All posts tagged: Parents

Success Stories and the Pop Star Möminjan

Of all the performers in the upper echelon of Uyghur pop music, Möminjan is perhaps the most widely traveled independent artist. Möminjan, and his brother the famous composer Ablet Ablikim, grew up in the shadow of their famous uncle Abdulla, the King of Uyghur pop. He and his brother have been following in their uncle’s footsteps for over a decade; they even recorded a song together called “We Brothers” (Qerindash Biz) which sounds a bit like a Uyghur version of the Everly Brothers. As an Archeology student in the History Department at Xinjiang University, Möminjan developed interests outside the family business. In the mid-2000s he went through the long arduous process of obtaining a passport without an Ürümchi hukou and went to Malaysia to study English. After he came back he recorded a song called “I’ll be Home Soon, Mom.” In the song Möminjan takes on the way life apart from one’s family puts an almost unbearable strain on family relations. Using a novel form of theatrical performance, Möminjan performs the way dreams can be …

Abdulla, King of Uyghur Pop: His Themes

This is the second post in a multi-part series on Abdulla Abdurehim I wrote last week about the way Abdulla’s poetic voice corresponds with his deep literacy in Uyghur culture. But clearly Abdulla does much more than lean on the traditions of the past.  Although this attention to cultural symbolism and spiritual ritual are an important aspect of his public persona, Abdulla is also deeply engaged in the everyday life of increasingly urban Northwest China. In order to understand the depth of his appeal, I will outline the themes which emerge from his catalog and then analyse one of these themes. Put simply, Abdulla sings about love, moral struggle, and parents. If you take a random sample of his song titles you will see that nearly all of his songs fall into these categories: Songs of love: Embarrassment, They say I’m black, My flower you are not here, My nightingale, If I miss you, A word to my lover, Hey girl, I give you my everything, First Love, I can’t forget about you. Songs of morality: A …