Western Style, Chinese Pop: Jay Chou's Rap and Hip-Hop in China

Author(s): Anthony Fung

Source: Asian Music, Vol. 39, No. 1, [Popular Music in Changing Asia] (Winter - Spring,
2008), pp. 69-80
Published by: University of Texas Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25501575
Accessed: 22-01-2018 16:46 UTC

REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25501575?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

University of Texas Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to Asian Music

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Western Style, Chinese Pop: Jay Chou's
Rap and Hip-Hop in China1

Anthony Fung

Jay Chou or in Chinese Zhou Jielun, is undeniably the most popular Chinese
singer in a number of Chinese communities. His glittering career is reflected
by his record sales and by the popularity of his concerts. In 2004, his album
Qilixiang, or Jasmine, released by Sony Music, excelled in Taiwan, Hong Kong,
and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Despite overwhelming piracy in
Taiwan?which has reduced the recording industry to 5 to 10 percent from its
heyday?as a Taiwan singer, Jay produced an album that sold a record 300,000
copies. In Hong Kong, his album surpassed local albums with sales of 50,000
units. In China the official figure reached 2.6 million units, a stunning figure
that no other Chinese artist has attained. In 2005, his album Chopin of No
vember continued this record of success with sales of 2.5 million units in Asia.
His charismatic vigor, avant-garde image, and mercantile potential are not only
recognized in Chinese societies; the World Music Awards in September 2004
held in Las Vegas acknowledged him, based on his high record sales, as the most
popular Chinese singer.
The significance of the Jay Chou story lies in its implications as a successful
marketing model for China and beyond to the larger Asia market. Why would a
Taiwan-born 25-year-old singer?without flaunting a connection to China or
the West?culturally and commercially sweep China with his style, persona, and
image and do so while China is actively agonizing over the Taiwanese indepen
dence issue? What kind of cultural strategies did Jay Chou embrace to surmount
the various political, economic, and cultural constraints involved in the Chinese
market? Illustrating how Jay Chou navigates these structural limits and the po
litical agenda of popular culture is valuable. Theorizing a framework for how
popular culture cuts across geopolitical spaces and surmounts cultural barriers
is not only beneficial for marketing of other culture products, but also sheds
light on the ideologies of evolving Chinese popular culture.
This paper thus illustrates how Jay Chou's music production has wittingly strat
egized to construct images and products that can be both locally and nationally
assimilated into Chinese culture and nationally accepted as a "prototype" prod
uct?a product whose political standard has been authoritatively acknowledged

? 2008 by the University of Texas Press, P.O. Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
70 Asian Music: Winter/Spring 2008

by the state. The study is based on three years of ethnographic study of Jay's fans,
fan clubs, and performance in China, as well as on in-depth interviews with the
various production agents and media in different Chinese cities. In this paper I
describe, from the production side, Jay Chou as an icon and his image-making
and marketing strategies. From the audience's point of view, I explore how Jay
Chou has been reconstituted from being a "foreign" singer (in the eyes of the
PRC) into a Chinese artist.

Strategic Cultural Production

The study of popular music and stardom can be quite murky and some even
see it as trivial. Popular Culture is often conceived as the culture of the com
mon people or mass culture functioning only to entertain and lacking in seri
ousness vis-?-vis critical and political implications in relation to the state and
civic society (Modleski 1986). However, contemporary cultural studies (Storey
2003, Cullen 2000) have demonstrated that societies have consistently invented
popular culture that reflects not only ideologies of the day, but also in effect
manufactures, manipulates, and distorts popular culture politically as a source of
nationalism, socially as a representation of daily life, economically as a product
of transnational corporations, and through the forces of the political economy
of globalization.
As for popular music, melody, rhythm, beat, harmony, lyrics, and timbre are not
simply creating form and aesthetic. Each of these elements are actually embed
ded with a semiotics of meaning that can create a sense of community, crystallize
imaginary identities, and create sentimental adventures for the audience (McClary
and Walser 1990). While all these reinforcing, complementary or contradictory
realms are worth unpacking, understanding these elements in relation to political,
economic, and cultural contexts is even more important. Thus, rather than just
deconstructing complex musical art forms per se, this paper considers popular
music production in relation to the demands of the state.

