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Cyril Ip

Before her return to music as rapper Dizzy Dizzo, Sydney-born Dominique Choy had a 10-year pop career that spanned three albums and multiple regional hits, such as “Ultraviolet” and “Slow to Warm” – nostalgia-inducing cuts beloved in Chinese karaoke.
Choy’s first and second records were released by Alfa Music, one of Taiwan’s top labels in the 2000s that also hosted pop legends Jay Chou, Chyi Chin and Landy Wen.
The then 18-year-old Choy, trained in classical piano, violin and drums, had close to no involvement in the songwriting and production of those albums.
Epitomised by her sweetheart appearance in D-doll (2007), Choy was marketed as a pop princess, which deviates considerably from her tomboyish temperament in real life.

Having grown weary of a lack of creative control, Choy left the label and pursued modelling for two years, but she found the pressure to control her weight equally debilitating.
However, fateful encounters with taste-making musicians, such as Singaporean producer Ezekiel Keran, inspired Innermost (2016), Choy’s first release under her new moniker, Dizzy Dizzo.
While Choy is happy discussing her ensuing self-written and self-produced records, she is not at all insecure about her commercially driven, pop idol era.
“They’re both me, so I don’t feel like whatever I did before is something that I regret,” says the rapper, on a video call from Taipei. “Everyone’s road and path in music is different. It’s just that the music back then catered to a different type of market.
“Personality-wise, I feel like I’m more outspoken now as Dizzy – it’s more me. I can put all of my thoughts into my music, especially in rap – you can speak your mind and it’s very much about artistic freedom and honesty.”

Choy’s latest album, Spiral, released in December, is her most experimental, blending her incisive verse into various genres, including trap, dance, electronica and alternative R&B. Veering from the mainstream comes with commercial concerns, but not enough to make her risk-averse.
“I’m fine with it because I’m not going to do something that I’m not able to do well or is not very me,” she says. “I did that when I came into the industry – being on a label and doing what other people told me to do.
“[Doing that again] defeats the purpose of me creating the Dizzy Dizzo persona.”


Releasing music independently, or not being attached to a big record label, though, has its pros and cons.
“You have more freedom to do what you want, and a lot of control in the music that you do. You can also play with a lot of different sounds, and have everything that you want on an album,” she says.
“But you also have to go back to reality and think of how you’re going to fund the album – the music, videos and promotion all cost money.”
Choy, who has more than 630,000 followers on Instagram, has stayed true to her passion while venturing into fashion and beauty. In 2021, she and her actor husband, Sunny Wang Yang-ming, founded Empire Aqua, which creates shirts out of recycled plastic bottles and aims to raise awareness of marine wildlife through beach clean-ups and donations towards research.
Born to Chinese-Russian socialite Irina Choy and Chinese-Australian architect Dominic Choy, Dizzy lived in Hong Kong and Shanghai, before moving to Taipei.
Her father moved to Australia at 15 years old and worked as a kitchen hand to support himself. He graduated from the University of New South Wales and soon became a sought-after architect, known for incorporating traditional Chinese philosophy into his designs. In 1993, he made it onto the Forbes list of the world’s richest Chinese.

Young Dominique spent much of her childhood in Sydney, listening to the likes of TLC, Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, but it was later in Shanghai, where she attended high school, that she really fell in love with the genre.
“It was when I was at high school that I was most influenced by hip hop,” says the Shanghai American School alumnus, “because so many of the people that I was around and hung out with were from Los Angeles and that was the main genre that they listened to back-to-back.
“You have to really grow up listening to hip hop to actually be able to do some­thing in the genre, otherwise it will sound a little bit strange, and I think I’ve listened to it enough to know.”
The 38-year-old mother-of-one took part in China’s top music reality show Ride the Wind, which sees female celebrities, including actors, singers and athletes, over 30 years old, compete over three months to debut in a pretend girl group.

In addition to shows in Hong Kong, to be announced, she has teased coming collaborations with fellow contenders on Ride the Wind, including fellow rapper Vinida Weng, R&B singer Tia Ray and “Queen of Taiwanese Electronic Music” Jeannie Hsieh.
“The whole of Asia is on my new bucket list. I feel like music is worldly, so wherever I can go and wherever my music can reach – and if I’m welcome to go and perform there – I would,” says Choy. “I’m always excited about new opportunities and to meet all the fans I have in different regions. I love travelling.”


