Hello everyone!
Before I write anything, I first want to say...THANK YOU all so much for the support you have given me. Especially in this past year while I was working on the new album, "Forever's First Day", you have proven time and time again to be the most committed and dedicated fans. You are all very special in my heart. You were so patient and never forgot me as I worked on the production. I hope you love the new album as much as I do. It is as much yours as it is mine.
Secondly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the work you did on my websites, yours was the best birthday present I received this year! I am so happy to see fans from all over Asia and the rest of the world keeping one another informed over the internet. I am proud to know that my fans are so involved with technology and are active members of today's digital world community. I'd also like to talk with you a bit about this new album. It's been so frustrating and difficult to get the media to focus on my music. It seems that everytime I have an interview, I can spend an hour talking about music, and five minutes answering the reporters questions about my love life...and the next day's newspapers come out all about my love life! WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN? Aren't people sick of hearing the same old stories?
So here we go. This album began with a few simple concepts (as I said in the liner notes): time in the new millenium, the development of a more internationally recognizable Chinese pop music sound, and Asian American identity. Of course, within these concepts I gave my all to make the songs musical, emotional and from the heart. This album is a bit different from my works in the past and the biggest reason is because I was the sole producer, composer and arranger.I was able to approach the album as a whole work instead of 10 separate singles. In these songs, I try to take you places, strange and exotic...lonely and high! You see, my life in the past years has been like a rollercoaster. Flying from country to country every week, living in different cities and different hotels, speaking different languages and trying to understand different people and their cultures. By creating my music, I feel like I can take my listeners with me and share some of these adventures.
TIME IN THE NEW MILLENIUM:
When the clock struck midnight on 1/1/00, I felt that that was a new beginning for me and my music, and that time was of the utmost importance. The album begins with "Introduction" for which I wrote a piece performed by the New England Music Conservatory Honors String Quartet. They recorded this piece live, with no headphones and no click, just in "free time". In "Introduction", you can hear me almost talking to myself. I mention some of the places that I've been to in the last year...all over the world, yet, because of the string quartet in the background, you still feel like time is moving slowly and peacefully. Though I may be always on the move, my thoughts and memories are just as fragile and senstive as any of yours.
The album ends with the same string quartet in its entirety rerecorded with drums, bass and me playing the guitar. This not only gives the listener a sense of closure to the album, but also gives you insight to the feeling of travelling without moving. In the end coming back to the same place. A whole year filled with speed and andrenalin has flown by...amidst the noise, there is silence, and amidst the motion there is always stillness. Amidst the crowds there is the true loneliness of being an individual that is common to us all. The same irony holds true in today's fast paced world where you can be everywhere at once yet never leave your desktop computer. You can accomplish so much in so little time with the aid of technology, yet it seems that we have less time than ever before.
"Introduction" leads directly into "Forever's First Day", which is is a dream, a "what if?" song. Of course, it talks of two lovers living on different sides of the world finally meeting at the airport after years of separation. Again, this song shows the contrast of how relative time can be. Forever, may exist in a day. And time may stop for years when two lovers are apart. Yet still, you could say that any day is the forever's first day. Time is felt very differently from person to person...for example, I've heard from so many of my friends, "I'll work for a few years first and then start doing what I want to do after I've saved up enough money". Sound familiar?
Although "Forever's First Day" has a happy ending (like I said, "what if?"), the emotional center of the song begins with the second verse, "my memories are all of you..." That's why in the music video so many of the cuts fly by in a fraction of a second... those are all memories, disorganized and unclear, yet full of emotion.Today, I arrived in Hong Kong and was listening to this song in my walkman in the airport, and couldn't help but wonder to myself, "what if?". I think that anyone who has been in a long distance relationship should be able to understand the frustrations and difficulties which were the inspiration for this song.