Popular Culture, Market, and State

The development of any cultural forms?including the popular music of Jay
Chou?in a particular cultural setting is closely tied to its relations to the nation
state and market (Caporaso and Levine 1992). For most Western democratic
states, under capitalism, the primary consideration for cultural production rests
on how the supply and demand will determine the market and yield a maximum
profit. Market demands naturally screen popular culture. The state's role in such
capitalistic systems is therefore minimal in that it only sets economic policy, or
perhaps implements a fair environment for players to operate. However, in many
of the closed states, which have a vigilant eye on foreign cultures, compatibility

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 Fung: Western Style, Chinese Pop 71

between the ideology of popular culture with the national ideology seems the
key to success. Under the nationalistic imperative of closed states, the authori
ties institutionalize their ideology in practices that dictate the economy and
sometimes ignore market demand (Frey 1984). This may well be the case with
the PRC: despite the people's desire to consume western goods and the fact that
the foreign investment that accompanies this consumption may also benefit
the economy, the state would rather defend its ideological agenda than allow
alternative and liberal values to infiltrate society. Thus, popular music that is
allowed to operate in China first has to meet the regime's political agenda before
it is circulated to the public. Jay Chou's and other foreign pop stars' success in
marketing in China is possible only after the PRC evaluates the potential impact
of popular music and a star's image on its people, considering the revolutionary
power and the possibility of popular culture being used to westernize, globalize,
and pervert China in some way.
What should be emphasized here is that the leadership of the PRC is not just
passively filtering the inflow of foreign popular culture. To fine-tune popular
culture they exercise power through different regulations and political censorship
and by using rewards or economic sanctions and co-option. Popular culture in
modern China, as we have already seen, plays a crucial role in the political forma
tion of the state. For example, Chang-Tai Hung (1996) found that popular culture
in China played a major role in galvanizing public support for the Sino-Japanese
war in 1937-1945, and, for the Communists, popular culture was refashioned into
a socialist propaganda instrument creating lively symbols of peasant heroes and
joyful images of village life under their rule. I also found (2003) that Andy Lau's
entry to motherland China required him to morph into a pan-Chinese icon that
was politically acceptable in China. For the PRC, the economic viability of any
popular star is always secondary to issues of political stability.
On the other hand, even under the looming presence of political control, cor
porations should not only be regarded as passive agents bowing to state interests.
Transnational corporations, as always, behave and function with a calculative
and capitalistic agenda. For these corporations, the solution to the "China chal
lenge" is to self-adjust and conform, to a degree, with the requirements of state
ideology. Such corporations must devise an optimal marketing strategy so that
their product minimizes potential antagonism with the national culture.

The Cool Youth Icon

To understand how Jay's marketing strategy works, it is essential first to under

stand the meaning of Jay as an icon. Jay displays quite a complex and paradoxical
image for the new"GenY" generation, a group which consumes cultural products,
brandnames, and current styles to highlight their unique identity yet continues to

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
72 Asian Music: Winter/Spring 2008

need approval from society, parents, and teachers. However, ironically, this "cool"
generation is in fact passionate and strong-willed at heart; they value relationships
with friends and want to be trusted by parents. But psychologically they desper
ately need a space of their own to escape parental control and supervision (Fung
2004). Jay provides an image this generation can identify with in their struggle
for identity. Often wearing a cap and lowering his head, Jay seemingly possesses a
shy, quiet, and introverted character and appears unduly reticent about his own
ideas and opinions. Like other successful stars, Jay's songs are full of romance, as
in Shiny Stars (2000) and Simply Love (2001). But, on the one hand, Jay's songs
are utterly representative of youth defiance, insolence, and non-compliance. For
example, in Second Class of Year 3 (2003), Jay sings:

How strong is the champion?

How many stages I have to go through?
Can't I let go this award?
I want to be my own judge
(lyrics by Feng Wenshan)

In this song, a youngster faces enormous pressure in the competitive environ

ment of public examinations, sports, and even games in Chinese society. The
song talks about the young generation's reluctance to fulfill the expectations
of the adults who want them to win awards and become champions. This is
described as the "void of pride." In another song Bullfight, Jay also expresses the
kind of dissatisfaction and anger that youth feel. While in the chorus of another
song, In the Name of Father (2003), Jay sings:

The Merciful Father, I have already fallen in the abyss of sin.

