Chinese Name: 鄭捷任
Born: 1968
Birthplace: Yilan County (Eastern Taiwan)
Did You Know That…?
Cheng Jye-Renn was awarded the Cultural Association Medal (文協獎章) in 2023 for his efforts in promoting Taiwan’s indigenous music culture.
Born in Yilan’s Luodong Township (羅東鎮), Cheng Jye-Renn aspired to be a painter and musician as he was young. He participated in many music competitions when he was a high school student. During military service, Cheng met Hsu Chin-te (許進德), a pioneer of the indigenous movement in Taiwan, and, influenced by Hsu, he started to be interested in indigenous culture. After completing his military service, Cheng began his career arranging music for some popular records and later produced soundtracks for movies, commercials, and theater groups.
What makes Cheng well-known is that, in 1999, he produced Taiwan’s first collection album “Am Until the Sunrise (Am到天亮)” that focuses on indigenous folk songs and lullabies. Cheng later became the music director of Taiwan Colors Music (角頭音樂), producing records of many celebrated indigenous singers including Parangalan (胡德夫), Paudull (陳建年), Samingad Purepurepuan (紀曉君), Panai Kusui (巴奈), and Chen Yon-lon (陳永龍). Without a doubt, the music producer is regarded as an important figure who brought indigenous music into the pop music market.