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Jay Chou (Traditional Chinese; Simplified
Chinese pinyin: Zhōu Jiélún, born January 18, 1979) is a popular Taiwanese
musician and singer specializing in R&B and rap. He is known for combining
both Chinese and Western musical styles to produce a fresh sound that is
quite unlike what is produced in mainstream Taiwanese pop, and also for his
unique lyrics which touch on various issues. For example, in 爸我回來了 "Dad I am
Back", domestic violence is mentioned, in 梯田 "Rice Fields", eco-awareness is
mentioned, and in 止戰之殤 "Wounds of War", the destructiveness of war is
mentioned. Jay's music is popular throughout Asia, most notably Taiwan,
mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan. He is also very
popular among Chinese Americans in the United States.
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Jay Chou was born on January 18, 1979 in Taipei, Taiwan. He was raised by
his mother who was a teacher in a high school. Showing interest in music, he
began learning to play piano at the age of 3. While he was a third-grade
student in elementary school, he developed an interest in cello and had
daily cello lessons. His mother took him to concerts to develop his taste
for music. When he was 14, his parents got divorced; as a result, he became
very independent, quiet and anti-social. Jay majored in piano and minored in
cello in Dan Jiang senior high school. This provided him a great foundation
of classical music. In June of 1996, Jay, being unable to pass the entrance
exam to his selected university and therefore losing hope of a well paying
job, became a waiter.
Jay first entered the music industry when he appeared in a talent show as a
pianist with his friend. Although their performance wasn't exceptional, the
producer saw talent in the lyrics written by Jay and decided to give him a
chance. He was initially hired to write music for others, including Vivian
Hsu and Jody Chiang. Although many of his songs became popular, most people
were unaware that they were his creations.
In 2000, Jay was given his chance to produce an album of his own. He
released his first album Jay, which, much to everyone's surprise, became an
instant hit. It gained great attention in Taiwan as well as the
international Han Chinese community (including mainland China, Hong Kong,
Macao, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore). When his second
album Fantasy was released, he was already among one of the top pop stars in
the Asian community. His most critically and financially successful album as
of yet is his third, Eight Dimensions.
In 2005, Jay played the leading role in the movie Initial D (Takumi Fujiwara),
which was based on a popular Japanese anime and manga of the same name. Jay
won the award for Best Newcomer at the 42nd Golden Horse Awards for his role
in the movie. The movie was a huge success and premiered in Taiwan, China,
Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and western countries as
well. Other well known celebrities also appeared in the film, such as Anne
Suzuki, Stephen Yung, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, Chapman To, and Anthony Wong.
Lately, Jay has been awarded the prize of the Best New Performer in the 25th
Hong Kong Film Awards for his excellence in the movie Initial D.
Initial J, his greatest hits compilation, was released in 2005 in Japan only.
The name is a play on his movie role, Initial D.
Jay's critically acclaimed album November's Chopin was released in November
2005.
In January 2006, Jay released his latest EP "Huo Yuan Jia" which includes
the theme song he composed for Jet Li's newest and last action film,
Fearless.
It is rumoured that Jay Chou will be working with Tony Leung Chiu Wai on a
$7.7 million U.S. project. It has been confirmed that Jay will compose and
perform a song that will be played at the end of Chinese director Zhang
Yimou's new movie, which translates as "City of Golden Armor".
Jay hopes to break into the music industry overseas in North America,
despite his limited English proficiency. He says that his music is universal
and that language is not important.
Jay Chou has been collaborating with Nan Quan Ma Ma, a group that is a
hybrid of pop, R&B, and rap. As a result, Jay has helped to improve this
group tremendously, making it a very popular group in Hong Kong. Jay has
also collaborated with artists such as Chinese pop singers Landy Wen, Lara
Veronin (from Nan Quan Ma Ma), and Patty Hou (for a charity show); he has
tied international cultures together in his music by featuring producer
Michael Lin rapping in Korean and using Thai in his newest album November's
Chopin. |
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