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Post by May1981 on Jun 29, 2006 14:57:55 GMT 8
Hi
Quick grap a copy of 8 Days. Inside have a full page of Lee Hom's fossil Ad and 2 pages on him about his album (I think the press published about his album a bot too late).
Mag: 8 Days issue 819
Cover: Superman on Cover page
Pages on Lee Hom: Page 1(Direct behind the coverpage), page 39 & page 39
Price: $2
Cheers!
May
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Post by mossy on Jun 29, 2006 22:08:01 GMT 8
CELEB JOKER
An occasional column where we ask the stars to tell us a joke.
BY CELINE TAN
Wang Leehom
Champion of Chinese culture, golden melody best male singer
¡§There¡¦s this guy in Afghanistan whose daughter comes crying to him, telling him that she¡¦s being beaten by her husband. So the father¡¦s like, ¡¥How dare he beat my daughter ¡V I¡¦m gonna teach him a lesson!¡¦ So he beats his own daughter and tells her, ¡¥ Go back and tell your husband ¡V if he¡¦s gonna beat my daughter, I¡¦m gonna beat his wife!¡¦
Is that a sort-of racist joke Lee Hom¡¦s just told us? Ironic for a man who¡¦s trying to foster greater harmony between Chinese people and the rest of the world through his East-West fusion pop. But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, we saw a tinge of sheepish regret ripple across his handsome features. It appears that the 30-year-old Chinese American, such a whiz at producing chart-topping, critically acclaimed, and multi-faceted albums, isn¡¦t much of a comedian.
So we shift to steadier ground ¡V music. In particular, Lee Hom¡¦s unique brand of hip-hop infused with Chinese elements, which he has coined ¡§chinked out.¡¨ It started with his 2004 album Shangri-la, and continues on Heroes of Earth, released late last year (the busy bee only had time to come to Singapore to promote the album this year). On Heroes, he raps effortlessly in American-accented English, Mandarin that¡¦s crisper than Jay Chou¡¦s (though he only learnt the language at 18), and even Cantonese. Strains of classical Chinese instruments like the erhu and Chinese opera resonate throughout the album. But it¡¦s the lyrics that are perhaps the most telling: ¡§They wanna know about us / We been around for ages / A couple thousand years / A bunch of pioneers.¡¨
Yes, Lee Hom is a crusader for Chinese culture, and he¡¦s not shy about it. ¡§There¡¦s a lot to be accomplished in Chinese music, and I would like for this movement [of ¡§chinked out¡¨ music] to spread to my colleagues and to the rest of the world,¡¨ he says. ¡§Growing up in the US, I never once heard Chinese music playing on the radio, so it¡¦s no wonder there¡¦s ignorance towards Chinese culture ¡V there¡¦s no way for others to know any better. Like when I was a kid, the other boys would be like, ¡¥Oh, you are Chinese. Do you know kung fu? They called me Bruce Lee Hom, and stuff like that. And I remember thinking why can¡¦t I be accepted just like everyone else?¡¨
Come to think of it, if Lee Hom had to tell any kind of race-centric joke at all, we¡¦d imagine it to be something about ¡§chinks¡¨. After all, he¡¦s trying to reclaim the word for Chinese people. ¡§What bothers me is not the word, but the ignorance that¡¦s associated with it,¡¨ he explains. ¡§I¡¦m inspired by the African Americans. Not only have they reclaimed the word ¡¥nigger¡¦, they¡¦ve re-possessed it, and used it to empower their music. And I think Chinese music can have that power as well.¡¨
But the road to redemption is fraught with dangers, sometimes literally. ¡§You can¡¦t erase it in two years ¡V like ¡¥nigger,¡¦ ¡¥chink¡¦ still has negative connotations,¡¨ he says. ¡§Like if I am stranded by the roadside in Middle America and someone in a pick-up truck comes and says ¡¥Get in the back of my truck, chink!¡¦ I¡¦ll say, ¡¥No way!¡¦¡¨ But would he be offended if someone called him a chink? ¡§I wouldn¡¦t be. I¡¦m proud of being Chinese, and you can¡¦t insult me with something that I¡¦m proud of.¡¨
How sweet it must be, then, to be crowned Best Mandarin Male Singer at the recent Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan. Sure, the trophy¡¦s pretty, but it¡¦s also an endorsement of his hard work and commitment to music and a better world. And despite being dead serious about his craft, and not quite the natural born jokester (or maybe we just caught him on a bad day), Lee Hom says, ¡§It¡¦s important to have a sense of humour about it all. The phrase ¡¥chink-out¡¦ is cool, and it¡¦s also funny. Hip-hop is supposed to be fun.¡¨ Hmm¡K that Afghanistan joke might just have been intentional, after all.
Heroes of Earth is out in stores.
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Post by .yunnies@HOMe. on Jun 30, 2006 0:38:43 GMT 8
haha! this interview is great, i'm going to buy the mag! Thanks May & Mossy for sharing! ^.^
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Post by Miki on Jun 30, 2006 14:45:59 GMT 8
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Post by diyanahomie on Jun 30, 2006 16:54:52 GMT 8
okies.. haha! yay!
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Post by May1981 on Jun 30, 2006 18:40:07 GMT 8
Hi
Whao mossy....you have to type out for us to see. Thanks!
Cheers!
May
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Post by Miki on Jul 1, 2006 14:34:41 GMT 8
I'm still trying to find it.... thanks mossy!=)
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Post by diyanahomie on Jul 1, 2006 15:22:25 GMT 8
news stands surely have.. 7 11 too... going to get it today.
got it! really nice.. hehe and that joke.. lols
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Post by CHeRRy on Jul 2, 2006 2:28:24 GMT 8
I bought the mag but have not come across page 39 yet. Hehe... ;D
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Post by xiuyue on Jul 2, 2006 8:24:32 GMT 8
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Post by May1981 on Jul 6, 2006 0:12:52 GMT 8
Hi
Cool this pic is found just behind the cover page. I wonder how many other pic Lee Hom got shoot for this ad?
Cheers!
May
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Post by Miki on Jul 6, 2006 14:13:13 GMT 8
haha. the joke is so evil! ahahhaha
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starridol
Junior Member
_\\//\\//ang`leeh0m__
Posts: 100
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Post by starridol on Jul 20, 2006 23:08:41 GMT 8
i veir dumb lohss. of all 8days i buy, i nv buy tat issue de. oh my.... T.T
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