also feel hope, and that's what I want to express in my songs."
- "Too many people just aren't interested in politics. There's a lot of apathy. I want to tell people... I want to make them realise things do change, if you want them to. I want to touch people with my music, stir something inside them, make them react too."
Note
Ping is enough of a "household name" to have her own recognisable cartoon double on the satirical programme Westville News. She has described her cartoon character, which mocks her repeatedly, as a "flattering insult" and "sometimes rather amusing".
