A recent songwriting camp in Hong Kong brought together young talent who have written BTS, Tia Ray, Priscilla Abby and more to create all-but-guaranteed chart-toppers. We spoke to three of them.
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Lyrics about real cases of violence against women in China have resonated with millions across the country and sparked an outpouring of stories and discussion on social media.
“In the end, this is how you describe us: Banshee, shrew, whore, and hooker Fishwife, bitch, slutty man-eater. Look, this is how you belittle us”
These lyrics from Mandopop star Tan Weiwei (Sitar Tan) are powerful in their own right, but they take on a new urgency in a year when China saw several especially brutal cases of violence against women in the national spotlight. Soon before Tan’s song hit the internet, screenwriter and activist Xianzi appeared at a court in Beijing to hold a powerful CCTV host, Zhu Jun, accountable for sexual harassment. Hundreds of Xianzi’s fans gathered in the cold outside the courthouse in solidarity.
Listeners gave a powerful endorsement to Xiaojuan
, but at the same time feared for its fate. “I’m afraid this might get censored soon,” one said on Weibo. “She was bold to speak out,” another said.
Tan is the first mainstream musician in China to use music to address domestic abuse and violence against women.
The title of each track on Tan’s album is the name of a woman – ordinary people she has met such as Wu Chunfang, a driver raising a child by herself, and historical figures, such as Yu Xuanji, a Chinese poet and courtesan of the late Tang dynasty.