Jay Chou

Jay Chou was born in Taiwan in 1979. Playing piano from the age of three, Jay Chou was discovered by Jacky Wu who hired in to write songs, but then later found out he would prosper as a singer as well so allowed him to record songs and debut with his album named “Jay” in 2000, followed by Hei Se You Mo (Black Humor). Jay uses various styles in his songs, incorporating Western styles such as R&B, hip hop, and rap into his songs but also staying true to his roots by adding traditional Chinese music with melodies included from Chinese instruments such as gu zheng and er hu. With most of Jay’s songs, several themes that come into light include love (which includes family), defiance, and perseverance in some form or another. Jay Chou is also known for writing his own artistic lyrics, although in the beginning of his career Vincent Fang wrote many songs for him. Now he writes songs for many other Taiwanese singers or bands such as Nan Quan Mama, SHE, etc. Other than all the love stories being portrayed in his songs, Jay also incorporates his family members, with songs such as “Yi Fu Zhi Ming” (in the name of my father) and “Wai po” (grandma) to show his love or at least attention to his family members. Of course, at the beginning of Jay’s career, his music deviated from traditional Chinese music with the incorporation of western styles such as rap and hip hop, and faced many criticisms, but the cool factor Jay included in most of his songs and music videos eventually caused the Chinese (and eventually other Chinese speaking regions) audience to completely welcome him to the point that the government would even use him as a marketing strategy to make themselves richer, a displayed through Jay’s partnership with Pepsi and all the other sponsors he has and commercials he appears in.

Jay Chou writes about love in many of his songs, with portrayals usually showing one side or the other in a difficult situation that causes the couple to be unable to be together. Many examples include Dong Feng Po (East Wind Breaks), Fa Ru Xue (Hair like Snow), Qian Li Zhi Wai (Far Away), Ju Hua Tai (Chrysanthemum Flower Bed), and Qing Hua Ci (Blue Porcelain), each example using mostly traditional Chinese music and often times even the setting portrayed in the music video is during ancient times (although not always true). In Qian Li Zhi Wai, Jay Chou even teamed up with Fei Yu Qing, who with the help of his vocals, gave the song an even more traditional Chinese feel due to Fei Yu Qing’s style of singing. Well, that is when you ignore Jay Chou’s rapping in the song, as that shows that Jay is also including western styles and mixing it with traditional Chinese styles of music. The same is true in Fa Ru Xue where there is a part when Jay Chou starts rapping. Each song includes a male main lead and a female main lead, and there are many different songs with different scenarios, but what they all have in common is a concept of love that is marketed to youngsters, usually around ages 15-25, coincidentally also the young ages where teenagers begin to develop after puberty and become interested with concepts of love and the opposite sex.

Jay Chou’s songs also show defiance and perseverance, like in “Dad, I have Come Back” where he is angry with the way his father treats his mother and criticizes his father for beating his mother. Most of the lyrics are basically bashing the father for the way he is acting after being controlled by alcohol. “In Third Year, Class Two”, the main character in the music video is trying to excel at ping pong while asking many questions, and even the lyrics speak of mostly ping pong and how to become a master in ping pong. The lyrics and the music video show can also be thought of as a parallel to real life, to Jay Chou’s life where he is trying his hardest to be acknowledged by all who listen to his music and become even better at what he does best, which is composing songs and singing (ok maybe not, face it, he can’t sing sometimes and mumbles too much). Nun-chuks is another good example of defiance and even some perseverance, where the main character in the music video is always practicing martial arts using nun-chuks and even the lyrics talk about becoming more skilled at using nun-chuks to defeat your enemies.

“Ye De Di Qi Zhang” (Twilight Chapter 7) is another example, this time written and directed by Jay Chou himself. The song once again brings the coolness factor and the music video looked rather elegantly filmed. Most of the song is rap by Jay Chou, with a chorus sung by a female in a style leading rather western. The melodies used are also rather western, with a rather eerie feel to it, similar to those mystery movies (which are also somewhat a western influence), nothing that you would hear in traditional Chinese music. Jay Chou and his partner are investigating the death of an old man, and after many leads and endless nights searching for witnesses, at the end it is finally revealed that it was Jay Chou’s partner who killed the old man. Another point to note is that Jay’s partner and the witness they are pursuing (who eventually dies) are both members of Nan Quan Mama, one of the groups that Jay writes music for recognizes as juniors in the music industry.

Review of Jay Chou

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).

Jay Chou: A Pioneer in Contemporary Chinese Music

Jay Chou is undoubtedly one of the most highly touted Chinese popular artists in the world at present. The fervent Jay Chou craze spans the first decade of the twenty-first century and for good reason. Chou is an extremely talented musician who excels in his facility to appeal to both Western and Eastern sensitivities. For the Chinese, he offers a popular musical style that has its roots firmly planted in the West. For the non-Chinese, he offers up bits and morsels of Chinese culture in the form of traditional Chinese instruments such as the aforementioned erhu as well as other prominent symbols of Chinese culture (e.g. calligraphy). Perhaps even more significant than even that is Chou’s enviable ability to weave relatable lyrics with touching videos that appeals to his listeners’ sympathy and empathy.

