CUI JIAN IS used to controversy: the godfather of Chinese rock has courted enough of it since he sprang to fame 20 years ago with his debut single, I Have Nothing. The song, which became the anthem of the student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989, catapulted Cui into the political spotlight and marked the start of a turbulent relationship with Beijing (he was banned from performing in any sizeable venue in the capital after two provocative concerts in 1993).
The relationship appeared to have improved slightly last year, when Cui was allowed to stage his first large-scale concert in Beijing in 12 years, playing to an audience of 10,000 at Beijing's Capital Gymnasium.
Then, after years of pressure from Cui and his Live Vocals campaign (which he started in 2002), the government decided to ban lip synching in live music shows across the mainland. 'It was a victory,' says the 44-year-old as he sips Chinese tea at a SoHo hotel, wearing his signature baseball cap emblazoned with a red star.
'Lots of people were angry about performers' lip synching in live shows and thought it was a problem.'
Not that Cui has turned political conformist: he still has the ability to rankle authorities. Only last month he appeared on the cover of the inaugural Chinese edition of Rolling Stone magazine. It was pulled from the shelves after three weeks without explanation from the censor.
The publicity will no doubt help sales of Cui's latest album, Show You Colours, which EMI releases this week in Hong Kong (it was launched on the mainland last year). The album was a long time in the making, with one track dating from 1997. Hongkongers who attended the 2001 music and dance ensemble called Show Your Colours will be familiar with some of the tracks. In the stage show, the performances were divided into colours - red (inner feelings), blue (intelligence) and yellow (love) - to convey different states of being and elements of life. Cui says he's applied those themes to the album. The second track, Blue Bone, for example, depicts the suppression of and struggle for new ideas in modern Chinese society.