Trainee reporter Yang Jianwei/Wen
Lisa/Editor
While Cantonese songs have gradually faded from the attention of mainland audiences, there have been many original musicians in Hong Kong who either care about reality or are bold and innovative. Lu Kaitong is one of them, her career is getting better and better, album production, concerts are in full swing preparation... But it all ended after her leap
"Will be depressed taste, the text on the right arm, do not cover my legend." Not only anxiety, but also musical instruments, follow me, go far away. In September 2015, in the song "Testament at the Age of Twenty-Nine", Hong Kong female singer Lo Kai-tong wrote such a "suicide note" about her bipolar disorder and her 13-year music career. Three years later, no one expected that this song would really become her "suicide note" - on August 5, Lu Kaitong fell from the Happy Valley residence building and died, and her life came to an abrupt end.
This is a singer who is not well known outside cantonese circles. She was a former member of the Hong Kong girl group At17; a guest at Eason Chan's concerts; she won the Taiwan Golden Melody Award last year and came out generously to thank her wife when she received the award.
Lu Kaitong (right) and former partner Lin Erwen (left)
Two days after Lu Kaitong's departure, Lu Kaitong's wife, Yu Jingping, posted on social networking sites: "She can't find 'glasses' that suit her strength and appearance at present, and then can't wait for the invention of 'contact lenses'." We all know too little about emotional illness, but we all work hard. ”
On August 13, Lu Kaitong's public farewell ceremony was held at the Hong Kong funeral home, and relatives, friends and fans from all over the world came to send her on her last journey. In fact, looking back at Lu Kaitong's life, whether it is for music or life, she has been looking for "glasses that suit her own degree and appearance". In the process, people can also glimpse the bravery and vulnerability of a female singer.
Come out at the Golden Melody Awards
On June 24, 2017, in Taipei, Lu Kaitong took the podium of the Golden Melody Awards. She took the trophy for Best Arrangement and said solemnly, "I want to thank my wife, I married my wife abroad last year. Thanks to her, my life has become more complete, I know the world is not perfect, my people are not perfect, but with you, who still needs perfection. Thunderous cheers and applause from the audience interrupted her speech several times. In this way, Lu Kaitong came out, and she became the first Chinese female singer to announce the marriage of a same-sex lover.
That night, her speech was screened on social networks, and both fans and passers-by left messages saying that they were "good" and "gave me a lot of strength and courage."
Lu Kaitong's appearance is undoubtedly brave, and it is of greater significance to put this move in the entire Hong Kong entertainment industry. In the five years from 2012 to 2017, three influential pop singers, including Lu Kaitong, have come out, and the emergence of "rainbow songs" with sexual minority equal rights demands such as "Forbidden Colors" and "Rolls Royce" has made the inner voice of this group be sung through the mouth of the singer. Lu Kaitong's appearance has made the Hong Kong entertainment industry and even the public have more understanding and tolerance of sexual minorities to a certain extent.
However, public appearances bring not only applause, but also pressure and insults. She once admitted in an interview that she was attacked by many netizens and was scolded for "fucking homosexuality" and "perverting". Lu Kaitong looked very open and told himself not to be provoked by these comments. "I think they don't understand, they're not educated, they don't know that homosexuality, some of their sexual orientation is innate, but it won't affect you, so why criticize others?" She will not rudely scold back, but say "use my art and music to infect others."
Gangle: It seems to be declining, but it is actually maturing
In 2002, 15-year-old Lu Kaitong and 19-year-old Lin Erwen teamed up to form a girl group At 17 debut. At that time, the Hong Kong music scene was not the best era for newcomers. In the public consensus, the 1980s and 1990s were the golden age of Hong Kong's entertainment industry, with legends and events such as "Tan Zhang Contending" and "Four Heavenly Kings" appearing frequently, and their influence radiated out of Hong Kong to all of Asia. At the beginning of the millennium, several singers who debuted in the late 1990s, such as Eason Chan, Joey Yung and Miriam Yeung, took the last train of the Hong Kong music star-making era, and since then, it is difficult for the Queen of Heaven to appear. Coupled with the fact that the girl group Twins, who debuted at the same time, won the love of more people with a sweet and lovely image, At 17 has been in an embarrassing situation that is not too red.
"Their debut was a relatively disadvantageous, after all, the Hong Kong music scene in that era shrank sharply, only a few stars at the head occupied the absolute resources, and the rest lived more difficultly, let alone become superstars." In an interview with this reporter, the music critic "1874 AD" described at 17's two lives as untimely.
