jielun: a quasi-tribute
written: 7:44 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 - Zhou Jielun's 26th birthday
He still mumbles, of course; that's more or less his trademark, what fans and detractors alike know him for. I could go on about the contributions he's made to the Chinese pop world, how he's cleaned up the formulaic crap that half-baked singers churn out like mass-produced goods along a robotic conveyor belt, how he sticks to his own style, stubbornly, refusing to yield to sometimes-unfair criticisms of his music, how we're still not getting bored of him...but these are things that you read in magazine articles (Time magazine's cover story on him was amazingly brilliant). In other words, they're things you've already heard before; it's what boring, uncreative journalists repeat about him time and time again, rehashing the same old bullshit until I can practically recite it like History facts.
It's great that he's made such an impact on the music scene, but that's not what really matters to me at the end of it all. Granted, I'd probably never hear of him if he weren't already so reputed and popular when I decided to pick up his first album in 2002, but his fame and popularity don't add anything to the quality of his music. They are, in fact, secondary factors whose importance don't even register with me sometimes. Yes, I'd be lying if I said that his winning awards and topping Singapore's best-selling Chinese albums charts for about half a year don't please me; they do, and it's only natural for a fanatic to be glad when her favourite singer whose merits she fervently believes in gets due recognition for his brilliant work and talent.
But the point is, I was drawn in by his music, and it's always been about his music for me. Fans fawn over his costume changes during concerts, the fireworks, the dance segments, the effects, et al, but I could do without all of that and just have him, his voice, a microphone, a band, some back-up singers, and his songs. Stripped-bare, just the acoustics, perhaps a background tape of sorts for his fast numbers, and that strange voice of his, a cross between a bad straining of the vocal chords to reach the high notes by an untrained singer and the heart-breaking pathos of an out of love adolescent...
How do I sum him up? I can't. He's love songs, Chinese rap, R&B, social commentaries, a fierce exponent of the Chinese culture, Asia's king of pop, the highest-earning recording artiste in Taiwan; he's just Jay Chou Jie Lun. The only Chinese singer I devotedly listen to, because he's that good, and so much more.
He's a genre all by himself. It started with ���� (Xing Qing) (Jay Album, Track #3): I saw bits of his live performance on a Malaysian TV channel during Chinese New Year in 2002, and he happened to be performing that song. I remembered, distinctively, the chorus, and how it goes, "Shou qian shou yi bu liang bu san bu si bu wang zhe tian..." Even after Jay Album, which I liked more than I thought I would since I was still a banana-type moron, it was awhile before I bought Fantasy. I found ���� (Ren Zhe) and ˫�ع� (Shuang Jie Gun) extremely odd; the Chinese rap didn't really go down well with me. But ������Ԫǰ(Ai Zai Xi Yuan Qian) blew me away, as did ���һ����� (Ba, Wo Hui Lai Le), and of course, the requisite Jielun hit to end all Jielun hits, ���� (An Jing). I shocked even myself when I went down to CD Rama @ West Mall immediately after school on the day of the release of his third album, �˶ȿռ� (Ba Du Kong Jian; The Eighth Dimension), which was July 28, 2002, if memory serves. I immediately liked ������ (Ban Shou Ren), ������С���� (Mi Lan Xiao Tie Jiang), ��ȭ (Long Quan)...in fact, the whole freaking album, all ten songs, even the love-themed ones that I'd already weened off ages ago. And of course, there was that virgin Jay Chou concert of mine; "The One", live in Singapore, January 11 2003, at the Indoor Stadium. On hindsight, it was a mere preamble to the sheer exhilaration that I would experience two years later; absolutely amazing. Needless to say, when July 31, 2003 finally arrived, I fell in love with Ҷ���� (Ye Hui Mei) immediately, and ���� touched me because of the clarity of Jielun's message, as well as its permanent significance in today's conscience-ravaged world. It was a pleasant surprise, for as much as I liked him, I never expected him to come out with a social-commentary song; and thus, admiration graduated to respect, which only deepened with the release of ������ (Qi Li Xiang) on August 3, 2004, and the mind-blowing, absolutely beautiful and profound ֹս֮�� (Zhi Zhan Zhi Shang), which, to me, is the best song he's ever recorded. The background piano is just...mere words cannot do justice to it, but I'll just try. I think 'beautiful', 'amazing', 'heart-wrenching', 'evocative' should do it some justice. It came at precisely the right time, and Jielun's anti-war message is subtlely clear. The end of the year rolled around, the A Levels finally ended, and the Incomparable to Jay concert...the most perfect, immaculate way to round off the year, to reward myself for slaving away like a bloody nerd for two, three months. Sometimes, I think that I still cannot get over the exhilaration that was that night; absolutely incredible.
In all honesty, he's the only person for whom I'd queue for four hours just to see face-to-face for three seconds. If he ever decides to hold some public event in Singapore that is not a concert, I'd be there in a heartbeat, teenybopper and all. Who cares? Jielun is completely worth it. Talent doesn't come any better than him, and the impact his music has made on my life goes so much deeper than what I've said in this entry. Sometimes, it's so elusively complex that I don't even know how to describe it, let alone explain it. How do you find an adequate reason to explain to people how his music has changed your perspective on your own culture and language by 360 degrees? Even typing out that sentence felt strange, but it's the truth. His pro-Chinese songs are infectious; no matter how hard you try, you just can't fight off his pride.
That's another thing I like about him. He's never been to the university, doesn't have fantastic educational qualifications, but he knows more about being Chinese than I, and many people I know, do. And the fact that he proudly displays his pride, in a manner so unbridled and uncompromising...simply put, I caught the bug, and now it's deeply entrenched in me. I mean, when I tell people this they tend to snort and laugh, but it's the truth anyway. I learn a lot of my Chinese from his lyrics, and the very fact that I am extremely bothered by my disgustingly horrendous command of my language can be traced directly back to Jielun. I don't really care if this is sounding like blind idol worship; it's the truth, and I make no bones about it, except that it doesn't reveal much about my own level of cultural awareness and consciousness and botheredness (for want of a better word) if I needed a singer/composer to make me see the light.
But you know what? To hell with it. I've seen it, and I credit Jielun for it. If I had the chance to say just one thing to him, that's what I'd tell him. Non-fans have no idea how amazing he is, and even some of his fans have no idea how incredible he is either. I mean, who else can sing/rap about Chinese chess and get away with it?
To wrap this up as it's taken about an hour and twenty minutes, happy 26th birthday, Jielun. May more of your dreams and wishes come true.
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before sunrise // before sunset
Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010