Vincent Fang (lyricist)

Vincent Fang
Born (1969-01-26) 26 January 1969 (age 55)
Occupation(s)Lyricist, author
AwardsGolden Melody AwardsBest Lyricist
2007 "青花瓷" (Blue and White Porcelain)

Musical career
OriginTaiwan
GenresMandopop
LabelsJVR Music

Vincent Fang (Chinese: 方文山; pinyin: Fāng Wénshān; born 26 January 1969) is a Taiwanese lyricist, best known for his collaboration with singer-songwriter Jay Chou. Fang has been nominated for multiple Golden Melody Awards, and won Best Lyricist at the 19th Golden Melody Awards for Jay Chou's "青花瓷" (Blue and White Porcelain) from On the Run.[1] He is considered to be at the forefront of China Wind music, with his works often treated as poetry of artistic merit that garners high critical regard.[2]

In 1997, he sent samples of his lyrics to record companies, hoping to find a new career that complemented his passion for writing. Record company owner Jacky Wu was impressed with his work and hired Fang to work with Chou, who had just started his songwriting career. In 2000, Chou released his first album (titled Jay) and since then produced albums in which Fang contributes the majority of the lyrics. Chou's fame grew rapidly across Asia, pulling Fang into the limelight as well.

Fang's lyrics are noted for covering a wide of issues from family to war, beyond what is normally discussed in love ballads.[3] He is known for using a writing style similar to traditional Chinese poetry, making frequent references to Chinese history and folklore, esp. in Chinese style music (中國風), a fusion genre made popular in the 2000s (decade) by Jay Chou, fusing modern rock and contemporary R&B together with traditional Chinese music. He calls his style of lyrical poetry "Su Yan Rhyme Poetry 素顏韻腳詩", which has become a new poetry form in modern Chinese musical literature.

  1. ^ (in Chinese) GIO, Taiwan 19th Golden Melody Awards winners list Archived 10 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine 16 October 2008. Retrieved 2011-06-06
  2. ^ Lim, Lee Ching (1 January 2013). "Transcending Intellectual Boundaries: The Lyrical Phenomena of Fang Wen Shan". In Hwang, Paoi (ed.). Global Encounters: Cross-cultural Representations of Taiwan. Book Publishers. pp. 157–180.
  3. ^ "Vincent Fang, Jay Chou's Twin Star". CRIEnglish.com. 8 May 2009. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2010.