CantoTalk Episode #2
Please go to Quizlet for 62 vocabulary items: 
Hello and welcome to the second episode of the CantoTalk music podcast. I am your host Edgar. Again, for our audience who’s learning Cantonese, please check out the link in the description. In there is the transcript, translation, Cantonese pinyin, and vocabularies for this episode. For our second episode, we’d still be talking about how some retro music style influences the current Cantopop scene. And the genre we’re talking about today is city pop. City pop is a popular music genre from Japan in the 70’s and 80’s. It usually has simplistic and repetitive tempos and relaxing melodies. Since many Cantopop songs in the 80’s are covers of Japanese songs, many Cantopop songs of that era are in the genre of city pop. For example, Anita Mui’s 尋愛 (lit. Seeking for Love) is a cover of Takeuchi Mariya’s classic city pop Plastic Love. With the recent retro trend, besides regaining its popularity in the Western music scene, the genre of city pop has also found its way in many new Cantonese songs. Many of these songs’ music videos pay homage to the shooting style, fonts, and even clothing in the 80’s. Just last year, city pop became a buzzword again in the Hong Kong music scene, due to female singer-songwriter AGA from Universal Music releasing a song called Citypop, despite the song being nothing like a city pop song. The song thus sparked a big controversy, with many criticizing AGA, a popular artist from a big label, of not being respectful to local artists who make actual city pop songs. Who in Hong Kong, then, plays actual city pop music? Well, they’d be the artists that we’re going to talk about today.
Our first song is City Crawling by Lagchun. As a high school Math teacher, Lagchun, after winning a singing contest in 2016, used five years to develop his own musical style, transforming from a competitor who only knows how to sing to an all-rounded singer-songwriter that can write, produce, and arrange his own music. In 2021, Bert from the record label Kingdom C launched the Young Blood project, aiming to debut six artists, who each specializes in a genre popular with teenagers but not found in the local market. Lagchun, who specializes in city pop, officially debuted as a singer through this project. City Crawling, his debut song, just so happened to come out a few weeks after AGA’s Citypop, pitting the authentic city pop song against a city pop song in name only. What does this authentic city pop sound like? We have City Crawling by Lagchun:
The song just now is City Crawling by Lagchun. Our next song also starts with the word “city”: it’s City~Lonely Night~ by Delta T and Uka Yeung. Delta T is a retro music producer in Hong Kong. Besides hip hop, EDM, and electronic pop, he also produces city pop songs such as City~Lonely Night~. According to him, the name Delta T comes from the heat energy equation E = mcΔT, with his Chinese alias 蛋撻頭 (lit. Egg Tart Head) being a pun on the word. As for Uka Yeung, who began as a busker, she debuted as a female singer-songwriter who specializes in folk music through singing contests. She and Delta T met through the Ear Up Incubation program. Later, when Delta T was writing City~Lonely Night~, he invited Uka to feature and co-write the lyrics for the song. The song became a surprise hit after its debut in 2020. Besides it being Delta T and Uka’s first song featured on the local music charts, it also showcased the possibility of Cantonese city pop, solidifying its place as a classic Cantonese modern city pop song. Now, without further ado, we have City~Lonely Night~ by Delta T and Uka Yeung!
The song just now is City~Lonely Night~ by Delta T and Uka Yeung. Our previous two songs talked about the life of living in a city, which is a common theme for city pop songs. Another common theme in city pop songs would be love, which is the theme of our next song, 戀之國度 (lit. Kingdom of Love) by Yi Yan. From a member of the parody duo Dark Twins to making her own music, Yi Yan finally made her official debut in 2021 after signing under the label of F.E.A.R. Music. As her first music project, she wrote a trilogy of songs in a retro style, with the first one about the confession of love, the second one about being deeply in love, and the third one about breaking up. As the second song in the entry and as its name suggests, 戀之國度 is about a couple being deeply in love with one another. Unlike the other singers we talked about, Yi Yan’s goal is not about making city pop songs that are completely authentic to the 80’s style. Rather, she’d mix in many modern elements into her songs, resulting in a lot of interesting sparks. For example, in 姐姐 (lit. Older Sister), the prequel of 戀之國度, Yi Yan rapped on a city pop music track. Let’s see if 戀之國度 could trigger a different feeling from our previous songs? We have 戀之國度 by Yi Yan!
The song just now is 戀之國度 by Yi Yan! For our fourth song, we’re featuring another music unit that produces city pop songs to an extreme: 誰令我心痴 (lit. Who Makes My Heart Craze) by LK-072. LK-072 is a carefree, experimental music project in 2018 initiated by vocal Locka and guitarist NatureHin. Where does the name LK-072 come from? As it turns out, their first song is about Japanese porn. Thus, they wanted to name the group just like a Japanese AV seed, which usually consists of letters followed by some numbers, resulting in LK-072, the name which they have used until now. LK-072 also specializes in retro-style music, and 誰令我心痴, sadly, is supposed to be their final project, marking the end of the LK-072 experiment. Why did I say that they produce city pop songs to an extreme? You’ll understand after listening to the song. We have 誰令我心痴 by LK-072!
The song just now is 誰令我心痴 by LK-072! If I hadn’t told you, would you believe the song just now was made in 2021? For our last song, we have one released just this month, Charmaine Fong’s HW1! Charmaine is probably the most famous singer out of the ones we talked about today: debuted in 2002, her talents in composing and writing lyrics, unique musical style, outspoken personality, and grounded lyrics, make many Hongkongers easily relate to her songs. For example, her song Talk2Me, which is about the inhumane speeches from government officials, won her the publicly voted Ultimate My Favorite Female Artist and Ultimate My Favorite Song in 2019. Similarly, HW1 is also about the recent situation in Hong Kong: with the city’s social instability in the past few years, many Hongkongers are moving out of the city. HW1, then, is about the choice of staying or leaving Hong Kong. Why’s the song called HW1, you ask? Well, let me keep you in suspense and save the answer until after the song. We have HW1 by Charmaine Fong!
The song just now is HW1 by Charmaine Fong! The last line in the lyrics asked “After the world ends tomorrow, do we stay, or do we leave?” Charmaine’s answer to the question is actually in the title of the song: “HW1,” is the Sucheng code for 留 (lit. stay).
That’s about the time for today. Thanks for tuning into the CantoTalk music podcast. My name is Edgar and I’ll see you in the next episode!
To the right is a screenshot preview of a comprehensive handout that includes a full transcript, vocabulary, comprehension questions, and a featured song. The handout will be available for purchase, with the added benefit that CantoLTA members can enjoy up to 2 complimentary handouts and can purchase additional ones at an exclusive 20%
Thank you for tuning in!
Please give credit to Edgar Chung and the Cantonese Alliance of North America!