Canto-pop is trash, apparently. But American -born Chinese party-boy Johannes Pong reckons he's fixed it with his independently produced album Novissima Cantonica.
'There's a lack of originality. The music industry treats people like idiots and just wants to make money,' said Pong, who returned to Hong Kong to study at graduate school in 1999 and began singing with DJ Kulu a year later. 'Very few singers can produce something good, musically and artistically.'
So the 26-year-old Pong (below) decided to bring some new elements into the local pop scene and started recording the album six months ago. He composed its 10 songs with producer Robert Stone and penned their Cantonese lyrics himself. 'It's Canto-pop plus jazz and bossa nova. A lot of people find it quite strange,' said Pong, who also works as a private language tutor. 'But it's quite pop.'