Pop Music Industry response
Please focus on "The ABCs of Chinese Pop" and "Rethinking Mainland Chinese Rock" for Wednesday's extra credit response. What do you find most interesting in these readings? Choose one of the pop music artists (or groups) mentioned in the
readings such as Wang Leehom, Cui Jian, Jay Chou, Tang Dynasty, Coco
Lee, etc., and attempt an explanation of his/her/their popularity. Use
quotes (with page numbers) from readings to support your argument. Due Wednesday March 12 by 11:59 pm.
The pop music artist I chose is Jay Chou, he is very popular in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He has had the top position of the Chinese pop music for a long time, even though it is said that his days has gone. I am curious about his popularity, because I think he is not handsome and has introverted and coy personality. And he even has trouble with speaking words clearly when he sang songs. But he really can be seen as one of the marks of Chinese pop music. I went to his concert with my friends in Wuhan Zhuankou stadium in last summer. Zhuankou stadium with a capacity of 60,000 people was almost full, and many roadside stands around the stadium sold many kinds of stuffs about him. Such as T-shirts with his pictures, hats with his autograph, etc. We bought infield VIP ticket, but could not see him and just could see him on the screens. When he came on the stage, many of his fans even stood on the chairs and screamed and sang along.
ReplyDeleteHe is not only popular in Great China regions, but also in Asia. “Popular culture cuts across geopolitical spaces and surmounts cultural barriers in not only beneficial for marketing of other culture products, but also sheds light on the ideologies of evolving Chinese popular culture.”(p.69, Anthony Fung) The author thinks Jay Chou’s pop music belongs to this kind of popular culture and analyzes many reasons for those popular culture, including Strategic Cultural Production, Popular Culture, Market, and State, the Cool Youth Icon, Syncretization of Western style, the Safe Political Icon, Capitalizing Cool Culture, etc. I think the most important reason for Jay Chou’s popularity among these reason is “Popular Culture, Market and State”, because different types and styles of his songs could meet the market demand. After I read this article, I changed some opinions about Jay Chou, and I think he is really very talented in many fields like music and commerce.
I also think Jay Chou is a very talented singer; he has an important influence on Chinese music. He created the myth of Chinese music.
DeletePopular music in China has been in transition for many years. In Huang's article, the way he describes learning how to understand Chinese popular music is very interesting. Huang states that you should do so"by following contemporary inclinations towards decentralisation of political and economic discourse in China" (p. 2). Another interesting aspect of this article is how in pre-modern times a lot of Chinese music was banned, whereas when Chinese rock became popular it torn down a lot of barriers. Like Huang mentioned, "Chinese rock broke done barriers not only in politics but also in terms of musical formats" (p.4). Chinese rock and roll was used as a way for young people to express themselves by triggering political attention. Chinese rock and roll still seems to be an issue for China's society, since certain parts are still banned today.
ReplyDeleteI also found Wang's alternative view of Chinese popular culture very interesting. I like how she opens her article stating that Wang Leehom, who was born and raised in New York is not the most typical person to be apart of Mandopop. Although, the "point for understanding how discourses of race, market, and belonging are reworked in global contexts" (Wang, p.1). Becoming very apparent by Leehom performing at the Beijing Olympics, and the majority of Americans watching probably do not recognize him.
The pop music artist I chose was Cui Jian. His popularity seems very apparent because he started the whole movement of Chinese rock and roll. By him standing up against the government to "express himself", he allowed way for other young people to follow in his footsteps.
Although many Americans don't know Lee Hom, but his music is influenced by western culture. We can see from his music to feel the different with Chinese traditional music.
DeleteI really enjoyed Wang Leehom’s music when we listened to it in class on Tuesday. I enjoyed his innovative style and that he didn’t just stick to one single genre of music. While reading the article on Jay Chou the section that stood out to me the most was the last 2 paragraphs. They summarized everything nicely and put the article into an understandable perspective for me. With this I was able to grasp what the issues were that dealt with the Chinese musical industry. I was shocked at how political it is. It’s very different to America in the sense that we have a choice of whether we want to be involved with politics or not. The chinese, however, have no say in the matter. They are forced to abide by these rules, including the music artists.
ReplyDeleteI was also intrigued by the fact that while music is being produced in China it doesn’t necessarily have to use Chinese implements into their music. The Chinese music industry is becoming much more flexible and allowing other types of influences into their songs. Some examples of these are Western (such as R&B, hip-hop, and other styles).
I think Jay Chou is a very talented singer. He has a far-reaching significance for the Asian entertainment. Jay Chou is an all-round entertainer. He can sing, write the words and music. Of course, Jay Chou also participated in several films, and he also served as a director. I think he is a creative person, before 2000, few people were singing as Jay Chou. But he dared to challenge the new form of singing, and has been recognized by the people. Jay Chou learned the piano; this has also laid the foundation for his later artistic road. Although, in recent years, Jay Chou rarely appear in front of the audience, his influence on Chinese music others cannot replace. Many post-80s and post-90s are affected Jay Chou music.
ReplyDeleteOn page 74, Anthony Fung said: “Jay’s songs often address a wide range of social issues from macro issues, such as expressing anti-war sentiment (e.g. The Last Battle, 2002 and The Hymn of Anti-War, 2004) or environmental protection (Farmland, 2003) to micro problems, such as domestic violence (Baba, I Come Back, 2001) or the generation gap (Grandma, 2004).” I think this is Jay Chou success; his music can bring positive energy. So the people from his music in a resonance, which is more, like his music.