What makes a movie tick? Is it the million-dollar budget? The A-list Hollywood stars? The distinguished and esteemed director? The incredible CG and amazing special effects? None of the above. For me, it's all about the soundtrack.
As a music enthusiast, I always look forward to the ending credits rolling after the movie - just because I want to hear the songs included in the movie's OST album. I'm not going to say that I LOVE all the songs in the OST album of every movie that I’ve seen. Except, maybe, for "What A Girl Wants" and "Moulin Rouge".
The last movie that I saw with a powerful and LSS-worthy soundtrack was the tearjerker "Miss You Already", starring Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette. Paloma Faith's "The Crazy Ones" just hit home. When it comes to animated films, the best soundtrack for me, so far, was Fall Out Boys' "Immortals" from the awesome flick "Big Hero 6".
When I watched the third installment to the Kung Fu Panda series, I never expected anything from it. Not from the story or the soundtrack. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Jack Black and I think he's funny. But I only watch this series because I LOVE PANDAS. That's it. In fact, I was kind of doing something else while watching the movie. It's the kind of movie that doesn't need my 100% concentration anyway.
Fast-forward to the end of the movie, with the ending credits starting to roll. The distinctly Asian-sounding intro of a song started playing and I stopped myself from closing my GOM player. I know it might seem like I only know (and like) K-POP, but there was a time in my life when I sort of dabbled in C-POP and Mando-pop too. Back then, my friend introduced me to Jay Chou, because apparently, if you want to listen to authentic (and amazing) C-POP music, then there's no better choice than Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou. While I did enjoy Jay Chou's music, I was in too deep with K-POP then that I sort of set aside Jay Chou and C-POP in general.
As I listened to the first few lines of the very upbeat and catchy song, "Try", my first thought was "Is this Jay Chou?" The lines were in English and the pronunciation was pretty good, so Jay Chou was the first C-POP singer that popped into my head. When someone started rapping in Chinese, that's when I confirmed it. IT IS JAY CHOU! I was wrong about the first part, though. The smooth and clear voice singing the English lines was a guy named Patrick Brasca and Jay Chou only did the rap parts. So the second question in my mind was, "Patrick who?!" Well, that's what Google is for. I immediately Googled the guy and found out that he is this 16-year-old Eurasian dude who Jay Chou took under his wings, as his apprentice. Apparently, with his unique looks and Justin Bieber-ish voice, he's a force to be reckoned with.
Apparently, the talented Brasca crossed paths with Jay Chou on Harlem Yu's variety show. Jay Chou, being the musical genius that he is, instantly recognized Brasca's potential and signed him to his record company, JVR music. Of course, I had to check out this dude before I judge him or anything. I watched the music video for "Can't Lose You Now" and "My Time". They were both pretty cool, dance, pop songs. I liked the latter more than the former, though. The guy can play the guitar, the piano, can sing, dance and even rap, so yeah, I rest my case. Oh, and yeah, he also penned the songs on his EP himself.
Going back to the song "Try"… I guess aside from the nostalgia that it brought me; the arrangement and the melody got me hooked as well. Not to mention the very uplifting lyrics. It's the kind of song that I would listen to in the morning, in order to get me through another dull and monotonous day. It's a completely vibrant and encouraging song. I have no idea what Jay Chou was rapping about, but it's Jay FREAKIN' Chou, so it doesn't really matter. The song is definitely LSS-worthy and it's an apt song for the movie Kung Fu Panda as well. What I liked the most about it was that, even without the Chinese rap part, it was undeniably a C-POP song and it was perceptibly a work of art by Jay Chou.
According to Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg Jay Chou had become so famous that all his colleagues at Dreamworks Animation in the United States recognized him when he visited the studio. It was indeed noticeable that the company paid great attention to the Chinese market. They even invited the hottest Chinese stars to join the voice over cast, including Jay Chou himself. He said that inviting Chou to sing was not only because he is the top musician in China, but also because his Chinese musical style and spirit of freedom were "very suitable for the film's conception".
Of course, it is no secret that Jay Chou's composing and singing skills are top notch; however he admitted that he practiced hard for the dubbing part. He described many "firsts" regarding the film, including "first time" to dub an animation and "first time" to sing the theme song for an animation movie. I guess there is a first time for everything, even for someone as awesome as Jay Chou.
Credits: http://www.helloasia.com.au http://www.china.org.cn
