In the early hours of this morning, Fang Datong ushered in his 38th birthday, and at the same time released the first new song of the year, "Mr. Inspiration", with its flexible rhythm and American singing voice, which made people feel like Disney movie interludes for the first time.
On closer inspection, this song was originally the theme song composed for the children's picture book "Emily Sleepwalking: Mr. Inspiration", and the author of this book is Fang Datong himself.
Do you think this magical crossover is Fang Datong's first transformation? In fact, at the age of 38, he has long changed from a "panic" on the stage to a "fang boss" with multiple identities.
Soul Boy's "A Panic" period
The reason why Fang Datong created children's picture books is inseparable from the influence of his mother.
When he was a child, Fang Datong's mother opened an education center in Shanghai, and the textbooks he wrote required a lot of musical cooperation, and Fang Datong was in contact with music very early, good at various types of musical instruments, plus received remote correspondence education in the United States, so he used a lot of free time to write nearly a hundred pieces of music for his mother's music textbooks.
Continuing his mother's career, this is also the original intention of his later choice to get involved in children's education.
Musical talent coupled with musical experience gives Fang Datong the capital to step into the music circle. However, at the beginning of his debut, the company adopted a publicity strategy of "listening to his voice and not seeing his people", and many people first met the unknown musician through Hong Kong radio.
In 2005, he released his first album "Soul Boy", the theme of the album "World Unity", which can clearly feel that Fang Datong wants to borrow the soul music popular among black Americans, integrate the foundation of Chinese music, and open up a unique musical style of creative concept.
The strong R&B style of the whole album with Fang Datong's American singing voice was unique in the music scene at that time, and popular songs such as "Spring Wind Blowing" and "Nanyin" were also born on the album. "Soul Boy" quickly won the favor of music fans, and also made Fang Datong be crowned "Hong Kong Jay Chou" and "Little Tao Zhe".
However, in this period, the title of the most Fang Datong fans is "A Panic".
Because of his shy personality and limited experience in large-scale stage performances, Fang Datong often feels nervous when facing the audience, and in addition, "Fang" and "panic" in Cantonese are homophonous, and the young "Ah Fang" naturally becomes "Ah Panic".
"Special people" period
Since the release of his debut album, the young Fang Datong has gradually faded his strangeness to the stage. In 2006, he released his second album "Love Love Love", which was awarded to major awards in Hong Kong and Taiwan. At the awards ceremony of the Pop Chart of the Ling Dynasty music industry that year, even if it was sung on the same stage with a singer of Zhang Jingxuan's level, it was already comfortable.
What really made Fang Datong occupy the public's attention was "Future" launched in 2007 and "Orange Moon" launched in 2008, the former helping him to be shortlisted for the Best Chinese Male Singer at the 2008 Golden Melody Awards, and the latter becoming an important step in his musical journey.
The songs that have been sung so far such as "Little Bugs" and "Three-Person Tour" are from the album "Orange Moon", he not only continues his R&B style, but also becomes more mature in arrangement and creation, becoming a popular mainstream singer in both sides of the strait and three places.
In the years that followed, Fang Datong began his tour, from a small radio station in Hong Kong to the Beijing Mastercard Center, which accommodates 10,000 people, and then went abroad to cruise around the world. Even with his distinctive musical style, he attracted fans from all over the world and was full of people.
Once again, he entered the Hall of The Golden Melody Awards with "Dangerous World" launched in 2014. This album based on idol Michael Jackson combines blues and other musical elements to collide with a futuristic style, and there are also popular love songs such as "Special People", which deservedly shows Fang Datong's "special people" attributes in the music world.
However, at the Golden Melody Awards that year, he encountered "Mi Shan", which was composed by Eason Chan, Lin Junjie, Wu Qingfeng, Lin Xi, Yi Jiayang and others, and returned home again in the competition for best male singer.
Just when fans bitterly said that "the world owes the same Golden Melody Award", his next album "JTW Journey to the West" won the championship in one fell swoop, helping him win the Golden Melody Award for Best Male Singer. Having been a "special person" in the music industry for so many years, he is fully worthy of this trophy to prove himself.
During the Period of the Buddhist "Fang Boss"
Fang Datong's Buddhist system can be seen from the extent to which he occupies public resources, in addition to touring and new song information, even the gossip gossip he was accidentally discovered is slightly boring.
In 2016, he added a new label for himself - the owner of the "Fu Music" label, and over the years, Fang Datong has gradually faded out of the center of people's attention, and he has transformed from "A Panic" to Fang Boss.
The "Fu Music" label inherits the stylistic characteristics of Fang Datong, such as the first single "One Step into a Poem" released by Wang Shi'an after joining, and some netizens sighed: Annual surprise! It is worthy of the blessing of the old party!
In addition to running his own label, Fang Datong has also had many titles in recent years: Fang Producer, who has revealed that he is preparing to co-produce movies with friends; Fang Writer, who uses children's book creation as a starting point to continue his mother's education work; Teacher Fang, who creates music for these children's books, and cultivates children's interests and hobbies in a fun and educational way.
In the face of such a complicated daily life, Fang Datong does not often share his busyness, and sending only one or two microblogs a month has become his routine operation, and the 38-year-old is more "pure-hearted" than in previous years.
To this day, there are also old fans who worry about him: in the music circle, you can rely on talent to eat, and the creation of labels, involved in the business field, you need him to assume the role of leader, social rules, business operations, sophistication, every detail affects the lifeline of the label.
However, just like the 22-year-old "Ah Panic" who first entered the music circle, the 38-year-old Boss Fang will naturally precipitate himself and move forward in the experience, as he sang in "Wukong":
"Our protagonist hero did not expect his surname to be Sun
He has some personal problems and has not found self-esteem
No problem, he will definitely find a moonlight treasure box."
* Editor: Kikko
*The above pictures are from the Internet
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