5/6/2023 0 Comments Mc jin aiya![]() Acts like Twins were reaching their heights with their manufactured doll-like facades and robotic choreographed dances, looks – as opposed to talent – were the paramount indicator of star quality and, in pandering to the karaoke dollar, pop songs had been reduced to a ludicrous and all-too obvious formula (leading to Jan Lamb’s piss-taking mock-ballad Satire《流行曲 》). At the time of the Edison Chen scandal, pop idol culture was at its peak. But when Edison’s compromising photos appeared on the internet in early 2008, it resulted in a mini-backlash against the entertainment industry and, perhaps subconsciously, changed the public’s attitude towards Hong Kong’s pop idols. Sex scandals may make good tabloid fodder, but they’re hardly what you’d think of as culture-shaping news. And in just the past few years, through a conspiracy of factors, the industry has slowly transformed from the heights of the derided karaoke ballad culture to a more diverse, balanced and ambitious landscape than it’s arguably ever been in, providing an opportunity for music that hasn’t fit into the old Cantopop mold to play a more active part in the scene. There are, of course, the massive names: Eason Chan, Sammi Cheng and the like but singer-songwriters, rock outfits, hip-hop artists, and jazz multi-instrumentalists are now more prevalent than they’ve ever been in Hong Kong music, as are Putonghua and English. “This is really the time that we should all get intertwined.” All of these are Hong Kong pop elements, and they crossover into the pop music world,” says Wong Chi-chung, renowned music critic, CR2 radio DJ, concert producer and curator as well as author of the 2007 book Hong Kong’s pop soundscape. The plodding love ballad, which has very much been the archetype for the genre, no longer reigns as the sole dominant force, and Hong Kong mainstream music as a whole – a huge cultural export – has started to welcome a raft of ideas, genres and sound. ![]() But while the behind-the-scenes power stronghold remains very much the same, the musical condemnation of Cantopop is, in many ways, a little dated. Derivative songwriting, digitally enhanced starlets who can’t sing but can attract an endorsement dollar, and the power clique of record execs, television stations and award ceremonies have all contributed to its tawdry reputation. These are just some of the clichéd charges which are leveled against Hong Kong’s pop music industry on a regular basis and, for too long, the indictments on the city’s influential music staple have been all too justified. ![]() There’s a stigma over Cantopop: cheesy, formulaic, plastic and sappy. Mark Tjhung explores the reasons behind the evolving scene and profiles four of the most influential faces who are shaping the future. ![]() In recent years, Hong Kong music has become more diverse and adventurous than ever before. The Changing Face of Cantopop (Long interviews with Denise Ho, Khalil Fong, MC Jin and RubberBand) In a site built for JPOP and KPOP, I'll always be waving the Canto Pop I been a HOCC fan since Day 1, even when she was just a VJ on some late night TVB Music Video show.
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