Cantopop - Academic Kids

Characteristics of Cantopop Cantopop FromAcademicKids Cantopopisacolloquialabbreviationfor"Cantonesepopmusic",aformofpopularmusicthatisasubgenreofCpop.ItisalsoknownasHK-pop,shortfor"HongKongpop".CantopopdrawsinfluencenotonlyfromotherformsofChinesemusic,butfromavarietyofinternationalstyles,including:jazz,rockandroll,rhythmandblues,electronicmusic,Westernpopmusic,andothers.Bydefinition,cantopopsongsarealmostinvariablyperformedinCantonese.AlthoughCantopopboastsamultinationalfanbase,HongKongisalmostcertainlythemostsignificanthubofthegenre.InHongKongandaroundtheworld,theCantopopmusicindustryisdominatedlargelybyrecordlabelsownedbysuchrecordindustrygiantsasSony,EMI,Polydor,EmperorEntertainmentGroup,andPhilips. Contents 1Earlydevelopment 2Cantopoplyrics 3CharacteristicsofCantopop 4GoldenageofCantopop 5Cantopopmarket 6Cantopopstars 6.1Maleartists 6.2Femaleartists 6.3Groups 7RecentdevelopmentsinCantopop Earlydevelopment Beforethe1960s,thespectrumofCantonesemusicavailableinHongKongwaslimitedlargelytotraditionalCantoneseoperaandcomicrenditionsofWesternmusic.TangKee-chan(鄧寄塵),ChengKuan-min(鄭君綿),andTamPing-man(譚炳文)wereamongtheearlyartistsreleasingCantoneserecordsinHongKongduringthisperiod.TheyoungergenerationofthetimepreferredBritishandAmericanexports,aswellasMandarinTaiwanesemusic.SomeconsideredfondnessforWesternmusictobeamarkofeducationorsophistication;conversely,thosewhopreferredCantonesemusicweredisregardedasoldoruneducated. Inthe1960s,ChengKum-cheung(鄭錦昌)andChanChai-chung(陳齊頌)wereamongthepopularCantonesesingerswhospecificallytargetedtheyoungergeneration.Nevertheless,popularopinionatthetimeregardedthisearlyCantopopasaninferiormusicalstyle. Around1971,Sindokla(仙度拉),aminorsingerwhohadneversungCantopopbefore,wasinvitedtosingthefirstCantoneseTVthemesong,"TheYuanfenofaWeddingthatCriesandLaughs"or"TaiSiuJanJyuan"(啼笑姻緣).ThissongwasthecreationofthelegendarysongwriterGuGaa-fai(顧嘉輝)andthesongwriterYipSiu-dak(葉紹德).Thebeautifulmusic,theClassicalChineselyrics,theincreasingpopularityoftelevisions,andtherisingofHongkonger'sself-respectwerethereasonsthat"TheYuanfenofaWeddingthatCriesandLaughs"becameabighit.Ithadforeverchangedthestatusofcantopops. From1970sto1990s,manypopularCantonesesongswereTVthemesongs.UsuallythethemesongsarewritteninclassicalChineseforprogrammeswithancientbackground,andincolloquialCantoneselanguageforprogrammesbasedonmodernlife.Oneofthemostwell-knownthemesongstarswasRomanTam(羅文),hewasrespectedforhisperfectsingingskills.TVthemesongsarestillimportantpartofHongKongmusic. Cantopoplyrics ItisinterestingtonotethatCantopopestablishedatraditionofwritinglyricsinStandardModernChinese(withstandardMandarinsyntax)butpronouncedinCantonese.FewersongscontainClassicalChinese(Wenyan)lyricsandyetfewerwithtrulycolloquial(andusuallycomical)Cantoneselyrics.CantopopmaintainstheCantoneseOperatraditionofmatchingthemusicalnoteswithtonesintheCantoneselanguage.Moresingerssincethe80sdepartfromtraditionalCantoneseOperavocalizationinfavorofWesterntechniques(thoughbignameslikeRomanstayedtruetotraditionaltechniques). SamuelHui(許冠傑)startedoutasaWesternmusician.Severalofhisboxofficehit(startingin1974)broughttheCantonesemovieandCantopoptothenextlevelofpopularity.Hissongs,writtenincolloquialCantoneselanguage,mirroredthelifeofcommonHongkongers.Hewasnotthefirstonetodoso,buthewasthefirstonetodosointhewaythathislyricswereacceptabletovirtuallyallclassesofHongKongpeople. Wan-gwong(尹光),aka"PrinceofTempleStreet",istherepresentativeofyetanotherclassofCantopopmusic.Thelyricsofhissongsareunusuallycoarseandvulgar,histargetismainlythenot-so-educatedandhissongsseldomappearonTVorradio.AlthoughhewillneverbecountedasaCantopopstar,hesurelyhasaplaceinthehistoryofCantopopmusic. AlthoughHongKongishighlypopulated,the"tastes"ofHongKongyouthsarequitesimilar.Asaresult,moststarstendtosingsongswithsimilartopicsandhencemostpopularsongsarebland,"maudlinloveballads"similartothoseofVanessaCarltoninUnitedStates.ButtherearestillmanysidelinemusicianslikeBeyond,SwingandTatMingPair(達明一派)whosesongsreflectthedarksideofsociety.Inrecentyears,thepresencesofyeachi,thepancakes,LMFetc,havehadagreatimpactontheCantopopindustry.Theirsongsvoiceoutyouthattitudesandbeliefs.ThiskindofmusicissimilartoHipHopculturesinthewesternsociety. CharacteristicsofCantopop EarlyCantopopwasdevelopedfromCantoneseOperamusichybridizedwithwesternpopmusic.ThemusiciansgaveupusingtraditionalChinesemusicalinstruments,likeZhengandErhufiddle,andswitchedtowesternmusicaloutfits.Cantopopsongswereusuallysungbyonesinger,sometimeswithaband,accompaniedbypiano,synthesizer,drumset,guitar,andbassguitar.Theyarecomposedunderthe'chorusandverse'arrangementandadaptthemonophonicformat.AllCantopopsongsshareacommonmodeofbassline,descendingbassline. Actually,theessenceofCantopopdoesnotonlylayinthemusic,butalsoinitslyrics.Therearetwotypesoflyricswrittenbysongwriters.ThefirsttypeisthepoeticlyricswritteninliteraryorclassicalChinese.TheformationoflyricsofthistypewasinfluencedbytheclassicalChineselyricsintraditionalCantoneseopera.SongswithliteraryChinesewereusuallyusedasthethemesongsforTVshowsaboutancientChina.ThesecondtypeislessformalandthelyricswrittenincolloquialCantonese,usuallyfortheTVshowsfilmedundermoderncontexts. Startingfromthe90s,musiciansbegantointroduceJapanesepopmusictoHongKongmarketbyrewritingthelyricswithChinese.Inrecentyears,thesamephenomenoniswitnessedforKoreanpopmusic.However,thehybridswerestillconsideredasCantonesesongsbecauseitslyricsarere-writteninCantonese.Songslike"Loveyouabitmoreeveryday"sungbyJackyCheungand"Can'tafford"byJadeKwanwereoriginallycomposedinJapanandKorea,buttheyenjoyedhugesuccessesinHongKongaftertheiradaptation. Regardlessofwhichtypeoflyricsisused,Cantopopsongsshareanoverridingthemeoracommoncharacteristic,an'endrhyme'.Almosteverylastwordofaphraseisrhymed.Thefirstfewphrasesofthesong"Impression"bySamuelHuiexemplifythisfeature.(seetheextractbelow).Thelastwordofeveryphraseendedwiththesound'–oeng'.Thesongsoundsmoreacousticallypleasantwhenitisincorporatedwiththeserhymedlyrics. "Impression"(inCantonesephoneticsymbols),bySamuelHui Soeilingngodongmaangoeizisatsoeng Nabzigammonggwanneinangginjoeng Daangokmaanfanganzoeng Gaaijanganneijyusoeng GoldenageofCantopop Duringthemid-80stothemid-90s,theCantopopgenrehasscaledgreatheightswithbothartistesandproducersteaminguptoproducesongsandfilmsofoutstandingqualitysuchasnotheardofinHongKongpreviously.CantopopstarssuchasAnitaMui,LeslieCheung,AlanTam,PriscillaChanandDannyChanquicklybecamehouseholdnamesinthethenBritishcolonyinthelate1980swithexcitingtalentssuchasBeyond,JackyCheungandAndyLausoontoemergeasfirmcontendersintheearly1990s.ThereasonforthebloomingofthiscreativeeraistheresultofahealthyHongKongeconomicaldevelopmentwheresponsorsandrecordcompanieswereabletosigncomposersaswellastheartisteswithlucrativecontractsworthmillionsofHongKongdollarsinadditiontoemployingprofessionalmusicianstoaccompanythesingers.Further,theemergenceofHongKongasaWesternisedcountrymeantthattheterritoryhastopossessatangibleandpositiveimageofitsowntoreflectitsstatusasaprosperouscity.Therewouldbenobetteralternativethantoprojectthisintotheentertainmentindustrywhereglitzandglamorcomplementeachotherwell.Thepeakofthisgoldenagecouldbesaidtohavebeentheerawhenthe"FourHeavenlyKings"(AndyLau,JackyCheung,AaronKwokandLeonLai)werefirstintroducedtotheadoringHongKongandoverseasChinesecommunities.Theultimateeffectwasimmediateasthequalityofthesongsfromthisinterestingperiodofdevelopmentcouldbesaidtobemorememorablethanthoseofthecurrentcrop.Thisgoldenagewasnottolast.SeverepiracyissuesinSoutheastAsiaaswellasalackofbuddingtalentstotakethehelmoftheCantopopwouldresultinaappallingdropinsalesofmusic. Cantopopmarket