Remapping Hong Kong popular music: covers, localisation and the waning hybridity of Cantopop

Abstract

Ever since its sovereignty reverted to China, Hong Kong has been torn between its national (in terms of China and its 'soft' power) and global status (as 'Asia's World City'). In this special context, Hong Kong's singular, ambiguous but prolific existence ceased. This paper endeavours to map 'Cantopop' (Chinese popular songs) on the new media landscape and examine its decline in the context of the rise and fall of cover versions. Cantopop was once very popular, not only in Hong Kong but also in its neighbouring regions. Its rise in the 1970s was a result of its typical hybridity, an important aspect of which was influenced by the use of cover versions that changed its soundscape. In the mid-1990s, the Cantopop market started to shrink significantly. A radio campaign for localisation advocated the release of original songs aimed at enhancing the development of Cantopop, but in the end proved to have the opposite effect. In the new millennium, 'Mandapop' (Mandarin popular songs) has taken on the role as the trend setter of the Chinese popular music industry. We argue in this paper that Cantopop's decline is the result of Hong Kong's loss of hybridity.

“Do You Hear the People Sing” “Lift Your Umbrella”?

“…The use of cover versions has been a common practice in Hong Kong since the 1970s. (56) Strikingly, out of the four music videos analysed in this paper, two are cover versions.…”

Between dislocated and relocated Inter-Asian popular music studies: academic discourse and possibilities

“…The ‘high theory’ approach suits the historical context of the study of pop music in Asia. Examples are Um's (2013) study on the localisation of hip-hop in K-pop and Chu and Leung's (2013) work on the fusion of Western and Asian genres in Cantopop. This approach is substantiated by the existence of commercial popular music markets in Asia, which have been influenced by the ‘big 5’ (i.e.…”

Trans-border televisual musicscape: Regionalizing reality TVI am a Singerin China and Hong Kong

“…It begins from the south and develops into a bilateral exchange. The border-crossing of Cantopop blurs the cultural boundary, where Cantopop symbolizes the hybridization of colloquial Cantonese and Chinese which resemble a postcolonial cultural identity (Chu & Leung, 2013), as well as the identity of the Hong Kong Chinese (McIntyre, Sum, & Weiyu, 2002). At the same time, the growing popularity of Mandapop in Hong Kong after 2000 articulates a sense of Chineseness in some local audience (Y. F. Chow & De Kloet, 2013;McIntyre et al, 2002).…”

“…The pairing of pop music and trans-border television marks the big hit of show in the Greater China region, a new wave of Chinese pop music began (Fung, 2013). In short, Cantopop connotes capitalist modernity in the late 20th century, while contemporary Mandapop leads the regional music trend (Chu & Leung, 2013).…”