Cantopop: The glorious years | Culture HK - China Daily

Sam Hui Koon-kit, regarded as “the Father of Cantopop”, pioneered the use of vernacular Cantonese in lyrics about people's everyday travails ... CHINA GLOBALEDITION Twitter FaceBook LinkedIn . HONGKONG ASIA . ADVANCED . HONGKONG ASIA . NEWS Nation HongKong Asia Opinion Business Sports FOCUS Life&Art Leaders OffbeatHK In-DepthChina EyeonAsia Quirky Photo Graphics GBAPulse CultureHK GlobalWeekly OPINION VIDEO YesButWhy GirlCity DroneandPhone HongKongEnquirer 360Asia DesignAsia AsiaFeatured ChinaDailyDOCS HongKongEnquirer Fantastic ProtectedSpecies LifeandArt SeeingSights FoodWander MovieCorner D-Campus TasteBuds OkayTurnLeft ClumsyGardener Trending TechChina DATA Focus> CultureHK> Content Revert ONTHEPAGE Published:10:35,June17,2022 |Updated:11:13,June17,2022 PDFView Revert PDFView Cantopop:Thegloriousyears ByFayeBradley Published:10:35,June17,2022 Updated:11:13,June17,2022 ByFayeBradley HongKong’snativepopmusicgenreisseeingaresurgence,butinaformunlikeitsoriginalincarnation.FayeBradleyreports.Mirror’scitywidepresenceisunmissable.Plasteredacrossbillboards,busesandMTRstations,the12-stronggrouphasearnedacultfollowingandplaystosold-outconcerts.HavingdebutedinNovember2018,HongKong’shottestboybandhasspawnedanewgenerationoffansofCantopop—amusicalgenrethathadlostsomeofitsglorysincepeakingmorethantwodecadesago,partlyduetocompetitionfromMandopop,K-popandJ-pop.MirrormadeCantopopcoolagain.Buthowdiditallbegin?Beforethebirthofthegenreinthe1970s,CantoneseoperaandEnglish-languagepopwerethemainstaysoftheHongKongmusicscene.SamHuiKoon-kit,regardedas“theFatherofCantopop”,pioneeredtheuseofvernacularCantoneseinlyricsaboutpeople’severydaytravails.Thisinturnhelpedshapea“culturalidentitybuiltonasharedlanguageandwayoflifeamongso-called‘commonpeople’inHongKong”,accordingtoStellaLau,seniormanagerofLearningandEngagementattheHongKongPalaceMuseum. In2019,LaugaveatalkattheXiquCentreontheevolutionofCantopop.Thelecturealsotouchedontherelationshipbetweenthelocalrecordingindustryandmainstreamandindiemusic,aswellasthetransformationofHongKong’spopmusiccultureinthedigitalera. “ThesecondsocialfunctionofCantopopisevidencedbyarichrepertoireofCantonesesongsthatconjureupmemoriesofthewaveofemigration…inthe1980sand’90s,”Laucontinues,addingthatpopcultureservesasasourceofcollectiveidentityinHongKong.Cantopop’sicons—DannyChanPak-keung,AlanTamWing-lun,LeslieCheungKwok-wingandAnitaMuiYim-fong—ruledinthe1980sandearly’90s,oftenregardedasthegenre’sgoldenage.Bythemid-’90s,however,thecity’smusicianswerefacingstiffcompetitionfromotherpartsofAsia.In2003,theuntimelydeathsofCheungandMuispelledtheendofthefirstwaveofCantopop—Chanhavingalsodiedprematurelyadecadeearlier.Theversatilityandstagepresenceoficonicsinger-actorsLeslieCheungKwok-wing(left)andAnitaMuiYim-fongdefinedthegoldeneraofCantopopmusic,spanningthe1980sandearly‘90s.(PHOTOPROVIDEDTOCHINADAILY)Riseandfall HongKong’sreturntothemotherlandin1997moreorlesscoincidedwiththegrowthofdigitalcommunication.Comparedwiththe1970sand’80s—whenCantopopballadswouldsatisfypeople’srelativelyuncomplicatedneedsinmusic—the’90swereamorequestingtime,andalsomoreopentooutsideinfluences.Theriseoftheinternetopenedmusicfansuptoabroaderchoiceofartistsglobally.Suddenly,Cantopophadbecomemorenichethanmainstream.ManyHongKongartistsswitchedtosinginginMandarin,butbythattime,thephenomenalgrowthofJapaneseandKoreanmusicmarketshadalreadybegun.ComparedwithCantopop’sgoldenage,thebarforAsianpopartistsissetfarhighertoday.ThesheernumberoffanscertainKoreanandJapanesebandshaveoutsidetheirhomecountrieswasinconceivableinthelastcentury.TodaythemusicsceneinHongKongispartofapan-Asianlandscape.Theinternetrevolutionhasn’tspelledonlydoomandgloomforHongKongmusiciansthough.YouTubeandFacebookprovideplatformsforshowcasingnewworkbeforeamassaudiencewithoutfinancialrisk—andaswithoverseasmusicianslikeJustinBieber,offerthechancetobediscoveredbyindustrybigwigs. AccordingtotheHongKongPalaceMuseum’sLau,theinternethasalsoenabledCantopoptodiversify.