Please forgive my obstinacy
That designates my loneliness
(lyrics by Wang Junliang)

As expressed in this song, the cool generation knows that their stubbornness
and refusal to abide by rules or traditions will naturally result in their rejec
tion and hence their loneliness. What they call for is not a direct and sturdy
resistance and challenge to adulthood, but merely the forgiveness of their
"merciful father" or parents for their independent actions.
This last song also hints, on the other hand, to young people's hidden desire
to maintain relationships with parents and develop intimacy in friendships.
Consumption of popular products, including Jay Chou, is an avenue for the cool
generation to crystallize their peer network?a phenomenon also seen in the
West (Skelton and Valentine 1997). In a study about the relationship between
cool culture and cell phone branding in China, Jing Wang (2005) a researcher
and marketer at the Beijing office of a transnational advertising agency, dem

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 Fung: Western Style, Chinese Pop 73

onstrated that music as entertainment serves to maintain the social and inter
personal network for cool youth in China. Thus, the cool generation embraces
new technologies and fashion, not only because psychologically they are curious,
creative, and independent, but also because they need to build communities
around these products with their peers.
On the whole, Jay's persona serves as a model of this cool image, not being
remote enough to alienate parents outright, but distinct enough to appear inde
pendent and defiant to young people. This cool image has captured the attention
of international corporations who aspire to market their products in China to
the new generation. For example, Pepsi uses Jay as their spokesperson in the
Chinese market. Both Pepsi and Jay symbolize the desires and individualistic
pursuits of this new generation. For the audience, the consumption of such
products also enhances the formation of their own communities across China,
especially in the form of fan clubs (for example see jaycn.com and jay family,
which are Jay's two biggest fan clubs in China).

Syncretization of Western Style

Given his huge popularity among the new generation, the question remains: why
would the authorities continue to allow this semi-foreign, Taiwan-born artist to
be a popular icon capable of swaying an entire generation? As mentioned earlier,
the Chinese authorities prioritize political concern over economic consideration
when they make relevant cultural policy. Jay, therefore, must culturally and po
litically fit into the agenda for the country. His success lies in his capacity to
sublimate himself into an icon of Chineseness while maintaining his popular
and commercial fa?ade, i.e., his cool image. Paradoxically, his most popular
songs trigger the audience's emotions in a celebration of Chinese tradition and
values, including conscientiousness, tolerance, and reservedness. His Chinese
ness can be explicated on two levels.
First, as a cultural icon he sells his cool image in concerts or on MTV. He per
forms in a rhythm and blues style, but within this western form, he has inserted
Chinese melodies, themes, and rhythms. His song Dong Feng Po (East Wind,
2003) features a typical Chinese melody performed in R&B style; its instrumen
tation also creates a Chinese atmosphere with a Chinese pipa. In the lyrics, Jay
expresses sadness and loneliness subtly, similar to traditional Chinese poetry.

Who uses Pipa to perform Dong Feng Po

I can see my childhood when paints peel off from the wall
And remembering those were the old days when we were young
But now you still haven't heard of the melancholy in my Pipa music
(Lyrics by Fang Wenshan)

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
74 Asian Music: Winter/Spring 2008

Jay supplies a more overt image of Chinese patriotism by referring to "Shuang

Jie Gun" or Nunchakus, a Chinese weapon widely used by Martial Arts Master
Bruce Lee against those who would oppress the Chinese. The lyrics of Jay's song
Shuang Jie Gun (2001) state:

One footstep forward. Remember one left fist and right fist
Those who incite me will be in danger. It once appeared.
(Kungfu is like) a cigarette which I have never smoked but is with me. It is always
besides me.
(lyrics by Fang Wenshan)

In the song Jay reminisces about legendary Bruce Lee who fought the Japanese
and publicly declared in his classic movie The Chinese Connection (1972) that
Chinese are not the "Sick Men of Asia." To the global Chinese audience and
other audiences overseas, the kungfu movies from Shaw Brothers and Bruce
Lee's productions in Hollywood epitomize martial arts as a symbol of the Chi
nese. This symbol is therefore exploited as connecting to a Chineseness. In fact,
more than once Jay has indicated publically that his song can be equated with
Chinese kungfu.
Jay's performance on stage also connects with a sense of Chineseness. Quite
often, without overwhelming the modern, cool image, he hybridizes the cool
outlook with Chinese conventionality. In a nasty 3 degree Celsius outdoor con
cert at the Shanghai Stadium December 12,2003, for example, while perform
ing Shuang Jie Gun and Dong Feng Po, Jay slam-dunked a basketball on stage.
Though his clothing was wide-sleeved with loose pants in a western hip-hop
style at a previous concert, at the Guangzhou concert in December 2003, he was
dressed in a Chinese robe bespangled with shinny golden dragons. These per
formances'suggest that while the state is now more receptive to various foreign
cultural forms, such as elements of hip-hop or R&B, commercially, a complete
adoption of western style would not be wise. Jay, rather, successfully brings
western musical forms to the Chinese audience, but also evokes the national
culture of the PRC.

