18 Years of JJ Lin

Last week JJ Lin just celebrated his 18 years of career in the music industry. He debuted in 2003, I was only a Primary 1 student in 2003. I never remembered how old JJ Lin is, until he celebrated his 40th birthday on Clubhouse talk. 

Oh, he is already 40 years old. 

But why would his age matter to me? I love him for his music, his songs, his performances. As long as he still sings - be it his own legendary old songs, cover, or new songs, I do not care about his age. I do not care about his private life either. A single JJ or a married JJ, it should not affect how I appreciate his music. Although I will not deny that his stage of life may affect his performance, the story he conveys, the feeling he potrays. 

In the era of pandemic, the celebration of 18 years of JJ Lin career hits differently. No concert, no fanmeeting. His Sanctuary 2.0 Singapore on December 2019 was the last concert(s) I attended. This has been the longest months I have been without attending any concert.

To be honest, I never knew what he did in the previous years, other than Stories Untold album in 2013 (10 years celebration) because that was when I joined the fandom. My Mandarin is not enough to read news and updates on him either. His content does not appear on my timeline, like most Kpop idols do, partly because I do not use the Chinese platform and his Youtube were not that active in the previous years. 

All I know, this year we were gifted with several contents. Clubhouse talk as a starter, The Next Big Thing live announcement with English EP, (and he did acknowledge TWO English comment, one saying they were just dropping by and could not understand a thing and one asking if his Sanctuary app and online concert is available for international fans. Who are INTERNATIONAL fans tho? Non Mainland China? Non Taiwan-based? Combination of both? Is Singapore, his home-based, even international?) and lastly, the medley of his legendary songs from 2003 to 2021.

This particular video is the main reason I decided to write this post.

I was not a fan from 2003. I am a non-Chinese speaker. I only entered a high school that taught me Chinese in 2011 and I was stuck with limited choice of singers/songs to learn Chinese from. In my city, learning Chinese is a mere formality, only a handful of students actually use it at home. One of my friends is very knowledgeable in Chinese culture and language and he could only recommend me Teresa Teng.........

I came across JJ Lin accidentally in 2013 when I found his Lost 'n Found CD was on sale. It was a physical CD and I used to collect physical CD of both artists that I like and new artists I discovered. Nothing stood out from the packaging, it was very simple - unlike most CDs that looked too... glittery? Fancy? (I am trying to find the translation of 화려하다)

But apparently, the songs fit my style. I put the CD on repeat. I began to search for him and his content. I found the Indonesian fanclub and preordered the next CD, Stories Untold. I also bought his ticket concert (Timeline Singapore 2013) with no hesitation. I was in my final year of high school, that would be my first ever overseas concert and I did not know what to say to my mom. Would she even let me go?

Well, I live by the motto "Do first, think later."

I had to save up, I even had to borrow credit card from my friend's mom to buy my flight and still lied to my mom, saying that my friends gifted me JJ Lin concert ticket and it would be very disappointing not to come. 

Indonesians who attended Timeline 2013

Shortly, the concert was the beginning of many things. Fast forward to 8 years later, I have watched 3 more of his concert and engaged in the fierce ticket war with my Kpop know-how - something that did not exist 8 years ago. Nothing beats the first concert tho, it was the best concert of my life to date and I have been to many concerts (for a period of time, I got paid to attend and review concerts). 

JJ Lin songs have been my source of joy for many years. I hyped up every Friday night when he was on the Sound of My Dream for 3 years in a row. If I really liked the song he covered, I would print the lyrics at work on Saturday and commute home singing along to it. I took HSK and practiced my Mandarin with his lyrics and some of his show appearances. It worked. I no longer needed to learn Chinese as soon as I graduated from high school, but the joy of learning the language stays.

JJ Lin songs were one of the reasons I could bond with new friends in Korea. Karaoke is part of the lifestyle, but I would be the most boring person since I do not like new Korean pop songs (my playlist only got Korean musical numbers) and my brain stopped updating English songs in 2009. But we could really have fun with Jiang Nan, Bei Dui Bei Yong Bao, Cao Cao and more - it's the genre that unite us, Chinese-speaking Southeast Asian. Well, I must confess I do not look up for translation for every song, but I had the joy of meeting new friends through JJ's songs.

Then the era of Youtube and JJ's new transformation came. I am not talking about the experimental M.E to Myself album (the struggle was real, full story here), but Sound of My Dream, Douyin, and Youtube. We are spoiled of JJ Lin singing more songs, casually yet sounding *very* professionally. Come on, everyone on the comment section says he is the walking CD. He eats the CD. To an old-school physical CD era fan like me, this is more than enough. I could spazz about him and attach a link on my Twitter, then people who are curious or casual listeners can just listen directly. 

A magical performance of Disney OST was a total gift, so did the jamming session with Tim Cook. A full English album is totally unexpected. JJ Lin does not even put English subtitles on his channel. JJ does not seem to care about his reach beyond C-pop and it is okay. He does not have to. So all in all, this was enough to substitute concert for the time being.

I trust people who testified that your music had helped them in the darkest time of their lives. Your songs accompanied me during the hardest assignments and trips to some remote places for service too. I associated If Only with my gloomy period in Rio, Brazil. I put it on repeat every single time I dragged myself to work. Story of Us helped me to view the day positively in 2020. It sparked hope when I was truly swamped with work, not knowing why I did something that makes me unhappy for a living. I am sure you have heard millions of similar story and mine is no special. It's just amazing to have a job that helps people indirectly and a job that receives so much love. 

Thank you for choosing this path.

Thank you for coming up with ways to connect with your fans and not retiring early. This is particularly significant as I have been missing some old Cpop singers and genuinely grateful that JJ Lin is still very productive.

A few weeks ago, I was thinking deeply about what would I say if I ever get to talk to JJ Lin. I am definitely grateful for your music, your talent, your passion for performing. Thank you for choosing to be a singer, despite the rocky road. Thank you for taking on many different challenges, consistently presenting different sides of your musicality. I really appreciate it. Please know that your voice brings joy to so many people. We might not speak the same language, but I truly respect the sincerity you put in your work. Please keep doing what you are doing!!!

A little selfish request would be: put subtitles on your official channel, please? Others have been doing it for years, maybe you can give it a thought, too! I wish for more concerts but I have been to one when you were not in your best condition - so no pressure. 40 is not a young age anymore.

Happy 18 years of amazing, spectacular career. Here is to 18, 36 more years of joy with JJ Lin. 

(pardon my choice of words that sounds too... Kpop-ish. I lived in Korea for too long)