Many people miss the era when Hong Kong music was popular, from superstars to high-profile songs. But the star-studded star-studded truth hides an embarrassing fact: the original power of the Hong Kong music scene is actually very weak, "Monica", "Love of the Mist", "A Thousand And One Songs", "Li Xianglan"... Almost all the well-known Cantonese songs are covered from Japan. Coupled with the fact that the mainstream of the pop music scene is almost all salivating ballet love songs, and the idol singers such as the "Four Heavenly Kings" are in charge, which further squeezes the development space of original singers, therefore, some fans believe that even from the perspective of scale and output value, the Hong Kong music scene is on the downhill road after the millennium, but from the perspective of the ecology of the entire industry, it is constantly sound and mature, and there are more works with wide singing and strong social smell, such as "Black Selection Ming", which pays attention to the problem of youth suicide, and "Xi Ti Street", which commemorates the collective memory of a generation The emergence of niche musicians has perfected the content of the entire record industry.
Independent singer in Hong Kong
On July 26, 2017, Lu Kaitong served as a concert guest of singer Wei Ruxuan
While Cantonese songs have gradually faded from the attention of mainland audiences, there have been many original musicians in Hong Kong who either care about reality or are bold and innovative. For example, the Kolor band, with rock and electronic as the main style, exudes delicate and grounded urban emotions in the singing voice of the big opening; the singing voice is partial to the European and American AGA, the work is exquisitely produced, the style is dominated by blues R&B, and the various moods of male and female love are told in her mouth; Serrini Shanini is eccentric, diverse in style, playing with various music genres, and fans describe her as "singing any song". Supper Moment jumps out of the mainstream love song framework and sings out the world' emotions, and the characters in the song can also be figurative office workers, middle-aged men, etc.
Lu Kaitong, who flew solo in 2010, was also one of them. For a long time, she was in a state of "not being able to figure out what to do most." She went to work as a guitarist in the concerts of Eason Chan, Miriam Yeung and others, although with those amazing playing moments in "Xi Ti Street", Lu Kaitong was known to more people, but she was not satisfied with this. What she thought was: "If I start all over again, I am the only one, what kind of singer will I become?" ”
In doubt, her musical career gradually got on track. In the past three years, she has successively released three albums of "Lifting", "You Quietly Hide" and "RidingonFaith", expressing her musical attitude in an independent posture. In "You Are Not Who I Am At All", Lu Kaitong ostensibly writes a pair of lovers fighting over the open and secret, but it seems to be telling how a person gets along with his loneliness; in "Under the Lights", she sings: "Everyone also looks up to the bright lights, why do I just feel that the sky is full of bleaching screens." ”
When everything was going well, Lu Kaitong was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She once wrote a book called Pillowtalk, which documented her process of "getting along" with bipolar disorder: "Pacing around the house, suicidal thoughts like dirty air suffocating, legs softening ... Hands were shaking as they hurt themselves. ”
"Anxiety disorder, once ruined me"
In the Hong Kong entertainment industry in recent decades, there have not been many artists who have disclosed that they suffer from emotional illness, Zhang Guorong is one of them, and there are even fewer people like Lu Kaitong who express their bipolar emotions by publishing books and holding art exhibitions. The famous Hong Kong lyricist Lin Xi also struggled with anxiety disorders for many years, writing lyrics such as "Anxiety disorders, once destroyed me" to dissect himself. Because of the huge pressure of public opinion after disclosure, mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder have become unspeakable existence among public figures. Even Zhang Guorong, who suffered from depression, could not understand at first: how can a person who is so optimistic about himself suffer from depression?
The manic depression followed, invading Lu Kaitong's life and influencing her creation. In "Your perfection is a little difficult to understand does not mean that the world can not be tolerated", she sang: "Pain is not painful, do you want to say it." No, no, no, come on. These sentences recording bipolar moments are scattered in Lu Kaitong's later works, becoming another footnote to her life and music, and becoming an "antidote" for fans who also suffer from bipolar disorder.
"She is Margaret, she is the Light." Lu Kaitong fan Liang Dong described her as the young "Margaret" in her composition "Dear Margaret". The Margaret, "short-haired and soft", ran away alone with an electric guitar, crossed the plains, crossed the horizon, and went to Xintiandi alone, singing "All the way to the red light on the car, the final stop is not home".
In November 2015, Lu Kaitong shaved his hair at the concert, which means "rebirth". In the same year, in the album "Pillow Whisper", he said that he had recovered and hoped that the bipolar group would receive more attention.
Before committing suicide, album production and concerts were in full swing... But it all ended after her leap.
(At the request of the interviewee, Liang Dong is a pseudonym)
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