As mentioned before, Chou excels in his artistic sentiment for synthesizing Western culture and style with a classical Chinese flair. This is especially evident in the song “East Wind Breaks.” In this song, Chou blends the beat of a pop ballad with the classic strumming of traditional Chinese instruments such as the erhu and the pipa. A further testament of his flair for blending the two styles, the video has him and his love interest practicing calligraphy and wearing a late 1800s-style cheongsam while sporting a cowboy hat. Such a paradoxical positioning of East and West symbols constantly recalls to mind that Chou is an artist of the twenty-first century. As such, his style reflects the fantastic phenomenon of globalization.

In another example of such a meeting of two worlds, his song “Nun-chuks” juxtaposes many different symbols of East meeting West. This song is essentially about martial arts, yet the very traditional concept of martial arts is placed in the context of a modern, Westernized setting. His style of dress, a black wife-beater and loose-fitting trousers, brings to mind the great Chinese martial artists, Bruce Lee—himself another great symbol of the promotion of Chinese culture in the West. As with many of his songs, Chou synthesizes the melancholy sound of the erhu with an upbeat rock beat. To add to the plethora of East-West amalgams, he even inserts brief interlude with an iconic Western classical instrument: the piano. Calligraphy makes another appearance as one of the backdrops in the video. There is something anachronistic about the fact that Chou is rapping in a room decorated with panels of calligraphy.

Jay Chou’s success is also owed to his ability to write and demonstrate through music videos songs that the listener can easily relate to. He is unafraid of touching upon social issues and for this reason, this generation of youth have found him to be someone who tells their own story. In the song “Third Year Class Two,” Chou takes the story of a boy who was bullied from childhood but who becomes, with the encouragement from a female classmate, a competitive ping-pong player. The lyrics—though not written by Chou himself, was still written with his personal vision in mind—tell the story of someone who is virtually unseen and unpopular (the line "Why is it that someone else's mobile is ringing" is pure, heart-wrenching genius), something many people could relate to with similar feelings in their adolescence. But this is not just a cliché story in which the downtrodden works hard and gets his just reward. Rather, this is Chou denouncing the need for social affirmation to know his worth. This is the man who loses on purpose because he understands the “vanity of pride.”

The song “Dad I’m Back” is a song that marks Chou’s willingness to venture into the dangerous rapids of serious social issues in that he writes about a subject that is rarely openly discussed, much less mentioned in popular music. This is also one of the songs that Chou writes the lyrics to himself. This is significant in that it suggests that the subject of domestic abuse and alcoholism is one that he takes seriously and wants to make a statement about society through such. The video is powerful in that it captures the disillusionment of a generation of youth who may have faced the harsh reality of domestic abuse. The setting is an urban intercity area, illuminated dimly to reveal the coldness of concrete and the prison-like chain-link fences. Chou is surrounded by several youths whose empty eyes and all-too serious expressions show that they’ve been forced to grow up too quickly and have no support system. Through this vivid imagery, the audience is confronted with the bleak reality of a generation struggling to find their place in the world apart from the stifling trappings of an orthodox family structure in which they find no comfort.

The verse where it says “Mum often tells me to be good and listen to your words / You tell me how I can be like you” is especially profound. This clearly shows the cyclical nature of society. Fathers teach their sons how to talk like them, how to act like, and how to abuse like them. These sons go on to do the same to their own sons and so forth. However, in this song, Chou makes a strong statement against such blindness. In this way, "Dad, I'm Back" speaks to those who feel like they are ignored by their orthodox-minded parents. This is, after all, a generation facing challenges and issues that differ greatly from those in their parents’ era. Therefore, the youth of today must find a way to break out of this traditional cycle of abuse and scorn to find their places in this new society.

Jay Chou is a master of symbolism. His songs are rife with elements that at once entice the sensibilities, whether one is interested in the mix of traditional and contemporary styles of music or in the social issues that he touches upon. As such, Chou has successfully made a name for himself as a pioneer in Chinese popular culture.

Primary Texts Covered in this Course

Farewell My Concubine (bawang bieji 霸王别姬), a 1993 film directed by Chen Kaige 陈凯歌
To Live (huozhe 活着), a 1994 film directed by Zhang Yimou 张艺谋
Yellow Earth (huang ditu 黃土地), a 1984 film directed by Chen Kaige陈凯歌
Platform (zhantai 站台), a 2000 film directed by Jia Zhangke 贾樟柯
Music from Cui Jian 崔健
Post-Tian’anmen T-shirt Culture
Music from Teresa Teng 邓丽君
Music from Ai Jing 艾敬
Music from Jay Chou 周杰伦
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wu hu cang long 臥虎藏龍), a 2000 film directed by Ang Lee 李安
Beijing Bicycle (shiqisui de danche 十七岁的单车), a 2001 film directed by Wang Xiaoshuai 王小帅
Selections from Playing for Thrills (Wanr de jiushi xintiao 玩儿的就是心跳), a 1989 novel written by Wang Shuo 王朔
Candy (tang 糖), a 2000 novel written by Mian Mian 棉棉
Hero (yingxiong 英雄), a 2002 film directed by Zhang Yimou 张艺谋
Kung Fu Hustle (gongfu 功夫), a 2004 film directed by Stephen Chow 周星馳