Published: Mar 10, 2012 by admin
Filed under:
Exclusives
Music
Editorial
Views: 366
Tags: Emmanuel, Uwechue, Nigeria, China, Nigerians in China
Tags: Emmanuel, Uwechue, Nigeria, China, Nigerians in China
A Unique Nigerian in China - Emmanuel Uwechue
We came across Emmanuel Uwechue in this blog post, where we tried to make a coherent quilt out of numerous comment threads to a NY Times piece on "Chinese perceptions of Africans". But in case you missed Jimmy Wang's NY Times article about Uwechue (known in China as Hao Ge) yesterday, it's worth the read. It goes in depth and claims "Hao Ge" is:
...not just another foreigner who got on TV because he could speak and sing in Chinese,” said Yu Na, 40, who lives in northwest Beijing, adding that she likes to “jump up and down” to Mr. Uwechue’s more upbeat songs; many of them are soul-infused versions of classic Chinese love songs, with faster rhythms. Mr. Uwechue is not the first foreigner to have made a name for himself in China, but he is the first African to have reached widespread success here. Some music industry experts in China credit part of his fame to the close economic and cultural ties — including friendship and exchange programs and other joint ventures — that have long existed between China and some African countries. In a recently televised public performance, Mr. Uwechue dressed up as an oil rig worker and sang alongside a Chinese fellow laborer.Read here the part where he said he also felt boxed in.... But we found even more interesting is the part in video where he explains the difference between the inflections of R&B and soul he brings and the Chinese preference for a more operatic rendering of feeling or emotion.
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