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Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
UPDATED: December 2, 2008 NO. 49 DEC. 4, 2008
Super Star
Chinese R&B prince Jay Chou picks up his fourth World Music Award
By ZAN JIFANG
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TRENDSETTER: Jay Chou is a Chinese fashion icon (CHEN JIANLI) 

On November 10, Chinese musician Jay Chou won his fourth World Music Award, an international award given to musicians based on album sales. Chou won this honor because sales of his album On the Run, released in November 2007, ranked first in the Asian region, selling 1.07 million copies. Chou also won the award in 2004, 2006 and 2007, breaking the record of Chinese pop singer Jacky Cheung, who had previously won two years in a row.

Triple threat

Born in 1979 in Taiwan, Chou is undoubtedly the most popular musician in Taiwan and on the mainland of China, especially among young people.

Famous for his songwriting talent, Chou has been praised as a music genius by the media. He writes the music and lyrics for most of the songs on his albums himself, and he has also written songs for other Chinese singers.

Chou became known for his avant-garde music style soon after he released his first album in November 2000. His first two albums contain genres ranging from rap and rock to traditional Chinese music, while his songs touch on themes including urbanization, violence and Chinese kungfu.

His creative ideas in music seemed to have no limits and he quickly became a rising star in Chinese music. Although some older listeners could not accept his new style of music-some prestigious artists have publicly said they could not hear his lyrics clearly-millions of young Chinese welcomed it.

In eight years, Chou has won more than 200 major music awards, including best singer, best album and best single.

Each album has maintained a strong Chinese flavor, which is an important element in Chou's music. Working with lyricist Vincent Fang, who wrote more than half the lyrics on Chou's albums, Chou infused many of his melodies and lyrics with a strong traditional Chinese feeling.

One example is A Thousand Miles Away on the album Still Fantasy released in September 2006. Chou and famous Taiwanese singer Fei Yu-Ching, 53, sang the song together in totally different ways-Fei sings with a soulful style while Chou persists with his trademark R&B. The creative combination captivated both teenagers and their parents. Chou and Fei performed the song in 2007 during CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, a prominent variety show featuring the most popular songs of the past year.

Even as he continued to release albums, Chou made the leap to the silver screen. In 2005, he played the lead role in the Hong Kong film Initial D, a live-action film adapted from a Japanese cartoon series. Chou's acting debut increased his exposure to Japanese audiences. That role earned Chou the Best New Performer prize at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards.

Chou then appeared in Chinese director Zhang Yimou's blockbuster Curse of the Golden Flower in 2006, for which he was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2007 Hong Kong Film Awards.

In February 2008, Chou starred as a gifted dunker in Kungfu Dunk, which put his basketball talent on display.

Not satisfied with acting alone, however, Chou wanted to be the man behind the camera. First, he tried to direct his own music videos. In 2007 he directed his first film, Secret, starring as a brilliant pianist who falls in love with a girl from the past. Apart from that, he also composed all the songs in the movie.

Chou once told the media that directing gave him a greater sense of personal achievement than music.

Another important turning point in his music career came when Chou and his friends founded a record company, JVR Music, in March 2007. By running this company, Chou said he hoped to help other young talents realize their music dreams.

Story behind the glory

Chou's mother once recalled that as a child, he showed a keen interest in music even before he learned to walk. When Chou was 3 years old, his mother spent all their savings buying him a piano.

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