Edison Chen
Edison Chen (陳冠希; pinyin: Chén Gūanxī ; cantonese: Chan Kwoon Hei) (born October 7, 1980 in Vancouver, Canada) is a popular Hong Kong teen idol. He was an artist of the Emperor Entertainment Group. Chen is of Chinese descent on both sides but his father also has ¼ Portuguese ancestry.
Born in Vancouver, Canada, Chen has starred in many films including Infernal Affairs II and Twins Effect. He also sings cantopop and can speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese. However, as with many foreign-born Chinese, Edison does not have a perfect command of Cantonese or Mandarin. He is idolized for his "cool" attitude and his good looks, though critics cite him as conceited ("chuen", "串", in Cantonese slang).
In March 2004, Edison Chen was assaulted by two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, in downtown Hong Kong. The two teenagers apparently mocked Edison by breakdancing in front of Edison as he was leaving a hair salon. One of the teenagers swung at Edison and hit him in the right ear. The two teens ran off whilst Edison gave chase for nine city blocks before returning to the same shopping arcade. There he called his "assistants" (rumored to be ex-Triads) to look for the two teens. They were eventually caught on a bus.
Though many consider Edison Chen to be the first pop singer who brought hip-hop culture to Hong Kong music industry, it was LMF that began the underground hip-hop industry in Hong Kong. But if LMF started hip-hop in Hong Kong, Edison made it mainstream in Cantopop. This is reflected as many of Edison's rap songs feature MC Yan from the now disbanded LMF.
His song "香港地" (Hong Kong Place), featuring MC Yan and Han Jin, about how the Hong Kong people are like, and calls for union of the Hong Kong people, was one of the great hits in 2004. Edison continued his hip-hop style, and released another hip-hop album HAZY in 2005. The song "嘥氣" (Waste of Breath) describes the assault incident Edison encountered before.
Edison's first movie Gen-Y Cops received terrible reviews from the Hong Kong media. As he has gained more experience he has improved somewhat since those early days. He recently starred in the film Jiang Hu in which his character had to rape a dog as a punishment. This scene however, did not bring praise from critics as Edison remains , as some critics say, "talentless". In the movie Initial D Chen took the role of Ryosuke Takahashi.
Edison Chen's contract with EEG ended in 2005.
Discography
Albums
- January, 2006 - The Best Collection 首張個人卡拉OK VCD
- December 21, 2005 - The Best Collection 精選
- April 18, 2005 - Hazy: The 144 Hour Project (Version 2)
- January 4, 2005 - Hazy: The 144 Hour Project
- February 26, 2004 - Please Steal This Album
- February 13, 2003 - Hits or Misses
- December 6, 2002 - Transition (Mandarin) (Limited Edition)
- August 29, 2002 - Transition (Mandarin)
- July 3, 2002 - Break Through
- December 20, 2001 - Peace And Love
- November 2, 2001 - Ed Is On (Mandarin)
- June 16, 2001 - Visual Diary (Version 2)
- May 10, 2001 - Visual Diary
- November 30, 2000 - Edison Chen (陳冠希) (EP)
Other
- August 13, 2005 - Chef's Mixtape
- August 21, 2001 - Ultraman GAIA (超人佳亞)
- November 24, 2000 - The Gen-Y Cops (特警新人類2 "機動任務" 電影原聲大碟)
Filmography
- 2005 - Onastuki (Japan)
- June 23, 2005 - Initial D (頭文字D)
- 2004 - A1
- August 6, 2004 - The Twins Effect 2 (千機變II)
- 2004 - Jiang Hu (江湖)
- 2004 - Life Translated (UK/China)
- 2004 - Moving Targets
- 2004 - Sex and the Beauties
- 2003 - Infernal Affairs 3 (無間道III)[cameo]
- 2003 - The Spy Dad
- 2003 - Infernal Affairs 2 (無間道II)
- 2003 - The Medallion [cameo]
- June 23, 2003 - The Twins Effect (千機變)
- December 12, 2002 - Infernal Affairs (無間道)
- 2002 - Nine Girls and a Ghost
- 2002 - Princess D
- 2001 - Dance of a Dream
- 2001 - Dummy Mommy Without a Baby
- 2001 - Final Romance
- 2000 - Dead Or Alive 2
- 2000 - Gen-Y Cops