The Safe Political Icon

The second level of Jay's Chineseness lies in his construction as a "safe" icon
for society. Jay is not heroic, quite the contrary. As an icon of the cool genera
tion, he is obliged to be skeptical and critical. Jay's songs often address a wide
range of social issues from macro issues, such as expressing anti-war sentiment
(e.g. The Last Battle, 2002 and The Hymn of Anti-War, 2004) or environmental
protection (Farmland, 2003) to micro problems, such as domestic violence
(Baba, I Come Back, 2001) or the generation gap (Grandma, 2004). Particularly
touching is The Last Battle in which the lyrics describe the melancholy of a

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 Fung: Western Style, Chinese Pop 75

soldier embracing the dead body of a fellow combatant. Baba, I Come Back,
on the other hand, depicts a horrible scene of a drunken father beating his
wife as in the following:

Don't beat my mum in this way

Do you feel pain in your hand?
I call you dad, but why do you beat my mum.
Are you blind? Why do you follow your drunken nose? Why don't you listen to
me?
Painful, it is our pain.
(lyrics by Jay Chou)

Challenging social problems is a crucial component of Jay's stardom, but, for

the state, all the targets of attack in his songs are channeled to the social rather
than to the political. Jay is critical of the relative universal and persistent social
problems that have no direct connection to any authorities. Jay is actually benign
toward the central political authorities. He particularly avoids direct political is
sues. As a local-born Taiwanese, he parries questions about the Taiwan indepen
dence issue, a taboo for the Chinese authorities. In my interviews with members
of his fan clubs, they stated that they were unaware of Jay's political position
toward the issue of the unification of China. In fact, quite surprisingly, in 2003,
fans in Shanghai and Beijing were in a row online over whether Jay identified
more with one city or the other?an issue that the Taiwanese would not under
stand. Although these fan clubs were not given any legal status by the authorities
(in that the government did not provide any formal system for registering such
groups), the PRC regards such interactions as impinging on the patriotism of
the people. But Jay remained removed from these arguments.
For the state, Jay soothes opposition and the people's sense of relative de
privation in the wake of rapid economic development and broadening social
inequality. Jay presented himself as an ordinary person, humbly born without
any tertiary education. However, amidst the adversity and chaos, as an exem
plary model, he chose not to blame the authorities, question the legitimacy
of the state, or publicly censure them over social injustice. Rather, he chose
to climb up the social ladder assiduously through his own skills and determi
nation. His image as a non-antagonistic "layman singer" squarely matched
the needs of the authorities. In contrast to the official top-down model of
the veteran Leifeng, who sacrificed himself for the public, Jay is a bottom-up
model for the public. In early 2005, Jay's song Snail (2001), a self narrative of
his own success story as he climbed up slowly and patiently like a snail, was
listed as one of the approved "educational" materials for high school students
in Shanghai. This was a public gesture by the government to embrace this
non-confrontational youth culture but also a political acknowledgement of

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
76 Asian Music: Winter/Spring 2008

Jay's preeminence as a popular icon in China. Once this official status was be
stowed on Jay, the political thresholds that normally constrain foreign culture
were subsequently removed. At this point a popular culture star was given the
unique privilege of further expanding his market with the compliments of and
through the state's apparatus.

Capitalizing Cool Culture

It is true that Jay's initial success lay in the strong support of his fans. But the
further expansion of his influence could not have been achieved without the
support of the state. Given the vast geographical distances involved and differ
ences between regions and cities, marketing an artist requires enormous promo
tional efforts in China. Even if Jay's management (Sony Music and Alfa Music
International) was resourceful enough, launching a performing artist in different
cities in China requires the support of the local media and government offices
as well as integration with local corporations which are associated with state or
public-owned corporations. Prioritizing political concerns over economic gain,
the corporate body of the PRC would not support an artist who contradicts state
policy and national ideology. Thus, an artist imbued with the qualities that the
state requires is ideal.
But given Jay's success at negotiating the needs of his fans and demands of the
state, he has been embraced by corporate culture. It's My Site; If s My Command
(in Chinese, wo de dipan, wo zuo zhu), the first song on Jay's album Qilixiang
(Jasmine, 2004), for example, is also the slogan of "M-Zone: the mobile site,"
for China Mobile Company, a state owned enterprise. Ogilvy, an international
company, created the slogan, breaking a company taboo of using a spokesperson
to sell products. The Zone targets youth ages 15 to 25, the same generation who
needs to be "cool." Through this relationship, Jay bridged into marketing in
China under the guidance of a giant state corporation. China Mobile was also
able to extend its arm to a new generation who could afford messaging (SMS)
and other special features such as Mobile QQ (equivalent to ICQ in mobile
form) to maintain their network.
In Wuhan, a southern province in China, the Hubei branch of China Mo
bile sponsored an entire show, and, essentially, the sponsored company had
full rein on ticket distribution. In order to get a single ticket, fans or parents
of fans had to deposit either RMB 420 (around US$50) or RMB600 (around
US$75), the equivalent of two years of mobile phone fees. The entire produc
tion was therefore guaranteed a profit. By compelling users to lock in mobile
packages, China Mobile boosted its market sales. Since the show was primar
ily a promotional event for China Mobile, the campaign for the concert was
different from other typical concert promotions. The focus of the promotion

