After concluding a six-year world tour, the King of Mandopop steps out of the spotlight and back to the rhythm of everyday life.

In King of Mandopop <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/culture/jay-chou-hannah-quinlivan-the-power-couple-in-fashion-celebrity-couple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jay Chou</a>&rsquo;s world, <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/culture/mikah-on-his-latest-music-project-solo-journey-and-being-a-budding-fashion-icon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">music</a> has never been just a creative medium. It&rsquo;s how he connects with life itself, tying him to memories, family, cities, <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/living/rimowa-never-still-campaign-blackpink-rose-jay-chou-lewis-hamilton-luggage-travel-celebrity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">travels</a>, and even the generation that has grown up alongside him. With his Carnival World Tour (spanning six years and countless cities) finally coming to a close, he returns to the studio and to family life, allowing inspiration to settle back into its most natural rhythm.
Three years since his last release, a new album is steadily in the works, with a world tour being mapped out for 2026. In this exclusive conversation with L&rsquo;OFFICIEL HOMMES SINGAPORE, Chou reflects on inspiration, fatherhood, filmmaking ambitions, and how his mindset has evolved after 25 years in the spotlight.

You&rsquo;ve just wrapped the final show of your Carnival World Tour in Shanghai &mdash; 110 performances over six years. What was the most unforgettable moment for you? The moments that stay with me most are always the song requests. You get to hear their stories &mdash; why that particular song mattered, how it carried them through school or another chapter of their life. Those stories move me every time. Some fans have listened to me since their teens and now bring their own kids to my concerts. That sense of &ldquo;passing it on&rdquo; hits especially deep.
And now you&rsquo;ve announced a brand new tour for 2026, marking your 25th anniversary. The 2026 tour will have an entirely new concept where every city will have its own concert title. I&rsquo;ve written so many songs, and many them &mdash; especially those by (longtime collaborator) Vincent Fang &mdash; reference colours: &ldquo;Black Humour&rdquo;, &ldquo;White Windmill&rdquo;, &ldquo;Blue Storm&rdquo;, &ldquo;Pink Ocean&rdquo;, &ldquo;Golden Armour&rdquo;, &ldquo;Moulin Rouge&rdquo; &mdash; it&rsquo;s almost like a rainbow. I feel every city has a signature colour. Some even appear in my songs, like &ldquo;Shanghai 1943&rdquo;. Giving each city its own concert title makes the tour feel personal, like a keepsake for the fans.

It&rsquo;s been three years since your last release; everyone&rsquo;s eager to hear what you&rsquo;re working on. The album is still in the works, and I tend not to reveal too much before it&rsquo;s ready because I like keeping a bit of surprise. Recently, while recording, I was reminded of my childhood piano practice where I could hear the other kids laughing and playing outside. That &ldquo;pain&rdquo; of not being allowed to join them is something I remember vividly. [Laughs] But I&rsquo;m grateful for my mother&rsquo;s strictness; it taught me that every achievement requires discipline and effort.
Where do you usually find inspiration? Inspiration doesn&rsquo;t come on command. Actually, it often arrives when I&rsquo;m taking a break or simply unwinding. When you&rsquo;re too focused, nothing flows. When I was filming J-Style Trip and travelling with friends, that relaxed state of mind really opened things up and let ideas surface naturally. Also, beautiful scenery makes me want to capture the moment, so I start getting ideas about shooting a music video in that place. And I need new music for that, which motivates me to write.

Between touring, filming and preparing an album, how do you maintain family life and balance all your different roles? Things were simple in my early years: I spent most of my time in the studio writing. But as life moved into new stages, family naturally became the centre of my world. That doesn&rsquo;t mean my passion for music has diminished. It just means family time now outweighs work time. Sometimes 24 hours really doesn&rsquo;t feel enough. [Laughs]
What&rsquo;s your go-to way of relieving stress &mdash; your signature &ldquo;Jay-style&rdquo; reset? Honestly, the pressure can get pretty intense. Even on vacation, part of me is thinking about next year&rsquo;s songs, because a new tour needs new music. And I&rsquo;m a perfectionist in the studio, which doesn&rsquo;t help. Playing tennis is the best release for me. After a full day cooped up recording, I need to get outside and move. But there&rsquo;s one condition &mdash; I have to win. Losing doesn&rsquo;t count as stress relief at all! [Laughs]

You mentioned that after 25 years, you&rsquo;ve gained experience, memories and companionship. Looking back, what&rsquo;s the biggest change you see in yourself? I&rsquo;d say my temperament. Music is so subjective, and I used to tune out criticism. If someone said something wasn&rsquo;t good, I didn&rsquo;t want to hear it &mdash; I only listened to myself. Over time, I&rsquo;ve become more open to other opinions, even if I don&rsquo;t necessarily follow them. [Laughs] What hasn&rsquo;t changed is my drive to excel. I&rsquo;ve learned to speak with more tact after so many years in this industry, but I&rsquo;m still adamant about pursuing what I truly want to do.
The re-release of Initial D was met with enthusiastic response, and fans are eagerly awaiting your return to filmmaking. Are there any projects in the works? Initial D sparked my interest in filmmaking, and having directed music videos, movies feel like a natural extension of that. It&rsquo;s been a long time since I last made a movie, and I hope to return to the director&rsquo;s chair. I want to create a film with true artistic value, one that could even win awards.
As 2025 draws to a close, what milestone do you hope to achieve in 2026? I hope to release an album that everyone will love. Many fans who grew up with my music are now parents. I also hope the younger generation today will connect with and enjoy my songs.

Photography PAUL Styling TAKAFUMI KAWASAKI Producer DR. CALVIN CHOI Interview ANGEL FONG and CHRIS CHAN Words JOSHUA PANG Co-Producer GIAMPIETRO BAUDO Production team AILEEN SOH, ANGEL FONG and CARLOS MANGUBAT Hair EMILY LIN Makeup A-DO Photography assistants HARRY BURMEISTER and SAMUEL DAVIS Styling assistants MADDIE LIM and JOELLE CHAI Tailors ANNA LEE ZHANG and GRETCHEN GEOGHEGAN

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