Chinese Music Blog

I heard this album a while before it came out, and was actually able to talk to Khalil Fong online for a while because I know someone who kind of knows him. He's a pretty cool guy, and he's talented enough to work on his own music. He isn't the best at performing (he seems a bit shy), but when he's really into his performances, he can do it pretty well.

I don't really know how well this album sold, but I am guessing it flopped and just did not sell well. And if that's the case, I attribute the reason for this to the horrible marketing of this album. First off, Khalil lives in Hong Kong, and when the album - a Mandarin album - was released in Taiwan, where his main fanbase was supposed to be, he did not even leave Hong Kong to promote it. Instead, he followed a few Hong Kong singers around on their tours and tried, as a newcomer, to promote a Mandarin album to Cantonese audiences.

By the way, he's fluent in Cantonese (he grew up in Hong Kong), in English (he was born in Hawaii), and in Mandarin (he studied Mandarin for a number of years).

-=ViC

Jessy wrote:

MaStAViC wrote:

By the way, he's fluent in Cantonese (he grew up in Hong Kong), in English (he was born in Hawaii), and in Mandarin (he studied Mandarin for a number of years).

-=ViC

A lot of HK people actually enjoy this album even though they don't understand Mandarin well. And he did got a few newcomer awards last year.

That's good to know. It's sad to see those who are actually talented not make it anywhere because of bad marketing. I know that Khalil's intention was to sell to the Taiwan audience, but I guess his company wanted to promote him more in Hong Kong.

Thanks for starting this thread, Jessy,
-=ViC

Jessy wrote:

It's true that it's hard to be very famous in the HK music industry with a Mandarin album. But a Mandarin album can actually bring him a much wider market; Mainland China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia etc. So who knows that may be a right choice.

It's great that he released a Mandarin album instead of a Cantonese one for the reasons you stated, but I am just concerned about where he is trying to promote his album from. Of all the places that his potential Mandarin audience could be, he decided to be in Hong Kong =P

-=ViC

Jessy wrote:

I have a feeling that he can be popular if he promotes the album in Taiwan.

Maybe he'll do that when he releases his new album, which he has been working on for several months now.

-=ViC

well for one thing his style does not suite the Cantonese language AT ALL... and if he's more comfortable doing it this way then no one should be able to stop him. I do wonder a little about why he has more promotion in HK than in Taiwan (it should be at least equal in my opinion), but since he IS an HK artist I think he's doing his thing well. He has a western accent while speaking Cantonese (I heard it right before he performed James Blunt).

Anyway, sales should be ok. Though I suspect overseas sales might be more attractive to the company than HK sales; can't imagine people paying money for an album they can't sing at the karaoke bars. Oh well, I'm buying it this summer when I go back. Probably the only modern HK pop album I'll be buying.