I've fallen onto the dilemma of sharing my Chinese music collection w/ some of my non-Asian friends. The dilemma being... which songs should I recommend that would be exemplary & carries the distinct sound (if any) of contemporary Chinese music (including China, Taiwan & HK) and at the same time appeal to someone who doesn't understand Chinese, but is open-minded enough to try listening to new genres? Pretend like your freedom from a death sentence depended on it: if you were to make a mixed tape or CD of Chinese music that would appeal to your faceless captors... what would you choose? OK, that maybe a bit extreme... but the goal is to introduce others to this great facet of a gem which we call culture. For example, for one of my Mexican female coworkers, who has a taste for rock & latin-jazz, i've made her a mixed CD of songs from Kary Ng (her 2 solo albums + the Ping Pung album). Her songs offer a mixture of ballads that emphasize the vocalist & integration of orchestra (typical of C-pop) as well as Rock tracks that balance vocals & instruments (which I think is rare in all C-pop). Nonetheless, Kary's songs offer a lot of C-pop flavor & maintains a sound & rhythm that exemplifies how music is a "universal language". I've seen a related topic posted several times, but I find the posts & the replies aren't specific; meaning, people will ask for recommendations, and people would reply with their favorite artists, but don't explain why as I did above. I'm an artist & a music-lover so I'm very critical of all bodies of art & music, including my own. Or perhaps I'm asking the wrong question? Maybe all Chinese pop music is too formulaic and no one other than Chinese people would enjoy it? I definitely don't think this way, but if you do, I'd like to hear from you too.
You can try playing some for them that you think they might like and work out what others they may like from what they think of what you/ve already chosen. I have a friend who's jamaican and likes some of Boa's songs and a couple of SHE's. I also have an Indian friend who likes listening to Andy Lau. Used to have a boss who liked Beyond.
I remember watching a tv show some years ago where people from all over the world all from different cultures competed against one another in a singing contest
whether you like a piece of music or not - that's a rather subjective thing ... so i guess you should tailor to your audience's likings e.g. if they are more prone to rock / band music , then ping pung would be okay but if your friend's more into R&B ... then maybe that won't work... ...some TW artists do incorporate chinese elements (like. chinese instruments / opera singing) into their pop songs.. like Wang Leehom / Jay Zhou... so that might help with the whole "introducing chinese music"
