| Hokkien pop / Taiwanese Hokkien pop / Taiwanese pop | |
|---|---|
| Cultural origins | 1930s Taiwan |
| Typical instruments | Chinese musical instruments, westernmusical instruments |
| Regional scenes | |
| Music of Taiwan | |
| Other topics | |
| Cantopop •J-pop •K-pop •Chinese rock | |
| Taiwanese pop | |
| Hàn-jī | 臺灣歌 |
|---|---|
| Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Tâi-oân-koa |
| Tâi-lô | Tâi-uân-kua |
| Common name | |
| Hàn-jī | 臺語流行音樂 |
| Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Tâi-gí liû-hêng im-ga̍k |
| Tâi-lô | Tâi-gí liû-hîng im-ga̍k |
Hokkien pop, also known asTaiwanese Hokkien popular music,Taiwanese pop (臺灣歌;Tâi-oân-koa),T-pop (臺語流行音樂;Tâi-gí liû-hêng im-ga̍k),Tai-pop,Minnan Pop andTaiwanese folk (臺語歌;Tâi-gí-koa), is apopular music genre sung inHokkien, especiallyTaiwanese Hokkien and produced mainly inTaiwan and sometimes inFujian inMainland China orHong Kong or evenSingapore inSoutheast Asia. Hokkien pop is most popular amongstHoklo people in Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, and theOverseas Chinese andOverseas Taiwanese in Southeast Asia, such asChinese Singaporeans,Chinese Malaysians,Chinese Filipinos,Chinese Indonesians, etc.
The historical origin of Hokkien pop comes from a Japaneseenka base instead of aChineseshidaiqu base.[1][failed verification] Because it developed from traditional Japanese enka, it has become diverse in its varieties.[citation needed]
UnderJapanese rule (1895–1945), Taiwanese music continued and developed its new form from the previous period. By the 1930s,vinyl records of traditional music, such asTaiwanese opera,Peking opera,Nanguan, andBeiguan were popular.[2] The first Hokkien record to have "pop song" printed on its label wasMarch of the Black Cats [zh]. Sung by Chiu-chan and released in March 1929, the song featuredTaiwanese opera-style seven-character lines with a Western orchestral instrumentation. In March 1932, a Hokkien-language promotional jingle recorded bySun-sun to advertise the filmThe Peach Girl was released, and achieved wider popularity.[3]
A new business model of the popular music industry emerged when Kashiwano Seijiro, who led the Taiwan branch ofColumbia Record Company, started to market their records in new ways, such as marketing songs withsilent movies. Kashiwano also recruited and made popular musical talents such asTeng Yu-hsien,Yao Tsan-fu [zh],Su Tung [zh],Lee Lim-chhiu and Sun-sun. They produced important titles such asBāng Chhun-hong (Longing for the Spring Breeze) andThe Torment of a Flower (Flower of a Rainy Night). The Taiwan branch ofVictor Records was an equally competitive company, delegated by the influentialLin Ben Yuan Family and headed by Chang Fu-hsing. With talents such asChen Ta-ju, Victor produced important titles such asWhite Peony [zh].
This new business was led by a new generation born under Japanese rule. This generation received modern Japanese education at that time and was exposed to western musical styles and ideas. Some were active in the new music industry because of their interest in politics. Music helped them demonstrate their disapproval against the Japanese ruling and support of native culture.
However, Hokkien pop was soon set back. AsSecond Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, non-Japanese songs were banned, and talents were required to write songs (and change previous songs) for military propaganda. The situation worsened in 1941 when thePacific War broke out. The bombings of Taiwan (called Formosa at the time) by the United States, poverty, and the shortage of raw materials hit the music industry hard, a situation which drove many talents away. This period ends with the end of World War II and thehandover of Taiwan to the Republic of China in 1945.[4]
Taiwan's period ofWhite Terror began after theFebruary 28 Incident of 1947 and declaration ofmartial law in 1949. TheKuomintang had lost theChinese Civil War and proclaimedTaipei as the temporary capital of theRepublic of China. All facets of Taiwanese culture that were not ofHan Chinese origin were under scrutiny. In particular, the government discouraged use ofTaiwanese languages[4] (see alsoTaiwanese Hokkien§Politics). As a result, native Taiwanese pop music was no longer in development.
In the 1960s,Taiwan Television was barred from airing more than two Taiwanese pop songs a day.[4][5]
By the early 1980s, Hokkien pop remained popular only among the older generations and working class;Mandopop had benefited from government promotion ofStandard Chinese in gaining appeal with the younger generation.[1] After the lifting of martial law in 1987, local Taiwanese culture was allowed to flourish, and major changes came to the content and social status of Tai-pop songs.
Blacklist Studio ventured release the first native Taiwanese album, entitledSong of Madness, in the Mandopop-dominated market of 1989.
One famous male singer from the 1980s isChris Hung who is famous forOne Little Umbrella (一支小雨傘); Hung also produces TaiwaneseChristian song albums. Another famous male singer from the 1990s isChen Lei [zh], who made a number of famous songs such asHoa-Hi Tioh Ho (歡喜就好).
Fong Fei-fei is a famous Taiwanese singer from the 1970s who is a Mandarin pop singer, but also has albums in Taiwanese too.
Jody Chiang is Taiwan's most famous singer and is often referred to as the Queen of Taiwanese pop music. She has many albums and compilations that date from the 1980s to the present. She can be referred to as the Taiwanese equivalent of Teresa Teng (below).
Stella Chang has produced albums entirely in Mandarin and entirely Taiwanese. She made her debut singing Taiwan'sSchool campus songs and is a Mandarin pop singer, but branched out into contemporary Mandarin and Taiwanese songs to reflect her heritage.
Teresa Teng although ofmainland Chinese heritage, is also known to have songs in Taiwanese. Unfortunately, these songs have not made it to CDs like her Japanese, Mandarin, and Cantonese songs have. Although Teng is better known for her Mandarin albums, her songs were also influenced by Japanese Enka style and by older Taiwan min-ge songs.
Fei Yu-Ching also ofmainland Chinese heritage, published at the end of the 1980s two albums in Hokkien. The first album published in 1987 is called 甲人做伙 (A man as a partner) and the second one published in 1988 is called 古早 (Once Upon a Time). He also sung many Hokkien songs on famous Taiwanese television shows in the 1990s and 2000s.
Chen Ying-Git is a famous female singer of TaiwaneseHakka heritage, who has also produced albums from the 1980s through the 1990s like Jody Chiang. One of her famous songs is 海海人生. She sings a famous duet called 酒醉黑白話 with Taiwanese male singerYu Tian, who also sings in Mandarin.
Other famous Taiwanese singers includeChang Hsiu-ching fromPingtung, who is famous for her song "Chhia-chām" (車站; Train Station) from the early 1990s.
In 1990,Lim Giong launched the first successful Taiwanese album underRock Records. It also broke away the tradition by having a new-ballad style instead of the old-enka style.[1]
In 1993, Taiwan's government opened up the broadcasting of TV or radio programs to languages other than Mandarin.[6]
In the mid-1990s, Taiwan became the centre of one of the largest music industries in Asia. The country was the second largest music industry in Asia, in 1998 and 1999, after Japan, before falling to fourth in 2002 due to piracy. Piracy has caused domestic repertoire as a proportion of the market to fall to 50%, in 2001, from an all-time high of around 70%, in the 1990s.[7] Sales of recorded music in Taiwan peaked in 1997, when sales reached US$442.3 million, but by 2008, revenue declined sharply to US$51 million, with piracy and illegal downloads to blame. Foreign songs began to dominate local repertoire for the first time in the mid-2000s, as they did in Hong Kong and mainland China.[8]
The most popular Taiwanese female singer to date isJody Chiang, who has numerous Taiwanese albums dating from the early 1980s. Another famous singer in Taiwan also known for her ballads isChen Ying-git.
Current Hokkien pop music is becoming more influenced by Mandarin pop and include a wide variety of styles including rock, hip-hop, rap etc. Artists such asWu Bai,Phil Chang,Jolin Tsai,Eric Moo,Show Lo,Mayday andJay Chou are known to have Taiwanese songs in their albums. Recently, the rising popularity of the Hokkien pop divaJeannie Hsieh has put Hokkien pop to a new level with her dance songs which are very different from the traditional Hokkien pop ballad sad songs. Also, Taiwaneseblack metal bandChthonic has risen to international prominence due to theirnationalistic,anti-Chinese themes, as well as lead singerFreddy Lim's ascension into politics.
In August 1996, IFPI Taiwan (nowRecording Industry Foundation in Taiwan) introduced gold and platinum awards for music recordings in Taiwan, along with the IFPI Taiwan Chart,[9] which was suspended in September 1999.[10]
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