At the beginning of the 21st century, the "golden decade" of the Chinese pop music scene is the past that too many fans want to return to, time is like water, with the post-90s stepping into the world of red dust, the post-00s have also begun to love, everyone found that the top pillar of Chinese pop music is actually this fat uncle who is still addicted to milk tea in his 40s, and the Chinese music scene is not surnamed "Hua" at all.
Whenever the prelude to Jay Chou's song sounds, all the cells in the body will be rejuvenated, and all the beautiful fantasies of youth will burst out, and this genius teenager is the precious memory of the whole people at the beginning of the 21st century. But the last time this man, who is praised as the "fig leaf of the Chinese music scene" today, showed us his musical talent was five years ago , Jay Chou's Bedside Story.
No matter how much we like Jay Chou and how much we want to argue for our idols, we have to admit that the songs "Wait for You to Get Out of Class", "Don't Love Me And Pull Down", "Say Good Don't Cry", "I Believe So Much", and "Mojito" can no longer hear those tearful melodies and wild imagination. At the end of last month, the prelude to the new song released by Jay Chou ignited the enthusiasm of all the fans, but it was difficult for us to hear the surprise, and what we felt more was the familiar routine of the melody (I hope that the complete song will hit the director in the face).
As a veteran fan who can read the music after listening to the prelude, I often think about such a question, why can't Jay Chou write a good song? Can't write or don't want to write? Is there a deterioration in capacity or is there another reason?
First of all, we must find out whether Jay Chou can't write a good song because of the degradation of musical ability, the answer is obviously no, his pop creativity has almost reached the peak of the realm, what is the specific reason, and listen to the director slowly.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > shift in the center of gravity of life</h1>
In the early days, Jay Chou had almost no bondage except for his parents and his beloved grandmother. Super competitive, he always wants to prove his greatness in the field of music, in the music creation he is at the forefront, he wants to integrate what he has never seen Chinese into popular songs, all the fresh elements he has come to hand, rap, ping-pong sound accompaniment, vocal upside down, set takeaway dialogue, all his creative power for life blooms in the song.
After marriage, he soon had both children and daughters, he has already achieved fame, his life mode has become fixed, accompany his wife and children, and his friends in his small circle to play in the mountains and enjoy the life of a local tycoon, he does not need to prove himself, and he does not have to go against his heart to make friends with people in the circle to obtain resources, "Jay Chou" three words is the strongest golden sign in the Chinese music scene.
A great creator needs a tortuous and rich life, needs endless thinking space, needs endless curiosity and broad vision, all of which exist for Jay Chou, only to enjoy life, his magic dream, Hollywood dream, collector's dream also firmly contained his musical creativity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > aesthetic Westernization and fast food</h1>
We pull back more than a decade ago, when Jay Chou had a particular preference for localized and age-inspired things, and had an anti-trend trait, but it was precisely this trait that made him a trendsetter. He was obsessed with antique collections, and even opened antique shops with street signs on the walls. He loves classic cars, and jay Chou in his grandmother's MV with retro Harbor style fascinates thousands of girls. He wore a Yokosuka embroidered jacket for the first time in 2004, and this style of clothing became a favorite outfit for street men and women around 2017. When asked in an interview why he didn't play Weibo, the early Jay Chou replied that because everyone was playing, I didn't want to follow the trend and be like everyone else, which was Jay Chou, who was known as the "young underground emperor" at that time.
Our sister-in-law Kunling is of mixed Chinese and Australian descent, Jaylen is happy to have a wife after a long time in Australia and Europe and the United States, influenced by Western culture and values, Jay Chou's unique oriental temperament has been weakened, because of the fame is too big, he can rarely contact the lives of ordinary people. Now he is sometimes more like the fashionable gentleman of Western high society, and even the cultural self-confidence is no longer as strong as before.
Jay Chou once said that "Chinese music is the strongest", he has such a sharpness and confidence. Now Jay Chou said this sentence, more like a compromise of his youth. In his 40s, he was even caught up in the strange logic of defeating the West under the architecture of the West.
A few years ago, Jay Chou often showed limited edition Nike sneakers on ins, and once specifically explained that the fundamental reason for his sneakers was to let foreigners know how powerful the Chinese were, and buying shoes was always faster than you. This is not the Jay Chou who once knew the "Metersbonwe" leading the trend and detonating the market, Nike's main designer in the United States, and foreigners can buy it first and prove what?