“Socialmediaandcrowdfundingplatformshavehelpednonmainstreammusicianscultivatetheirnichemarketsandsustainthemselveswithoutthesupportofmajorrecordcompanies,”shenotes.Whilesuchmusiciansmaynotbeasrichorfamousastheirgolden-eracounterparts,theycanappreciatetheirownhigherdegreeofautonomy.“IndependentCantopopmusicianshaverelativefreedominconveyingtheirsentimentstowardsociety…comparedwithmainstreamartistswhoarestill,toalargeextent,constrainedbytheprotocolsoftraditionalmediaandmajorrecordcompanies.”Thelatter,addsLau,continuetoprioritizecommercialconsiderationsovercreativity.JackyCheungHok-yauisconsideredoneamongthe“FourHeavenlyKings”rulingtheHongKongCantopopsceneinthe1990s.(PHOTOPROVIDEDTOCHINADAILY)DiversecityAngelaHuiChing-wangrewuplisteningtosuchstalwartsasEasonChanYik-shun,JoeyYungCho-yeeandKayTseOn-kay—andfoundfameafterpostingsingingvideosonYouTube.HavingsignedwithEmperorEntertainmentGroupwhilestillinsecondaryschool,Huimadeherdebutin2010. Huifeelsthere’sreasontobeoptimisticaboutthefutureofCantopop.“Intheearly2000s,peoplestilllikedlisteningtoloveballads.Today’sCantopopsingershavetheirownuniqueidentity,withmoreexternalinfluenceslikeK-hip-hop,whichcanbeintegratedintoCantopopsongs.…Manydifferenttypesofaudiencescannowenjoythegenre.”PakhoChau,whogothisstartin2007,sayspromotionalstrategiesweresimplerbackthenastherewerefewerwaystoreachaudiences.“Thesedays,wehavesomanyplatformsforpromotions,andfanscangettoknowtheiridolsonamorepersonallevel,”hesays.“It’sactuallyagoodthingforaudiencesandartists,whohavebettercommunication.”AgreeingwithHui,ChaunotesthatCantopop’snewfounddiversityiseffectingageneralupliftinstandards,sayingit“opensdoorsforindependentmusicians,singersandbands”.Atthesametime,heconsidersthe’90stobeCantopop’smostinterestingperiodtodate:backwhenthe“FourHeavenlyKings”ofHongKong—AndyLauTak-wah,JackyCheungHok-yau,LeonLaiMingandAaronKwokFu-shing—reignedsupreme. HongKong’shomegrownCantopopboybandMirroriscreditedwithrevivinglocalinterestinthemusicgenre.(PHOTOPROVIDEDTOCHINADAILY)CelebratingCantopopManyHongKongpeopleremainnostalgicforCantopop’sgoldenera.InJulylastyear,theHongKongHeritageMuseumopenedanewpermanentexhibitionoflocalpopularculturetitledHongKongPop60+.Theshowcasefeaturessuchgolden-eraCantopopartifactsasaSamHuiplatinumdisc,andstagecostumeswornbyAnitaMui,LeslieCheungandRomanTamPak-sin.“ExhibitionsrelatedtothesoundscapeandvisualrepresentationoflegendaryCantopopiconscanbeorganizedinthefuturetoeducatepeoplefromallwalksoflifeaboutthisimportantaspectoflocalpopularculture,whichformspartofHongKongidentity,”Lausays.ShehopessomeofthelocaluniversitieswillconsiderincludingthehistoryofCantopopintheirHongKongculturalstudiesprograms.CantoCocktail,adigitalcommissionbyM+museum,exploresonlinecreativepracticesattheintersectionofvisualcultureandtechnology.Thekaraokegeneratorusesalgorithmstocomposemedleysbasedonexcerptsof120Cantopopsongs.LocalartistHenryChuLik-hangisthebrainsbehindtheproject,whichhesays“reflectstheincreaseduseofmachinesformakingmusic,andhintsatafuturewhencomputerscanbecreatorsratherthanjusttools”.HavinggrownuponCantopopinTVdramathemesongs,ontheradioandinkaraoke,ChusayshefindscomfortintheAI-createdmelodies.ThefirstwaveofCantopopmayhaveended,but—asMirror’ssuccessshows—thegenreismakingacomebackinamoremodernform.“Ibelievethataslongasthere’sanaudiencefor(Cantopop),therewillbepeoplemakingit,”saysPakhoChau.AffirmsChu:“Iseenewgenerationsofsongwriters,performersandgroupswithaloveforCantopopthatwillneverchange.WeallknowthatnothingcanreplaceCantopop.” 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