Cantopop is big business in Asia and its blockbuster stars are consistently at the top of the charts and at the front of the newspapers. And while Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, and Justin Timberlake are big businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Beijing, Edison Chen, Gillian Chung, and Janice Vidal are a much bigger business.
Overview
Cantopop actually means Cantonese pop and was originally a hybrid of western pop and other influences, with Cantonese opera. While the original songs often featured traditional Chinese instruments, for the most part, they have been phased out and today Cantopop is more like a healthy version of Western pop sung in Cantonese.
Unlike their Los Angeles counterparts, Cantopop stars rarely mention sex, drugs, or rock and roll, although in recent years the image of the industry has been seen to be damaged by a series of sex scandals. The songs tend to be dazzling love ballads, with the majority of the genre’s fanbase consisting of teenagers swooning over blockbuster stars.
A brief history
The original stars of Cantopop are claimed to have come out of Shanghai, where Western and Chinese musical influences first mixed, before fleeing China when Mao’s communists seized power in the 1950s. They certainly influenced the formation of the genre, it wasn’t until the 1970s in Hong Kong that the current genre really took shape. In the 1970s a number of dedicated Hong Kong labels emerged that pushed Hong Kong bands to sing Cantonese versions of English songs from the United Kingdom and the United States.
In the 80s and 90s, Cantopop entered its Golden Age and, during these two decades, the most important stars of the genre emerged.
Several major stars withdrew in the late 90s, due to the uncertainty of the Hong Kong delivery and the depression of the Asian economic crisis that caused fans to turn away from the relentlessly optimistic lyrics. While Hong Kongers faced shrinking incomes and great concerns about their freedoms under Chinese control, Cantopop singers still wrote songs about their dream date with the beefy-looking boy next door.
Recent years have seen Cantopop enjoy a surge in success, as a new group of stars has emerged. The genre has gained a huge following in Korea and continues to woo Japan. It’s probably fair to say that it will become the most popular music genre in Asia.
Who are the big stars?
Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai, also known as the Four Heavenly Kings, are Cantopop’s answer to New Kids on the Block or Take That, while Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui are arguably the legendary singers of the genre. In recent years, Edison Chen, Gillian Chung and Charlene Choi (The Twins) and Janice Vidal have taken center stage and have also sparked controversy with a series of nude and sex scandals.
Where can you listen to Cantopop
Cantopop is most popular in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Korea, and also to a lesser extent in Japan. Cantopop stars also go on world tours, making stops in cities with large Chinese communities, such as Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, and London.
In Hong Kong, the concerts of the Cantopop stars take place almost continuously. Look for local listings.