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Profile

Rapper Dizzy Dizzo recalls her pop/modelling years and talks about her artistic freedom

Since becoming an independent artist, singer-turned-rapper Dizzy Dizzo (above) has released three albums, which she co-wrote and co-produced. Photo: Dizzy Dizzo

Before becoming rapper Dizzy Dizzo, Dominique Choy (above) had a 10-year pop career, putting out three albums and multiple regional hits. Photo: Dizzy Dizzo

The cover of D-Doll, the singer’s second album, released in 2007. Photo: Apple Music

Dizzy spent her childhood in Sydney listening to American hip hop artists like TLC, Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Photo: Dizzy Dizzo

In her latest album Spiral, Dizzy experimented with various genres, including trap, electronica and alternative R&B. Photo: Dizzy Dizzo

Dizzy recently took part in Chinese music reality show Ride The Wind with some of C-pop’s biggest stars. Photo: Dizzy Dizzo

Leslie Cheung’s hip hop successor? Hong Kong rapper Haysen Cheng’s quest for global reach

Haysen Cheng wants to represent hope for the youth of Hong Kong. Photo: Haysen Cheng

Hong Kong rapper Haysen Cheng wants to channel his journey from cash-strapped youth to established artist to inspire the young people of his hometown. Photo: Haysen Cheng

With new-found success in mainland China, Cheng wants to represent hope for the youth of Hong Kong. Photo: Haysen Cheng

Cheng’s signature gruff vocals were the result of a trying time, when he coached basketball during the day and worked in a factory at night. Photo: Haysen Cheng

Cheng recorded most of his early music at home or in rushed sessions at a studio in Kwai Hing. Photo: Haysen Cheng

Following an instinctive move to Chengdu in 2021, Cheng has worked with top hip hop musicians in China and beyond. Photo: Haysen Cheng

Chinese rapper Feezy talks about Lupe Fiasco, WeChat, US vs Chinese hip hop, and his latest album, The Weatherman

Shanghai-based rapper and “fortune-teller” Feezy – of hip-hop trio Straight Fire Gang – offers his predictions for the future of the genre in China. Photo: Freezy

Feezy is part of one of the most skilled, educated and socially conscious rap groups in China. Photo: Feezy

The Straight Fire Gang in concert. The group recently completed a sold-out tour of the US. Photo: Feezy

In January, Feezy embarked on his first six-city solo tour in China. Photo: Feezy

C-pop has brought global hitmakers to Hong Kong, and they say China will be Asia’s next big music hub

Songwriters (from left) Gaston Pong, Chris James, and Chiyo, who were in Hong Kong recently. Photo: Gaston Pong, Chris James, Chiyo

UMP Hong Kong camp members including Chris James (back row, second from left), Gaston Pong (back row, centre) and Chiyo (front, second from right). Photo: UMP Hong Kong

Most listeners of Chris James’ “guitar-based chill pop music” come from China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Photo: Chris James

James works on his laptop during the songwriting camp in Hong Kong. Photo: UMP Hong Kong

A decade before legitimising his musical talents, Gaston Pong already had a string of nursery-rhyme albums under his belt as a child singer. Photo: Gaston Pong

Pong with other participants from the songwriting camp. Photo: UMP Hong Kong

Chiyo wrote and produced for Japan’s Def Will alongside Komuro Tetsuya – one of Japan’s most successful record producers. Photo: Chiyo

Chiyo says musicians exploring a foreign market should immerse themselves in the local culture – not just the music scene, but the people’s way of life. Photo: Chiyo

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Dominique Choy, aka Dizzy Dizzo, who fell in love with hip hop while she was at school, talks about her careers as a pop princess and model


Rapper Dominique Choy, aka Dizzy Dizzo, talks about her two very different musical personas, falling in love with hip hop at high school and why she would be happy to perform all over Asia.


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Profile | Rapper Dizzy Dizzo recalls her pop/modelling years and talks about her artistic freedom

Dominique Choy, aka Dizzy Dizzo, who fell in love with hip hop while she was at school, talks about her careers as a pop princess and model