Khalil Fong
Soul Boy
I’ve heard of this newcomer for awhile, never thought I’d like his music. Once I listen to the album, I can’t put it off.
Even though Khalil started his career in Hong Kong, he decided to use Mandarin for this album. It may be a better choice as in it can reach a wider audience. The songs are a mix of soul, R&B and hip hop. It’s very rare in Chinese music and very fresh to listen. Khalil composed, arranged and produced almost all the songs in the album, and even wrote some of the lyrics.
The prologue is a spoken intro by himself consisting of Mandarin, Cantonese and English, which shows his fluency in the 3 languages. “妹妹 Mei Mei” is a song he composed for his cousin sister. The repeated melody is catchy and the lyrics are sweet. Following is “春风吹 Chun Feng Chui“, an accapella song except for the beat. A very addictive song indeed, the tune keeps stuck in my head, so as track 9, “我们能不能 Wo Men Neng Bu Neng“, another catchy R&B about anti war and racism. Both have been my favourites.
The beat of track 6, “叫我怎么说 Jiao Wo Zen Me Shuo” reminds me of Michael Jackson’s “Butterflies”. More to my excitement, there’s a little part of him beat boxing. Romantic R&B ballads “每天每天 Mei Tian Mei Tian” and “总结 Zong Jie” are both worth listening too.
My favourite song goes to track 8, “南音 Nan Yin“. It starts with a slow melody yet the instrumentation and complicity build up towards the end. The melody is simple yet so creative that every line gives me unexpected surprise, while the ending of the song with a line of Er Hu is complementary and not intrusive at all. The lyrics by 林夕 Lin Xi are excellent. It’s about a sad and true story of a blind musician, whose rare talent was not appreciated. It’s definitely an amazing Blues/Soul song.
It’s worth to take note that there’s a hidden track after “等着你回来 Deng Zhe Ni Hui Lai“, the remake of an Chinese oldies. What’s more of that is before the bonus song, there is a recorded conversation where Khalil tries to start a conversation with a girl in a coffee shop. The dialogue really makes me scream: How sweet! :D
Khalil has to be very talented in arrangement. All the songs in the album have very additive beats and they never make you bored. His ad-libs can be so creative and soulful, but it’s so smooth and pleasant that you don’t feel that it’s exaggerating.
I’ve never been so excited listening to an album after Justin’s debut album. No matter you like or don’t like this soul boy, this is a must-listen album. Another advice, listen to ALL the songs.
Track listing:
1. Prologue
2. 妹妹 Mei Mei (Little Sister)
3. 春风吹 Chun Feng Chui (Spring Breeze)
4. 每天每天 Mei Tian Mei Tian (Everyday)
5. 女人 Nv Ren (Women)
6. 叫我怎么说 Jiao Wo Zen Me Shuo (Tell Me How To Say)
7. 哪怕 Na Pa (Who’s Scared)
8. 南音 Nan Yin (Sound of the South)
9. 我们能不能 Wo Men Neng Bu Neng (Can We?)
10. 跳 Tian (Jump)
11. 总结 Zong Jie (Conclusion)
12. 赶场 Gan Chang (Rushing)
13. 等着你回来 Deng Zhe Ni Hui Lai (Waiting For You To Be Back)
Written by ~Jessy~ on May 10, 2006
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19 Comments, Join the discussion
Shez
ooooo he sounds great ^^ i might actually have to get my hands on his album ;p and he has the same surname as me！！ whoooo!!! nice review jessy XD
May 10th, 2006
Eason47
what a great review…
thanks jessy…bout the preview listening link…isn’t that an illegal download website?
most people after download the songs…they won’t go to buy the original cd’s no-matter how good are the songs…
1 more thing…after u listening the whole full songs…it doesn’t give you any suprise on listening the original cd u going to buy…
try this link…
http://www.hmv.com.hk/ch/product/canto.asp?sku=611797
**no offence to jessy**…sorry yeah…if i said the wrong thing…:p
May 10th, 2006
~Jessy~
Hi Eason,
I understand your concern. Since the site only offers download as real audio files and the quality is very crappy, it should be fine. ;)
But that happens to me once where I downloaded an album, listened to it for 2 weeks, then I went to buy the original album. Though I know it doesn’t happen to a lot of people. ^^
Thanks for your comments!
May 10th, 2006
~Jessy~
Shez,
Thank you!
He is good! It sounds even better if you like R&B/soul type of music. You should give it a try. :-)
May 10th, 2006
ShedZster
Question: Is his real name even Khalil? Coz for me, I’m surprised to see a chinese guy with this name. What’s his chinese name? Is there an official site to view his profile (in english that is :P)?
May 10th, 2006
~Jessy~
Good question, SheZster. I don’t know myself, but I think it should be real. He’s born in Hawaii, migrated to Shanghai at 6 years old and then HK at 11.
His Chinese name is 方大同 Fang Da Tong/ Fong Dai Thong.
May 10th, 2006
andrea
hey there, i love coming to your blog to check out new albums and stuff. good work!! ^^
btw, Khalil is born in Hawaii???? Urm..I have a friend which knows him and she told me he’s from Singapore. eh?!?!?! that’s strange.
anyway, love your recommendations!! keep it up! ;)
xoxo
May 14th, 2006
~Jessy~
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for coming here. :)
I read about it somewhere on the net too. And I doubt he’s from Singapore.
May 14th, 2006
kk
http://www.warnermusic.com.hk/khalil/
Jun 14th, 2006
Tanti
I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this album!!
Great songs and he’s no doubt quite different than the rest. The only minor problem I have is he probably needs to practice his scatting more, cuz it does sound a bit scratchy for me at least. But that’s no big deal at all. What I admire is he’s no shy in letting it all out. I mean all the musical influences that he mentioned in http://www.warnermusic.com.hk/khalil/ (Thanks, kk!) are definitely shine in this album. It’s really wonderful. Thank you for reviewing this album, Jess! Another jewel in my CD collection!!! :D
Jun 29th, 2006
alice
gasp! i love this album. thanks for the rec
Jul 1st, 2006
Yun-Yen
Hiya, thank you for putting this artist up, i never knew that a chinese song could be sang like this, but i got a promblem. I cant find a way to download his album or even one of his song on Lime Wire, please help me. Do you know a website i can download his song?? Please help me! =D
Oct 24th, 2006
~Jessy~
Hi guys, glad that you love the album. :)
Thanks for leaving your messages.
Dec 28th, 2006
melissa
bought this album…excellent! seriously…his singing…is so nice. :) i have to say i like him a teeny bit more than leehom. and the songs are more my style. i adore leehom, but khalil’s voice is aMaZiNg…and the songs are addicting. “soulboy” is great. so is “this love.” it’s on sale on yesasia.com right now!
Jan 28th, 2007
~Jessy~
Hi Melissa,
It’s true. The album is definitely worth buying. Hehe…
Jan 28th, 2007
alice
im going crazy…. with love. hahha
i can’t get enough of THIS LOVE and SoulBoy
Feb 7th, 2007
Lily
hi there! i’ve been listening to khalil lately and love it! does anyone know where i can download his soulboy album for free?
Feb 17th, 2007
geline
im finding for the english translation of khalil fong’s song featuring fiona sit it is titled 4 people wondering i guess.. i heard it in hongkong…neweiz.. do you have any english translation of that song or url of the website…
? thanks!
May 2nd, 2007
Hip-Hop
Khalil Fong sounds great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 19th, 2008
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