The Outlook Podcast Archive - My unknown song became a political anthem in Hong Kong

Download My unknown song became a political anthem in Hong Kong

Matthew 'Kashy' Keegan knew from a very young age that he wanted to be a pop star. He just didn't know how. He spent years writing and making music and knocking on the doors of the music industry but to no avail. By age 25, demoralised and fed up, he decided to quit. He took a job at a radio station and settled into his new life. But years later, when he was home one evening, his phone started to beep incessantly. He clicked on one of the alerts to find scenes of thousands of people out on the streets of Hong Kong waving the lights of their phones through the air and his song playing on the tannoy. The song he'd written many years earlier had now, in 2013, become a political anthem in a country he'd never even visited.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Andrea Kennedy

Picture: Matthew Keegan
Credit: Eva Li

Published on Monday, 5th July 2021.

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