CantopopisnotrestrictedtoHongKong.Sincethelate80stheentertainmentindustryintheGuangdongProvinceofMainlandalsoraisedasizableproductionteamandmarketfor"made-in-China"Cantopop,alsoknownasCpop.RivalryandtheinvolvementoftheUndergroundintheentertainmentindustriesonbothsidespreventedtheHongKongandGuangdongCantopopindustriestomerge,althoughafewMainlandsingersmadeitonHongKonghitlists.Fromtheearly90sandespeciallysincethemid-90sCantopopmusichaslargelyoverwhelmedthesmallMainlandChineseRockmovementcenteredinnorthernChina.AnumberofMainland-bornentertainers,suchasFayeWong(WangFei)andHinsCheung,haveshottosuccesseitherbymimickingtheCantopopstyleordirectlyappealingtotheHongKongaudience.ItisnotablealsothattheCantopopindustryinHongKongattractedmanystarsraisedinOverseasChinesecommunities,suchasCanadiansSallyYehandNicholasTse;andCocoLeefromtheUnitedStates.AsaresultCantopopisnolongerrestrictedtoHongKongbuthasbecomepartofalargerPan-Chinesemusicmovement. Cantopopstars UsuallytalentissecondarytothesuccessofaCantopopsingerinHongKong.Mostofthetime,itistheimagethatsellsthemusic,especiallywiththeemergenceofmanynewgroups.Publicityiscentraltoanidol'scareer,asonepieceofnewscouldmakeorbreakone'sfuture.AlmostallmodernCantopopstarsgointothemoviebusinessregardlessoftheirabilitytoact.TheyimmediatelyexpandtotheMandarinmarketoncetheirfameisestablished;hencepureCantopopstarsarealmostnonexistent.Theirsuccessescanbegaugedbytheirincomefromvarioussources.Forexample,accordingtosomereports,SammiChengearnedHK$46M(aroundUS$6M)fromadvertisementandmerchandiseendorsementsinthemonthofJanuary2003alone. SomeCantopopsuperstarsfromthe1980sandearly2000s: Maleartists DannyChan EasonChan JayceeChan JordanChan EmilChau EdisonChen EkinCheng JulianCheung JackyCheung LeslieCheung EndyChow AlexFong AndyHui SamHui LeoKu AaronKwok LeonLai GeorgeLamor"AhLam" AndyLau WilfredLau HackenLee EdmondLeung TonyLeung JunoMak PongNan DeepNg RonNg EdwinSiu WilliamSo AlanTam RomanTam PatrickTang NicholasTse ChrisWong JamesWong ShawnYue Femaleartists FloraChan PriscillaChan KellyChen SammiCheng StephanieCheng YumikoCheng VivianChow CeciliaCheung ReneeDai MaggieFu DeniseHo DeanieIp JadeKwan ShirleyKwan KikiLam VivianLai CocoLee GigiLeung CandyLo KarenMok AnitaMui YanNg FionaSit StephyTang VangieTang TeresaTeng EmmeWong FayeWong SallyYeh MiriamYeung JoeyYung Groups At17 2R Beyond Bliss Boy'z Cookies DoubleR E-Kids EO2 ILoveYouBoyz LMF PingPung Shine TatMing Twins TheWynners RecentdevelopmentsinCantopop AlthoughCantopoprecorddroppedforatime(sometimesattributedtoonlinemusicfilesharingandalackoftalentednewartists),thepopularband'NewFourHeavenlyKings'revivedCantopopbyintroducingasenseofthenonsensicalandcontentious.FormedbyveteransingerAlanTamwiththeprimaryaimofresuscitatingtheailingindustry,thebandconsistsofHackenLee,AndyHui,LeoKuandEdmondLeung. Byhermid-twenties,JoeyYungestablishedherselfasthe"popqueen"ofHongKong,andismuchadmired.Hersuccessearnedher15millionHKDin2004inproductendorsementsalone;hergrossannualincomefor2004hasbeenestimatedtobeinexcessof50millionHKD. 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