At the age of 12, Tan was diagnosed with severe aural difficulties. He has 50 percent and 75 perent hearing in his right and left ears, respectively. While in primary school, Tan was also told that he lacked musical ability and was even advised to give up music by his piano teacher.

Despite these obstacles, Tan remained passionate about music, participating in his secondary school choir and eventually learning the guitar. He has downplayed his hearing problems as being any kind of barrier to success. He often references the musical genius Beethoven who was still able to compose music despite being deaf.

Read more: Singaporean rapper Yung Raja on what it takes to succeed in hip-hop

Tan’s first musical influences, particularly when learning guitar, were rock and the pop music of the 70s and 80s. These styles were a cornerstone of his early songwriting. Throughout his career, Tan has continuously tried to evolve his tastes and the music he draws inspiration from, including the genres of hip hop, reggae and R&B in his playlists.

Though he found initial difficulties working in jazz, he eventually found a connection with the form. In 2009, he released an acclaimed English-language album titled Raw Jazz. 

Tan has released over 400 songs in multiple languages and worked with such big names as Coco Lee, Sammi Cheng, Joey Yung and Christina Aguilera. With his experience, he has served as a judge for several reality TV music programmes including The Rap of China and the Hong Kong and Singapore-Malaysia editions of The Voice.

Tan has also cut his teeth acting in several movies and TV shows—most notably in the positively received 2020 Hong Kong TV series, The Gutter. Tan does not show any signs of stopping, having constructed his own 2,000-square-foot studio in Hong Kong to produce material at his own leisure.

Tan was first drawn to the idea of meshing digital finance and his art after speaking with other artists on the social chat platform, Clubhouse. He wanted to be the test case for blockchain projects involving Chinese-language music acts with the launch of his Nobody Gets Me NFT. The NFT allowed the buyer access to a link to download a WAV audio version of the same-titled song, an MP4 cover animation, and the chance to take part in an hour-long zoom conference with Tan.

The first ever Chinese music NFT sold at auction for seven Ether, worth about US$14,500 at the time of sale. Tan believes that with the diminishing sale of CDs and the low revenue earnings for artists from streaming audio, the future of financing for artists depends on innovation within the digital space, including Web3 and blockchain projects. This year Han collaborated with several visual artists to put on an exhibition of NFT-based art in Macau.

Learn more about the other speakers at the Tatler Gen.T Summit.

The Tatler Gen.T Summit is sponsored by Standard Chartered Private Bank, Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong and MTR Lab, organised in partnership with M+, Regent, Black Sheep and Cathay Pacific and supported by Brand Hong Kong, Hong Kong Tourism Board and InvestHK.

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