The 16th Freshmusic Awards was held today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, celebrating the best of Chinese music from around the region, with Singaporean artist yeule winning two awards.
The 16th Freshmusic Awards (FMA) is organised by Singaporean music review site Freshmusic, and supported by Malaysia’s Taiwan Asean Music Action (TAMA).
In this edition of FMA, the biggest winners were Taiwanese hip-hop artist Kumachan and Taiwanese indie band A Root, who won three awards each. With his album PRO, Kumachan took home the “Top 10 Albums of the Year”, “Top 10 Singles of the Year” and “Best Male Vocalist” awards, while A Root won the “Breakthrough Artist of the Year”, “Best Band” and “Top 10 Albums of the Year” awards with their album Holy Gazai.
Singaporean artist yeule took home the “Freshmusic x TAMA Regional Album of the Year” award and “Top 10 Albums of the Year” awards with her album Glitch Princess.
The battle for the coveted “Best Male Vocalist” award this year was especially tough, with singer Wu Qingfeng coming in victorious in the first round of judging. Many judges voiced their support for nominated acts Kumachan, HUSH and Matzka, with a few judges pointing out that Kumachan’s album featured him performing in many different intricate ways that allowed even people who were not familiar with the hip-hop genre to enjoy his music. This convinced the judges to elect Kumachan as the eventual winner of the award.
Kumachan and Wu Qingfeng clashed once again when it came to the “Album of the Year” award, with the judging going into a third round before Wu Qingfeng’s Mallarme’s Tuesdays broke through to win the category. With the votes all very close to each other, it was decided that there will be 11 entries in the “Albums of the Year” category instead of the usual 10.
In the “Song of the Year” category, it was a close fight between indie artists Anpu’s ‘The Best Time’ and Enno Cheng’s ‘Daughters’. The former was regarded by judges as a timeless classic that provides much needed warmth and solace after a three-year epidemic, while the former was seen as a single that elevated the status of Taiwanese Hokkien music through themes of feminism. In the end, Anpu’s song came out victorious.
For the “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” category, A Root and Hong Kong singer Vincy Chan were tied with the same points even after two rounds of judging. Going into the third round, judges argued that A Root’s latest work showed a much stronger grasp in terms of cultural relevance and unique positioning, helping them to eventually win this category.
The “Best Female Vocalist” award was clinched by Taiwanese musician Lisa Djaati, who released her album Ripple Effect last year after a 13-year absence. In her album, judges found a complete piece of work, with each breath taken between lines contributing to the entire ebb and flow of the album. Lisa Djaati eventually beat out Lala Hsu narrowly to win this category.
This year’s toughest category is the “Best New Artist” category, with a three-way fight between LÜCY, The Crane and Hung Pei-yu, each of whom had their own share of supporters within the judging panel. Some judges pointed out Hung Pei-yu’s work was a much-anticipated one, especially since she first rose to fame in 2011 with her single ‘Tiptoe and Love’, but only managed to release her first full-length album last year. Judges viewed her as a complete singer that can embody the Mandopop industry, and finally voted for her to be the winner.
