Jay Chou is one of the most influential pop stars in China during this time period. He was born in Taiwan in 1979. Jay began playing piano at the age of three. He was discovered by Jacky Wu during a talent show. Jacky was at first impressed with his piano scrore and hired Jay Chou who worked as a songwriter during the first year of his music career. His songs were often rejected because he was a “nobody” at the time. Later , Jacky Wu discovered that he could also sing. He released his self-titled album “Jay” on November 1st, 2000, his first single being Black Humor (Hei Se Yo Mou).
Jay Chou uses a variety of styles of Western music, including R&B, rap, pop, and rock, however he makes sure to stay true to his traditional Chinese roots as well, infusing various Chinese instruments, themes, and history into his songs and music videos. Many of Jay Chou’s songs are written by Vincent Fang, who uses a poetic style of writing. The collaboration of the two manages to create a sort of sensitivity that people can relate to, as well as educate people with significant lessons. Like Teresa Teng, Jay Chou intitially faced many criticisms, chiefly the fact that he tends to mumble when he sings. However his variety of styles, deep and relatable lyrics, and constant evolution make Jay Chou a timeless pop star in Chinese history.
His songs cover a wide range of topics, such as the one of the main Confucian ideals of filial piety, respect for parents an ancestors, in the song Ting Mama de Hua (Listen Your Mother), spousal abuse in the song Ba Wo Hui Lai Le (Dad, I’m Back), and even talks about the paparazzi, who he refers to as “dogs”, in a song entitled Da Tou Tie (Photobooth). Jay Chou has also had roles in a number of films, including a film by the famous director Zhang Yimou, “Curse of the Golden Flower”, which also starred Gong Li. Zhang Yimou raved, "Chou has surprised me with his sentimental expression. I expected he would be OK with his cool appearance, but his performance has been beyond my expectations. He is a successful singer now, and maybe he will become an outstanding actor and even director."
Jay continues to set a standard for post-reform Chinese music originally set by Cui Jian with his catchy, meaningful, beautifully composed, timeless, and universal songs. Jay's songs can even translate across the language barrier. He is my inspiration for minoring in Chinese, as I fell in love with the feeling and variety of his music. Furthermore Jay Chou is multitalented, so he isn’t going away any time soon. He also continues his legacy, giving his aid to younger bands such as pop group Nan Quan Mama (South Fist Mother).
Just as an FYI: film critics generally did not agree with Zhang Yimou. Jay Chou's performance was not generally well received. Neither was the film.
ReplyDeleteA lot of Jay Chou's earlier works included many meaningful messages touching on youth struggles and social issues, do you think his music today still resonates that kind of inspiration?
ReplyDeleteI actually listen to some recent Jay Chou songs but I'm not Chinese so I don't understand them unless I look up the lyrics but sometimes they seem to be just very catchy love songs. Do you think he became more of a mainstream artist now or still do you think his music still has that individual spunk?
@Jen
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning I believe that was the case but after starring in more movie appearances didn't the critics also start saying positive things about the films Jay starred in, whether it be his acting or the film's director's style? I remember some of his films were even nominated for awards too (although I'm not sure they won any)
I'm not fluent in Chinese either, I used to look up his lyrics/song translations on this website, http://www.jay-chou.net. They also have a really useful message board where people post analysis of his songs, news about the Jay, and related artists.
ReplyDeleteI am not very updated with Jay's music anymore, so I'm not really sure if he's become more mainstream. He does have quite a few love ballads but the albums I have listened (last one I bought was Still Fantasy) to have quite a range of songs, from love ballads to more serious songs. But I think recently he has been more distracted with filmmaking, so I can imagine his music would lose some of it's quality as a result.