ARTS / MUSIC
Chinese singer Jackson Wang receives international acclaim
Published: Oct 05, 2019 05:45 PM

Photo: Weibo


 Chinese singer Jackson Wang received overwhelming support from Chinese fans with an internationally acclaimed first album.

In the pre-sales on September 26 on Chinese music platform NetEase Cloud Music, Wang's first personal digital album "Mirrors" sold 453,000 copies within 10 days, making it the third best seller of 2019 behind Taylor Swift's "Lover" and BTS's "Map of the Soul: Persona." 

The South Korean boy band GOT7 member showed great ability in developing independently and thinking critically. Although debuting in South Korea in 2014 and earning international recognization, Wang tends to shift his focus to Chinese fans. He began to host cuisine programs with renowned Chinese host He Jiong in 2016 and set up his personal studio, Team Wang, in Beijing in 2017. 

Registering on Sina Weibo in 2016, Wang has 22.35 million followers. He explained the spirit of Team Wang in a post on the second anniversary of his studio. He said he hopes Team Wang could represent the enthusiastic attitude toward life and encourages his fans to face life bravely and plan carefully. Born to an athletic family, in which his father was a professional fencer and trainer and his mother a professional gymnast, Wang has won many awards in fencing. World on the internet is that he gave up opportunities to attend the London Olympic Games in 2012 and offers from Hong Kong University and Stanford University for training in South Korea to be an idol. Enjoying immense success, he has encouraged his fans to never regret seemingly bold decisions and to follow their heart. 

Born and raised in China's Hong Kong, Wang has a clear understanding of his Chinese nationality and identity. Facing the illegal and violent protest, he immediately posted "I'm a guardian of China's national flag" on domestic and international social media platforms in early August. This natural patriotism sparked threats from rioters who boasted they would attack him when he landed in Hong Kong International Airport with his GOT 7 colleagues for their scheduled concerts. Millions of fans condemned the rioters and called on their entertainment company to cancel the concerts. However, Wang was not intimidated by the threats and his expression of love to his motherland was not diminished. He posted his greetings on the birthday of the People's Republic of China on October 1,the 70th anniversary of the founding of PRC, on social media. 

According to promotion posts from Wang's studio, "Mirrors" presents the self-exploration process and provides encouraging messages to listeners to move forward with self-reflection. The only publicized single, "Bullet to the heart," topped the charts on the NetEase Cloud Music platform, and has been viewed over 8 million times on YouTube. 

Global Times