Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2021 Jay Chou’s Kuso Music: Cultural Fusion in the Age of the Internet Stz-Tsung (Stone) Han Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses Recommended Citation Han, Stz-Tsung (Stone), "Jay Chou’s Kuso Music: Cultural Fusion in the Age of the Internet" (2021). CMC Senior Theses. 2611. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2611 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Scripps College Jay Chou’s Kuso Music: Cultural Fusion in the Age of the Internet Submitted to Professor Hao Huang and Professor Bill Alves By Stz-Tsung (Stone) Han for Senior Thesis 2021 May 7th Han2 Abstract Jay Chou is one of the most significant singers in Chinese popular music history. One of Chou’s greatest achievements is his implementation of the Chinese “Egao” culture in his music, which originated from Japanese Kuso culture. Such an approach not only created his unique style but also allowed him to adopt various musical techniques together seamlessly. By doing so, Chou created a style that references multiple traditional musical conventions without being bound by any of them. This study aims to examine the evolution of the Kuso culture as well as Chou’s implementation of it. The development of Kuso is fostered by the popularization of the Internet in China and the popularity of Kuso artists such as Jay Chou.