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 Fung: Western Style, Chinese Pop 77

in the local media, mainly in newspapers ( Wuhan Evening Post, Chutan Met
ropolitan Daily, Chutan Gold Daily, and Changjiang Daily) and a few television
and radio stations ( Wubei TV, Wuhan TV, Chutan Music Radio, Radio Wuhan
Radio, and Radio Hubei), was mainly on China Mobile and not Jay Chou. Of
course, there are drawbacks to this kind of concert promotion. Because of the
mismatch between Jay Chou's fans and the mobile users, some of the atten
dants at the concert were not core fans. In fact, according to my observation,
the enthusiasm of the audience at the Xinhualu Stadium in Shanghai was not
as intense as it was in other cities.

The Political Economy of Foreign Culture in China

It is a matter of fact that the state has strict control over foreign culture in
China. In October 1997, the State Council headed by Primer Li Peng, instated
the Regulation of Management of Performance Operations for non-state artists,
performance organizers, investors, and managers of performance sites. The new
regulation aimed to control the technical aspects of the performance to ensure
safety, copyright protection, and proper taxation. The regulation also allowed
control over content and the management of the shows. The law states clearly
that a live performance should not gainsay state policy and social order and
delimit values and behaviors (e.g. sex, violence, etc.) that could possibly per
vert people's minds. It also declares clearly that no foreign joint venture should
be allowed to run concerts or rely on foreign investment. Only government
approved groups could manage the concerts and ensure "security."
There are actually many local rules that foreign companies could not possibly
handle, especially the custom of giving tickets away to state, police, and stadium
officials. For Jay Chou's concert in Shanghai, for example, out of the 80,000 seats
in the Shanghai Stadium only 43,000 bona fide tickets were sold. In addition
to space allocated for the complex stage that takes 200 people to assemble, the
promoter had to relinquish 10 percent of tickets to sponsors and to the Security
Guard, the Fire Department, and related departments. In essence, this practice
allowed the government indirect control over the foreign production.
When we look broadly at China's control over popular culture, we see that as
late as 2003 there were still barriers for Taiwan artists. A few privileged groups
were limited to twelve concerts from Hong Kong-Taiwan artists every year. In
vestors had to partner with a privileged company to get a license (called a Piwen)
from the Ministry of Culture before they could promote concerts and sell tickets.
Concerts featuring artists from western countries bear an even higher risk. The
western artists Wham in the '80s, and Bj?rk and Ricky Martin in the '90s per
formed in China, but did so to promote their nations' images. Tickets were given
away free and not sold. However, other groups such as Aceofbase and Roxette

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
78 Asian Music: Winter/Spring 2008

attempted to have commercially viable concerts but in the end made very little
money. The Suede concert organized by Modernsky, an indie record company,
also ran into problems over ticket sales.
Given the high risk of marketing foreign artists in China, organizers best
promote concerts with corporate sponsorship. However, because of the specific
political economy in China, the collaboration must incorporate commercial and
state concerns. According to Fanli, the organizer of Jay's concert in Shanghai,
they are a huge risk. In October 2003, the investor Zhen Long Performance
Company in Shanghai risked RMB8 million (around US$1 million), mainly
covering the RMB4 million (around US$500,000) charge for Jay Chou's produc
tion company for organizing the concert. However, being a second tier perfor
mance company, they had no authority to deal with overseas clients; they had
to partner with the first-tier Shanghai East Asia Performance company which
could apply for a license.
Besides a commercial partner, the organizer had to rely largely on the Chinese
media for promotion. Yet, all the media in Shanghai are de facto state-owned and
placed under the Shanghai Media Group (SMG). The concert could enjoy vast
publicity, but every performance and entertainer has to get the tacit approval
of the state, a condition that only happens when the ideologies of the singers do
not contradict with that of the authorities.

