(Note: The article is not fully translated (if someone wants to translate it all -- by all means, go ahead). The second half of the article, where the core of the headline is focused, is roughly translated. The first half summarizes the HK music industry leading up the 1997.) 10 Year Recap: the Good, the Bad, & the Future of HK music Despite the Four Heavenly Kings still being major influences, their music has become less influencial after 1994. The Four Heavenly Kings were like a drug, aside from the four of them no other major names in music existed. As the four of them slowly cut down on their music, the Hong Kong music industry started to slow down because no other singers were around to help stabilze the industry. In 1999, when Leon Lai and Jacky Cheung announced they will no longer accept HK music awards, the HK music industry gradually weakened. Not to blame the weak decade of HK music only on people of the industry because the economy played an important role. As the economy turned bad, record companies needed to find low cost-high return methods of producing music. This led to the "packaging" of artists and quality of music started to deteriorate. Although the HK music industry started to deteriorate in the mid-90's, that extra jab came in January 1999 in the form of Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG). EEG has introduced the most newcomers into the industry and is the most successful music company in the past decade. Names like Nicholas Tse, Joey Yung, Twins, Yumiko Cheng, and Eason Chan (who came from Capital Artists) have left their names on the industry via "packaging." Although EEG made their mark on the music industry, the process of getting there leaves the biggest regret. Most EEG artists were forced to promote themselves in Hong Kong only, never being able to continue what the Four Heavenly Kings started in the Mandarin music market (Taiwan and Mainland). Eason Chan, who was the most successful EEG artist in the Mandarin music market, never achieved as much in the Taiwan industry as he did in the HK industry. Above all the clouds, there is sunlight. Despite the industry downfall, HK music has produced two great writers. The biggest name, is of course, Lin Xi. To best describe Lin Xi's success: 99% of HK singers have sung songs penned by Lin Xi. Even though Wyman Wong entered as a competitor to Lin Xi years later, Lin Xi still has the upper hand. The other great writer is Mark Lui, who is best known for composing uptempo popular songs for Leon Lai and Kelly Chen. Despite being known for his uptempo songs, he has composed many successful slow popular songs for other artists. When compared to Mark Lui, composers Eric Kwok, Ronald Ng, C.Y. Kong, and Keith Chan may be weaker in the "popular song" department when it comes to composition, or when trying to combine popular song with artistry the outcome isn't perfect. Even when the industry is at a low, there will always be a 'king' and a 'queen' in the industry. In the past decade, the 'king' is undoubtedly Eason Chan. Even though there is Leo Ku and there is Hacken Lee, they have not been able to gain overall success in the Chinese music industry that Eason has. Not only is Eason Chan the biggest discovery to HK music in the past 10 years, he is also the most unconventional idol to come out of HK music. Lacking the charm Leslie Cheung and Danny Chan had and having what Jacky Cheung has -- great skill -- he never chose to walk the traditional "safe" [easy] road in HK music. Along the way, he came across Eric Kwok and other young minds with fresh ideas, making his work a mixture of mainstream and non-mainstream music along with great performances, more importantly he created a platform for display for many music persons. As for the 'queen', she not only changed the HK music, she also impacted Chinese music in general over the past decade. She has worked with many industry people and has left a mark in many places. Even with Sammi Cheng as her biggest competitor and Faye Wong, whose song selection is much better, she had the ability to make all the other HK female singers around her seem mediocre. We cannot forget to mention Chet Lam. With the emergence of Chet Lam, who is an independent artist to have successfully gone mainstream, he has slowly become a representative of the creative singer-songwriter position in HK music. Using his own unique style, slowly integrating HK music into Mandarin music in a more creative way. Is there an indicator that HK is recovering? In 2003, Hins Cheung emerged successfully as a Guangzhou singer-songwriter. With his ability to sing and write with success, people felt he sparked the comeback of the singer-songwriter category and hopefully will help HK music recover. At the same time, HK music enters another high point even though Andy Lau is still around, even though Ronald Cheng has not given up on music, and even with Miriam Yeung taking advantage of Sammi Cheng and Faye Wong's 'disappearance' by capturing the top female awards and coming out with many films. Since 2004, HK music has seen many singer-songwriters, Pong Nan, Ivana Wong, Justin, Khalil, even the duo Soler and with that the trend of 'everyone singing their own songs, leaving the idol singers with nothing to sing' emerged. Meanwhile, veterans have re-entered into the HK music scene. With Hacken Lee releasing Concert Hall and Concert Hall II, he brought back older listeners on the concept of lyrics with content and using more traditional music. As for Leo Ku, he played a similar role as Hacken. If we were to say that those that grew up outside of Hong Kong (Khalil Fong, Pong Nan) were the future of HK music, then Hacken and Leo are definitely the ones that are representing the traditions of HK music. Right now, HK music is trying to combine traditions with the future in hopes that the lowest point in HK music has passed in the last decade. Comparing Hins, Justin, Ivana, etc. to the tradtional HK singers, their star power isn't quite the same but they have much more musical knowledge and background coming into HK music than these traditional HK singers had, and with that we can put weight onto their shoulders in hopes that they will help HK music recover. There is no rush, we have already mistakenly missed out on 10 years of HK music. HK music is back on track and because of that we only have to wait until the day comes when HK music has made a full recovery and back to its remarkable status. Credits to: Translated by 60699 @ asianfanatics.net Taken from http://music.ent.tom.com/2007-06-29/068G/30555922.html
i sure hope HK music is better ... the latest singers are so bad. seems like everyone is out to make a buck and not bother about quality work. the same goes for US music industry ... so much rap that i have stopped listening to music.
