Cover From left: Joya, Ani Phoebe and Mengzy, three women boldly challenging industry norms and reshaping the Hong Kong music landscape (Photos: courtesy of Joya, Ani Phoebe and Jake Aaron Morton)
From left: Joya, Ani Phoebe and Mengzy, three women boldly challenging industry norms and reshaping the Hong Kong music landscape (Photos: courtesy of Joya, Ani Phoebe and Jake Aaron Morton)
1 / 1
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, Tatler meets three women who are transforming the Hong Kong music scene—from launching record labels and reimagining parties to writing lyrics that shatter gender stereotypes
Women have historically been sidelined in the music industry. Numerous studies in the US and the UK repeatedly reveal this glaring underrepresentation. While data in Asia is sparse, the trends echo a similar narrative.
To name a few: a 2024 report from Donne, Women in Music reveals a disturbing stagnation and regression in the diversity of global orchestral repertoire, with Asian women representing only 0.50 per cent of composers in the 2023-2024 season. A 2020 survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences indicated that merely 30 per cent of music producers and songwriters in China identified as female.
Yet change is on the horizon, driven by the remarkable efforts of women in the industry. Hong Kong boasts a wealth of female talent, and in celebration of International Women’s Day, Tatler speaks to three of these musicians, Joya, Mengzy and Ani Phoebe Hao, who are boldly challenging industry norms and reshaping the Hong Kong musical landscape.
You might also like: Add these female musicians from Hong Kong to your 2025 playlist—you won’t regret it
Joya: Diversifying narratives through song lyrics
Above Cover of Joya’s new EP ‘Everglow’ (Photo: courtesy of Joya)
Cover of Joya’s new EP ‘Everglow’ (Photo: courtesy of Joya)
1 / 1
Joya, born Jodie Chan, isn’t new to the Hong Kong music scene—since 2020, the indie singer has released over two dozen songs and has performed at major cities across Asia, including in Singapore, Taipei, Seoul and graced the stage of the 2023 Gay Games of her hometown.
With her music, she hopes to share her personal journey. “The most honest story I can tell is my own. I’m an independent artist—Asian, female, queer and a wife to a woman—and through my music, I write about my lived experiences as openly as I can,” Joya tells Tatler.
In 2023, she sang in her song If Ever She Goes (2023): “Here I am, lying right next to her. Neither here nor there. Wondering, who she loved before me”. This song carries a lot of Joya’s identity as an artist: ethereal voice, deeply emotional lyrics—and also a very intimate narrative.
“I grew up listening to music where ‘he’ was singing love songs about ‘she’ and vice-versa,” the singer said during her performance. “It was important for me, as a queer woman, to be writing lyrics about ‘she’ as well”.
“I don’t set out with the goal of diversifying narratives, but by being true to myself—whether that’s [in] using feminine pronouns in love songs or sharing my perspective,” she adds. “If sharing my perspective adds to the bigger picture of what it means to be human, then that’s a really special thing.”
This March, Joya released her new single, Afterglow, which will be followed by her sophomore EP of the same name. The six-song musical project will explore connection, time and emotional residue through the personal yet universally relatable journey of love, loss and self-discovery.
“As with all my music, I’m hoping to make music that makes people feel seen, heard and met where they are,” she says. “The best songs in my life have done that, and that’s what I want to do.”
Afterglow is about “the invisible imprints we leave on each other, the people who impact us—and vice versa”, she adds.
“To live is to connect. And you can’t really connect unless you’re honest with yourself, strong and vulnerable at the same time.”
Ani Phoebe: Shattering industry norms with Bad Times Disco
Above Ani Phoebe, co-founder of Bad Times Disco (Photo: courtesy of Bon Ke Tang)
Ani Phoebe, co-founder of Bad Times Disco (Photo: courtesy of Bon Ke Tang)
1 / 1
Ani Phoebe, born Ani Hao, is the co-founder and musical director of Bad Times Disco, a vinyl record-based musical project she created with DJ Yuki Kai back in 2020. Their vision: elevating the standards of partying in Hong Kong with a focus on community, safety, and musical curation.
“As the musical director and overall main director, I've been pushing my vision of ‘the perfect party’ for Bad Times Disco ever since we decided to start doing larger parties after the worst of the pandemic was over,” she tells Tatler.
Bad Times Disco stands out in the Hong Kong music scene thanks to its attention to detail, such as lighting, set design, and sound—as well as what Ani Phoebe describes as “completely wacky themes, from twins to vegetable personality tests”.
The parties are also produced in a “really special way”, she adds. “We have a close-knit [community] who frequent our parties and really love it.”
“I would describe our musical curation as pretty unique and not ‘industry standard’,” she continues. “I book ‘digger DJs’—DJs who prioritise musical selection over generic pumping club music, and I especially love to book emerging or relatively unknown DJs from across Asia, with a few international guests thrown in.”
After launching a physical record shop and touring around the world in 2024, Bad Times Disco is back to Hong Kong for the season—and this March, they’re launching their latest party to date: Veggieville, which will be held in a secret location in Kowloon.
Ani Phoebe will be behind the decks at the event. It will also feature Thai DJ Issasha, underground house music community Reach co-founder Andy S, Bad Times Disco resident DJ DMK and Hong Kong DJ Mr Ho. Expect a variety of genres, from sunny house and UK garage to techno and happycore.
Mengzy: Enriching the record label scene with Feed the Dragon
Above Mengzy performing (Photo: courtesy of Behind The Green Door SG)
Mengzy performing (Photo: courtesy of Behind The Green Door SG)
1 / 1
Despite Hong Kong’s huge appetite for electronic music, the city has struggled to foster a space where the local scene could thrive. From music festivals to labels, the efforts have mostly been a one-way street, and have been very male-dominated.
Enter Mengzy, born Li Meng de Bakker, a Hong Kong-based DJ, producer, music journalist, radio host, promoter with her collective Feed the Dragon, who is determined to shake up the status quo.
“The [electronic dance music] scene in Hong Kong is relatively small, as it’s quite a niche interest compared with genres such as Cantopop,” Mengzy tells Tatler. “Globally and in Hong Kong, there are also fewer women than men involved in DJing and club culture, and running a label is not something that all DJs get involved in. So we’re really talking about a niche within a niche.”
On March 5, she added a new title to her repertoire: co-creator of a record label. Also named Feed the Dragon, the label will release its first single, Headtop (ft. Killa P) by MMEE, a British-born, Shanghai-raised and Hong Kong-based producer.
With the launch of the single, Mengzy hopes for Feed the Dragon to become Asia’s hub for bass music—an umbrella term for genres such as UK garage, jungle and dubstep.
“We want to provide a platform for local and regional talent making the kind of music we are so passionate about and connect international artists to Hong Kong and the region through the label,” she says. And more importantly, with her as a co-founder of the brand, it will “bring an important female perspective to what we do”.
Topics
Salomé Grouard was Digital Editor and Front & Female Content Lead at Tatler Hong Kong. Primarily focused on managing Tatler Hong Kong’s digital platform and content, she also covers gender equality, the music scene and sports through interviews with industry leaders, experts and trendsetters.
Interview highlights include renowned conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, Korean actor Park Seo Jun, singer Jorja Smith, Chinese TV host Yue-Sai Kan, YouTuber Kimono Mom, Japanese rapper Awich, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Mikey Musumeci.
She has also produced stories on revolutionising sexual wellness in Asia, activism within the surfing community, Asian trans musicians reclaiming their narratives through music and looked at the toxicity of gym culture through the lens of the plus-size community. She also covers music festivals, such as Hong Kong’s Clockenflap and Bali’s Suara.