What hit the face is that Jay Chou and Nike came out with a co-branded sneaker last year, and he designed it inspired by the lyrics of "Red Imitation", but on Nike's official website, the introduction of this pair of sneakers did not mention any words related to Jay Chou. His wishful thinking was slammed by Nike. Standing in the circle of Western painting in a disciplined manner, how can you defeat him?
If it was jay Chou, he would definitely step on a pair of Li Ning and tell the foreigners that the sneakers made by our Chinese are better than yours. It just turns out that 40-year-old Jay Chou has become a clinger to the trend of consumerism like those young boys and girls on the street. He no longer seems to be as passionate about localized antiques and classic cars as he once was, but instead has a fondness for postmodern Western-trend paintings. As a great creator, the Westernization of aesthetics and fast food will inevitably affect his works, and we cannot hear the obvious difference between his recent works and general pop music.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="24" > the juvenileization of personal mentality</h1>
Jay Chou has a very delicate mentality in the process of personal growth, and this mentality is common to many people. The album "I'm Busy" is a watershed in Jay Chou's musical style and personal mentality, before, he always existed in the album as a cool or mature image, even at a young age with a big beard, the same song style. After "I'm Busy", his album began to have a cute tendency, and since then it has become uncontrollable, often appearing in the MV as a boy in his thirties.
Jay Chou has always hoped that he can stay at the age of about 25 years old, in fact, we are too, but perhaps only he has externalized this psychology into his daily life, and it is inevitable that there will be times when he exerts too much force. "Zhou Travels", which was originally thought to be Jay Chou's use of music to take us to appreciate the customs and customs of various places, after broadcasting, I learned that this is actually a "family" program played by three little brothers to coax Jay Chou, to listen to him, to cooperate with him to play handsome, Jaylen's "young age" attributes are fully displayed. It's just that his fans are old, and they need some mature emotional expression in the music.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" > the replacement of the royal arrangement</h1>
Fans familiar with Jay Chou know that the success of Jay Chou's music is not only the credit of one person, in addition to Lyricists such as Fang Wenshan and Huang Junlang, the more powerful ones are the "Three Giants of Arranging", Zhong Xingmin, Hong Jingyao, and Lin Mike. Hong Jingyao's "In the Name of the Father", Zhong Xingmin's "Seven LiXiang", Lin Mike's "Nocturne", which one is not a prelude to directly sealing the gods. However, zhong Xingmin in the later period due to differences in the arrangement of Jay Chou, in fact, "Qilixiang" is produced in the difference and compromise, it is likely that Jay Chou's stubbornness in the concept of creation, resulting in the two parting ways, the later Zhong Xingmin even spit on Jay Chou's songs that are cute, luxury cars, and beautiful women. Hong Jingyao may want to seek better development, and after becoming a music producer, he rarely arranged music. Lin Mike still has an arrangement cooperation with Jay Chou, but the number is getting less and less, and the hit song "Confession Balloon" in the past few years is from his hand.
Zhong Xingmin
Who is it that succeeds? Huang Yuxun, the "little brother" of the Jewell company, played well and obediently with Jaylen, and the level of arrangement was also good, so he naturally became Jaylen's royal arranger. In recent years, the singles "Waiting for You to Leave Class", "Say Good Don't Cry" and "Mojito" are all arranged by Huang Yuxun, and the remaining two songs are arranged by Jay Chou himself.
Huang Yuxun's strength is not bad, but there is a certain gap compared to the former "three giants of arranging", which will naturally make Jay Chou's musical style change, the level is still very high, but the sense of surprise brought by the joint efforts of the gods before is much less.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" > fans do not understand</h1>
Jay Chou would not have thought that "Confession Balloon" could become the hottest song of the year, and he must have been surprised that his genius gift "Turkish Ice Cream" was puzzled by so many fans. He said in the interview that he likes commercial films, as a mainstream pop singer, his music also needs to meet the commercialization, he must weigh the artistry and commerciality of the work, but also eager to break through himself, the fans' incomprehension is bound to have an impact on his creation, and the recent songs are some catchy love songs.
In 2019, when Ou Long perfume advertising song came out, no one would question the greatness of Jay Chou, he is still the talented king of the music world, his musical ability has never regressed, and it is still the same today. But any artist has his own creative peak, bottleneck and bland period, which is the objective law of this world, and what kind of environment will give birth to what kind of creation.
We are fortunate enough to live in an era with Jay Chou, who accompanied us throughout our youth with creative and beautiful melodies, witnessed our every touch, and every note can evoke our best memories. We always have respect and expectations for his music, but we hope that his ankylosing spondylitis will improve and that he will be more free to pursue the life he wants.