ELLE | JACKSON WANG
On March 28th, 2020, JACKSON WANG celebrated his 26th birthday, the opportunity to review his career.
JACKSON WANG, a multifaceted artist
JACKSON WANG is a Chinese artist with multiple talents: dance, rap, production, singing … His skills don’t stop at music: for many years, he has collaborated with the world of fashion and beauty , between ready-to-wear brands and luxury jewelry, and has made numerous television appearances.
All these opportunities didn’t come to him by mere luck: it is the fruit of several years of doubt, hard work, work and above all passion.
His debuts in the sports world
Today one of the greatest emerging figures on the art scene, JACKSON WANG has not yet debuted in this environment. The son of a fencer and gymnast, he followed in the footsteps of his parents from an early age by joining the Hong Kong national team and winning first place in the “Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships” in 2011.
Despite his success in the sporting world, his passion for music took over and he decided to audition for the JYPE and to go in June 2011 to South Korea to join the JYP Entertainment after being spotted by the agency itself.
The first steps of his career with GOT7
In 2013, before his debut, Jackson appeared alongside Mark Tuan, Kim Yugyeom and Bambam in the program “WIN: Who Is Next?” in a dance and rap battle that confronted the groups of JYP and YG.
On January 16th, 2014, his musical career began when GOT7 debuted. Within the group, he has the role of rapper and originally the role of “acrobat”. He is known for his atypical voice, for his charisma, his humor and his personality. Just like the other members of the group, JACKSON is also an excellent dancer.
At the beginning of his career, he multiplied television appearances, which allowed him to have a growing notoriety. However, these appearances were not easy for him: if these emissions seemed natural to him, he also had to strive to get rid of this image of simple “funny boy” to make himself known for his music. During an interview, he could confide in saying “People only remember me as a funny boy. […] I also have a serious side. […] My seriousness when I work , I want to show it more “.
The launch of his solo career
On June 26th, 2017, his musical career changed: in parallel with his activities in Korea with his group GOT7, he created his own label “TEAM WANG” of which he is the director today.
Exactly two months later, he released his first video clip “Papillon“. The lyrics of this song pay tribute to TEAM WANG and from then on, he states his philosophy: “All they care about is profit. No, they don’t see me beating my team all day long. “Don’t try to stop me just for this ticket. Don’t try to kill my energy.” Subsequently, he continues to produce many singles, all of a different style like “Okay“, “Dawn of us“, “Fendiman” or “Oxygen“. At the same time, he makes numerous collaborations with artists all over the world: “Lucky Rain” with Tia Ray, “Too Busy” with BOY STORY, “Hypey” with Guanlin, “Walking” with Joji, etc.
After two years of solo career, JACKSON WANG released his first album entitled “MIRRORS“. The album is composed of 8 tracks (7 in English and 1 in Chinese) and is accompanied by 3 video clips: one for the title song “Bullet To The Heart“, one for “Dway!“ and one for “Titanic“. With these three songs, JACKSON invites the audience to get to know him more personally. In appearance, “Bullet To The Heart” stages a love story, but in reality, the words carry a double meaning: through the song, he shares what he felt when facing difficulties in making himself recognize as an artist. In an interview for Elite Daily, he confides: “The reason why I chose [to wear] a tank top is that in fact I was going through a difficult time. I was in depression and it was confirmed by a doctor. […] He there may be many invisible people in society who feel the same way and who are not ready to admit it. “ He adds: “” Bullet To The Heart, “describes the pain that caught me and almost killed me, but I loved it so much that I continued.“ As for “Dway!“ , the video clip illustrates his frantic pace of work between promotion, photo shoots, filming, etc. The last clip, that of “Titanic“, will mark his collaboration with the hip-hop dance group KINJAZ with whom he still works today since it appears in his latest clip “100 Ways” .
The other facets of the artist
The music industry is not the only one to be charmed by the artist. His hectic lifestyle also comes from his multiple collaborations with luxury brands, ready-to-wear and cosmetics. Can be cited Adidas, l’Oréal, Armani and Cartier, but also FENDI with whom he shot his clip “Fendiman” and launched his own velvet capsule collection, or Ray-Ban, who put him at the head of the #PROUDTOBELONG promotional campaign around the world. The eyewear collection in collaboration with TEAM WANG is also available on the Ray-Ban France site. here et here.
The result of 9 years of work
Despite the difficulties JACKSON WANG has faced, his career continues to develop both in China and internationally. At the Teen Choice Awards 2018, he won the “Next Big Thing” prize and it will be the first time that a Chinese artist has won such a prize at this ceremony. His album was also a great success: he went straight into 32nd position in the Billboard 200 ranking and won 3 awards at the NetEase Cloud Music Awards.
What can we expect for the year 2020? For this year, the Chinese artist has promised his fans the release of a new album and the arrival of his clothing brand TEAM WANG. His last title “100 Ways” released just two weeks ago, he is again in the recording studio to prepare his new songs.
Journalist: Catherine
Translator: Shawn
Source: SNS JACKSON WANG