The Commercial Viability of Foreign Culture

Upon satisfying the state's need and passing their "standards," entertainment
corporations can work on acquiring monetary rewards. Serving as the spokes
person for local products or services, for example, is a major source of revenue
for Jay Chou. Besides state-owned enterprises like China Mobile, Jay also serves
as spokesperson for many new generations' consumer products, such as Pana
sonic mobile phone, Japan's DHC cosmetics, Pepsi (for the entire Asia market),
and local clothing brand Meters Bonwe.
Meters Bonwe, a local Chinese brand and chain store set up in 1994, mar
kets casual wear to young people in 1,000 retail outlets in China in Beijing,
Shangahi, Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenyang, and Xi'an.
In the early days, Meters Bonwe was famous for its wool clothing and proud to
be a Chinese brand. But as it expanded, and produced over 20 million units of
casual wear annually in 200 apparel factories all over China, it has aspired to
become an international brand, selling franchises that reflect a chic, trendy im
age. According to the organizer of Jay's concerts, Meter Bonwe covered RMB2
million (around US$250,000) of the expenses for Jay's marketing in Shanghai
and sponsored Jay's "Ten perfects Meter Bonwe" concert in Beijing in Septem
ber 2003.

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 Fung: Western Style, Chinese Pop 79

Maintaining the Integrity of Chineseness

In sum, this paper illustrates that for a cultural product to be marketed in an

authoritarian regime that values the political over the economic, a commercial
marketing plan devised for the financial gain alone is destined for failure. For
the PRC, developing the economy is a priority, but the concerns of the state take
precedent. They will avoid any detraction from the political agenda and will risk
losing revenue to safeguard this turf. Finally, foreign artists in China can only
survive when they meet the political needs and participate in the government's
cultural agenda.
This study further illustrates a seminal case in which a state-owned enterprise
collaborated with a foreign group, in this case Jay's production team. It dem
onstrates that foreign cultural forms (such as R&B, hip-hop, and other Western
styles) are not unacceptable in China. The reality is that these Western forms
and styles are now encouraged and being used insofar as they can help serve
the state. Jay Chou's creation of Western-style-Chinese-pop is a benchmark case
where a foreign artist successfully reproduces popular culture that retains its
Chineseness while at the same time embracing the West. The music produced,
then, is not only a Sino-Western fusion that carries a "Chinese signature," it is
also a form of pop culture that recognizes the growing dissent of society as a
consequence of social and economic reforms, yet is safe, compromising, and
non-confrontational to the state.

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Notes
1 This paper was fully supported by a grant from the Research Grant Council of Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region. (Project no. CUHK4274/ 03H)

References

Caporaso, James A., and David P. Levine

1992 Theories of Political Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cullen, Jim
2000 Popular Culture in American History. Maiden, MA: Blackwell.
Frey, Bruno
1984 "Modelling Politico-Economic Relationships." In What is Political Economy?
Eight Perspectives, ed. David Whynes, 141-61. Oxford: Blackwell.
Fung, Anthony
2003 "Marketing Popular Culture in China: Andy Lau as a Pan-Chinese Icon."
In Chinese Media, Global Contexts, ed. Chin-Chuan Lee, 257-69. London:
Routledge Curzon.
2004 "XYZ Generation Series: GenY," Ming Pao, August 22, Hong Kong edition.

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 80 Asian Music: Winter/Spring 2008

Hung, Chang-Tai
1996 War and Popular Culture: Resistance in Modern China 1937-1945. Taipei: SMC
Publications/ University of California Press.
McClary, Susan, and Robert Walser
1990 "Start Making Sense! Musicology Wrestles with Rock." In On Record: Rock,
Pop, and the Written Word, eds. Simon Firth and Andrew Goodwin, 277-92.
London: Routledge.
Modleski, Tania
1986 Studies of Entertainment: Critical Approaches to Mass Culture. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press.
Skelton, Tracey, and Gill Valentine
1997 Cool Places: Geography of Youth Culture. New York: Routledge.
Storey, John
2003 Inventing Popular Culture: From Folklore to Globalization. Maiden, MA:
Blackwell.
Wang, Jing
2005 "Youth Culture, Music, and Cell Phone Branding in China." Global Media and
Communication 1(2): 185-201.

This content downloaded from 128.62.18.16 on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:46:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms