Cantopop or HK-pop is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hong Kong popular music from the middle of the decade. Cantopop then reached its height of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s before slowly declining in the 2000s and experiencing a slight revival in the 2010s. The term "Cantopop" itself was coined in 1978 after "Cantorock", a term first used in 1974. In the eighties Cantopop has reached its highest glory with fanbase and concerts from allover the world, especially from Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. This is even more obvious with the influx of songs from Hong Kong movies during the time.
Leon Lai MingSBS BBS MH, is a Hong Kong actor, film director, businessman and Cantopop singer. He is one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong. He uses his Chinese name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming", which literally means "dawn".
Sammi Cheng Sau-man is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She is Hong Kong’s Pop diva, with album sales of over 25 million copies throughout Asia. Most notably in the 1990s, she was dubbed by the media as the "Cantopop Queen". Having success in entertainment industry for over three decades, Cheng is also best known for her roles in Hong Kong rom-com films in the early 2000s that were box office hits.
LMF also known as Lazy Mutha Fucka or Lazy Muthafucka, is a Cantonese hip-hop group in Hong Kong. The group, signed by Warner Music, was founded in 1993, disbanded in 2003 and regrouped in 2009. Some members of LMF are pursuing solo careers.
Beyond was a Hong Kong rock band formed in 1983. The band became prominent in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, and Overseas Chinese communities. The band is widely considered as the most successful and influential Cantopop band from Hong Kong. In 1993, leader Wong Ka Kui, died at the age of 31 after an accident during the filming of a show at Fuji Television in Tokyo. Beyond continued to perform and record after Wong Ka Kui's death. In 2005, the remaining members Paul Wong, Wong Ka Keung and Yip Sai Wing decided to pursue their own solo careers, and Beyond officially disbanded.
Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1950s and 1970s. Known as The Man with the Golden Voice, he filled cabarets, nightclubs, music halls, and stadiums around the world in his 30-year career. AllMusic has described Monro as "one of the most underrated pop vocalists of the '60s", who "possessed the easiest, most perfect baritone in the business". His recordings include the UK Top 10 hits: "Portrait of My Love", "My Kind of Girl", "Softly As I Leave You", "Walk Away" and "Yesterday". He also recorded several film themes such as "From Russia with Love" for the James Bond film of the same name, "Born Free" for the film of the same name and "On Days Like These" for The Italian Job.
Samuel Hui Koon-kit, usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Cantonese rather than written vernacular Chinese in biting lyrics that addressed contemporary problems and concerns. Hui is considered by some to be the first major superstar of Cantopop, known as the God of Song. As an actor, he is well-known for portraying the main character King Kong in five installments of Aces Go Places film series.
Aaron Kwok Fu-shing is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. Active since the 1980s, Kwok is known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong. Dubbed the "God of Dance", Kwok's onstage dancing is influenced by the late American performer Michael Jackson. He has released over 30 studio albums in Cantonese and Mandarin, with most of his songs are in the dance-pop genre, with elements of rock, R&B, soul, electronica and traditional Chinese music.
Hacken Lee Hak-kan ; born 6 December 1967) is a Hong Kong singer, television host and actor, active from the 1980s until today. In 2013, Lee's song "House of Cards" swept multiple awards in many Hong Kong award ceremonies, including "World's Best Song" and "Broadcasting Index" in Metro's Awards. As of 2013, he has reached 14 times in receiving the "Outstanding Pop Singer Award" at RTHK's "Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards" and has established an irreplaceable status in the music industry of Hong Kong and Asia.
Wong Ka Kui was a Hong Kong musician, singer and songwriter. He was a co-founder of the rock band Beyond, where he was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter. His younger brother Wong Ka Keung had been the bass guitarist for the band.
The Music of Hong Kong is an eclectic mixture of traditional and popular genres. Cantopop is one of the more prominent genres of music produced in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta regularly perform western classical music in the city. There is also a long tradition of Cantonese opera within Hong Kong.
Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop, and in particular the Campus Song folk movement of the 1970s. 'Mandopop' may be used as a general term to describe popular songs performed in Mandarin. Though Mandopop predates Cantopop, the English term was coined around 1980 after "Cantopop" became a popular term for describing popular songs in Cantonese. "Mandopop" was used to describe Mandarin-language popular songs of that time, some of which were versions of Cantopop songs sung by the same singers with different lyrics to suit the different rhyme and tonal patterns of Mandarin.
Justin Lo is a Hong Kong American singer-songwriter, actor and record producer working in Hong Kong.
"Seasons of Love" is a song from the 1996 Broadway musical Rent, written and composed by Jonathan Larson. The song starts with an ostinato piano motif, which provides the harmonic framework for the cast to sing "Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes". The main instruments used throughout the song are piano, vocals, guitar, organ, bass and drums.
Secret is the eighth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, released November 29, 2006 by Avex Trax. As with all of her previous works, Hamasaki wrote all of the lyrics on Secret. The album's composition was handled largely by Dai Nagao and Tetsuya Yukumi, both of whom were frequent collaborators with Hamasaki. Generally a rock-pop influenced album, Hamasaki said that the meaning of the album was itself a secret, and that it incorporated secrets she was keeping about herself that the public did not know.
Wang Leehom, sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. Formally trained at Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berklee College of Music, his music is known for fusing hip-hop and R&B, with traditional Chinese music. Since his 1995 debut, Wang has released 25 albums, that have sold over 60 million copies. He is a four-time winner and 19-time nominee of the Golden Melody Awards, the "Grammys" of Chinese music. His sold-out concert at the 90,000 seat Beijing Bird's Nest on April 14, 2012 was the first solo pop concert to be held at the iconic venue. With over 72 million followers on social media, Wang is one of the most followed celebrities in China. In 2018, CNN dubbed him "King of Chinese Pop" and the LA Times called him "the biggest American star America has never heard of." Wang was listed as one of Goldsea's "The 100 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".
Daniel Chan Hiu-tung is a popular Hong Kong singer, songwriter, and actor. He is most notable as one of the young talents in the 1990s music scene.
Capital Artists is a Hong Kong–based record label, owned by eSun Holdings, a subsidiary of Lai Sun Development. Founded in 1971, Capital Artists signed some of the biggest names in the Cantopop industry, including Roman Tam, Anita Mui, and Leslie Cheung, among others. During its prime in the 1970s and 1980s, Capital had dozens of artists under contract and was one of the biggest labels in Hong Kong.
Prudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a Hong Kong pop singer and actress. A Golden Horse Award winner and platinum selling singer, she has released 16 studio albums and appeared in numerous films.
Gloria Tang Sze-wing, professionally known as G.E.M. or Tang Tsz-kei, is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter originally from Shanghai, China. She made her debut in the Hong Kong music industry in 2008. After releasing three albums in Hong Kong, her appearance in the 2014 edition of Chinese singing competition program I Am a Singer and subsequent 2nd-place finish gained her immense fame and popularity in Greater China.
