MOST LOCAL POP stars set their sights on China and the riches its enormous market holds. But 27-year-old Beijing-born singer, songwriter and actress He Jing is heading in the opposite direction, although warily.
The first stop on her path to conquering the Hong Kong market is a visit to promote Eastern Sunrise, an Asian version of chill-out compilation Cafe Del Mar released under music giant Universal, on which two of her tracks feature. This will be followed by her own album, scheduled to be released this summer in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The singer believes it's the right direction for her career but there's one nagging worry at the back of her mind - the nature of Hong Kong's show-business scene and the scandals which fuel the local press. 'Hong Kong's showbiz scene seems very fake compared to that of the mainland,' He says. 'And I do believe that there is a lot of dirty business going on. I'm an honest person and I'm not sure if I can handle all this yet. But I have to try.'
What He doesn't have any doubt about, however, is her musical talent, which ranges from commercial pop to a blend of sounds drawn from Chinese ethnic groups, the Middle East and Africa. Her vocal style sits somewhere between Canto-pop diva Faye Wong and controversial Chinese singer Dadawa. 'It feels great to unite the sounds of different Chinese ethnic groups,' He says. 'I very much want to promote this sound to music fans outside China.'
Her talent was first spotted by Morton Wilson, executive producer at Schtung Records, who co-produced Eastern Sunrise with Universal. 'I wanted to include her music because her sound is so fresh,' says Wilson. 'Her music is adventurous, exotic and contains interesting twists of classical music.'
He was born in Beijing in 1976 and says she developed an interest in singing as a child, although she never studied under a voice coach.