"Descendants of the Dragon" is another time-conscious song. The year 2000 just happens to be the year of the dragon. I am also a dragon, so this song and I just seemed to be meant for each other. It is a remake of my uncle, Li Jian Fu's 1980 classic which became a song associated with pride for being a member of the Chinese race. I believe this song has taken on a new meaning over the last 20 years as Chinese people now have spread across every corner of the earth. Many people have said that the 21st century will witness the "awakening of the dragon", the rise of Chinese people in the global community. I too believe this to be true. How could it not be with such an immense population combined with the improvement of global information technology? The remake of this song is intended to encourage taking pride in who we are and creating a general awareness of this pride regardless of where we live or may have grown up.
When recording "Descendants of the Dragon" I laid down 24 tracks of vocals to make the sound big. I did some work again with one of my professors at the Berklee School of Music, Rich Mendelson on the drum programming to give it a more contemporary beat, and last but not least decided that this would be an intense dance number with lots of dancers. A first time for me, and a huge challenge to learn all the moves, but I finally did it, and I'm sure you will all have a chance to see this live in concert, and on music video channels across Asia!
As you can see, I have a lot to say about this album. Much more than I can tell you on the radio, tv or newspapers. Even too much for one letter. I'm going to write to you once a week from now on until I finish , ok? Next time I'll write about my attempts to create a more international sound for Chinese pop music, and more importantly, why? We'll keep in touch over e-mail and that way, you all can keep me company here in my hotel for the rest of the summer! And please don't think that just because I had a lot of concepts and ideas in this album that you have to take it too seriously. You can just listen to it as background music or dance to some of the songs at your local club. That's perfectly fine with me! Like I said, this album is for you and you're free to listen to it however you want!
By the way, many of you know I'm in Hong Kong today shooting my first movie. And in the next few months I will be promoting my album across Asia and shooting the movie at the same time. It's too bad that my album promotion and the movie's schedules bumped into each other, but I think this is much better than if I were to be filming and producing the next album at the same time, don't you think?
Thanks again for your friendship and support!!
much love, Homeboy
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This week I'm writing to you for the Genting Highlands in Malaysia. This is the site of the first annual Asian Golden Melody Awards. It was already a great honor for my album, "Forever's First Day" to be nominated in 6 categories: Best Producer of the Year, Best Male Vocalist of the Year, Best Composer of the Year (for Huan Xi Cheng), Best Arranger of the Year (for Lung De Chuan Ren), Best Lyricist of the Year (Shi Fang for Shang Kou Shi Ai de Bi Ji), and a top 15 Golden Melody Song of the Year (Forever's First Day). It was even a greater honor to win three of these awards: Best Male Vocalist, Best Composer and Golden Melody top 15 Song of the Year.
Thank you all so much for your support, your encouragement, and your love. Without you all, the fans, the media, and the hard working staff at Sony Music, I'd still be jamming with my friends in the pubs five nights a week for audiences of 40 people. Thank you for letting me bring my music to Asia, the largest stage in the world.
It is an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that I have towards all of my fans...days like today, I really feel that all my recent hard work has paid off.
Speaking of hard work, I'm finally taking a break! In just a few more days, I'll be back in New York eating turkey with my family. That's right! Thanksgiving is just a few days away! It's been a year since the last time our family got together, and if you've been reading my weekly dairy in the last 6 or 7 weeks, I've been constantly pining for this day...well it's almost here.
The next time I write to you it will be from my house in NY, on my own computer. The ground outside will be covered in snow, and the Wang family will be warm indoors, trying to get as fat as we can. My letter next week will surely tell of what sins I have committed at the dining table, and I'll be sure to let you know how much taller my 15-year old brother has gotten in this last year. I can't wait to see him...I can't wait to see everybody!
Unfortunately it is only a four day trip for me! I'll let you know how things develop with this "China White" soundtrack. Basically, I'm spending most of my time this week in Hong Kong finishing up my three songs on the soundtrack.
Talk to you next week...from home.
love, Homeboy