🚨 NOTICE:
We currently deliver physical products within Nigeria only 🇳🇬.
🌍 Digital products & services are available worldwide!
Powered by ThisIsHipHopHQ.com.ng Dismiss
On Thursday, Jackson Wang was revealed as the guest for “The Match Bangkok Century Cup 2022” which will is slated to be held on July 12 at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
He will feature in the one-hour opening show — from 6pm to 7pm — before the match. Those who could not reserve tickets at the venue could reserve tickets on Sunday to watch at SF Cinemas.
The move to invite Wang is seen as an attempt by the match organizer to attract non-football fans to buy the remaining tickets.
28 years old Jackson Wang, or Wang Jia’er, was born in Hong Kong on March 28, 1994. He is the son of Chinese fencer Wang Ruiji and Chinese gymnast Sophia Chow.
He was outstanding in sports from the beginning. Wang started doing gymnastics when he was seven years old and started fencing when he was 10 years old under the guidance of his father and coaches.
He was a part of the Hong Kong national fencing team for two years and won the 2011 Asia Junior and Cadet Fencing Championship. He also was ranked 11th in the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.
Wang studied at the American International School in December 2010. He speaks five languages — Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, English, and French.
In 2011, Wang passed the audition with the South Korean label JYP Entertainment. He became JYP’s trainee for two and a half years from July 3, 2011.
He debuted as a member of GOT7 on January 16, 2014. The group consisted of Jay B, Mark, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam, Yugyeom, and Jackson.
At the end of August 2017, Wang released his first single “Papillon”. It was a big success, getting 3 million views in two days.
He became the only Asian artist to list on the US iTunes Hip Hop Chart and the only Asian to be featured in the World Star Hip Hop.
Korean-Canadian singer-songwriter baron. has arrived, and he is now ready to take on the music industry.
The young artist has recently blessed his fans with his new single, “Diamond Spoon,” a slowed hip-hop song that has all the hallmarks of a potential hit (raw but good vocals, good melody, good beats) perfect to listen to according to your persuasion–an apt jam on a long road trip or even when one is about to unwind at night.
But don’t be fooled.
Despite the song’s relaxed vibe, “Diamond Spoon,” actually has a dark undertone as it explores the “superficial nature of society,” a concept that has resonated with baron. at the time of writing. “I was hungry and desperate for success, which I still am, but during that time, I fed myself into the superficial nature of society,” baron. explained in an exclusive interview with POP!.
“I wanted to express the anger, disappointment, and greed I felt in myself for not having more and resented the world for the idea that ‘money makes the world go round,’” he added. The young artist did mention that in hindsight, “Diamond Spoon” was a “really immature song.”
The concept of “Diamond Spoon” has been evident in the accompanying visualizer, which shows a person in pursuit of monetary gains while being surrounded by floating hands attached to Greek columns that try to reach over a spoon.
Despite its dark undertone, baron. shared that he hopes his listeners can enjoy the song and take away something important from it. “I hope this song helps people understand that the world can be really shallow and superficial, and sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty and fight for what you want within the system.”
The singer added, “I hope this song motivates people to hustle for what they want, whether it’s as meaningful as keeping family happy, or something as superficial as drinking cocktails on a yacht.”(baron./POP!)
baron. had written “Diamond Spoon” in the middle of the global pandemic where he worked with RIKII and ALVIN RYZE. And it appears that making the song was no easy task as it underwent many processes.
baron. revealed that the first time he wrote the song’s demo, he didn’t originally plan to release it as he wasn’t satisfied. But his mind changed after months of working on it. “After several months of production tweaks and re-recording the vocals over and over again, it came to a point where I felt that the song was ready to show,” he recalled. “From the vocal tone [and] energy, [to] music production, it was definitely a journey that I can say I learned a lot from.”
He continued that “Diamond Spoon” reminded him that “sometimes we need to do what we don’t like to do to get what we want.”
“I hope this song helps people understand that the world can be really shallow and superficial, and sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty and fight for what you want within the system.” – baron.
Aside from the challenges faced from writing the song itself, baron. also recalled some difficult situations throughout his pursuit of a music career. One of those setbacks is the direct health effects of the pandemic–they had to be very careful to avoid getting infected. baron. noted, “I remember me and the producers [sic], RIKII and ALVIN RYZE, [were] all being very careful when meeting up and taking precautionary measures to keep each other safe when making music. It was quite weird and awkward to wear masks, but we did what we needed to do to keep each other safe and continue making music.”
baron. admits the pandemic may have been a “blessing in disguise” for him as he had now the time to analyze and discover new music. “As an artist, however, [the pandemic] gave me some open time to hone my craft and take my time to explore new sounds.”
On the other hand, baron. had also been sacrificing his lifestyle where he admitted to working 14 hours a day and missing out on social outings and sleep. “I spent one year isolated in my house studying, analyzing, writing, producing over and over again,” baron. revealed. “It was quite unhealthy and mentally stressful. I’m still constantly making sacrifices for social outings, friends/family, and sleep, but I[’m] still try[ing] my absolute best to live a balanced lifestyle.”
baron. first made his appearance in the music scene in 2020 with his track “Love No More,” a song that’s part of his EP, “No Tears.” Ever since debuting, he already released five songs: “Anymore,” the second track in his EP, “We in Love,” “Where You At,” “Love is a Lie,” and his latest track, “Diamond Spoon.”
baron. has always been surrounded by music his entire life. Aside from his mother being a pianist and his sister an ardent lover of 90s music, baron. performed in his church choir where most of his music knowledge and interest in vocal harmonies stemmed from. From there, baron. expanded his knowledge of different genres to include alternative rock and hip-hop.
“My taste in music is definitely a random blend from EDM, R&B, Hip-hop, etc., and feels like it’s just a build of elements I like within each genre,” baron. shared. “I’m always trying to figure out how to blend the certain characteristics that I like from each genre together to make music that is unique and slightly unusual.”
In terms of his songwriting process, baron. described it as “flexible and ever-changing.” “I generally start with the concept of the song, such as what type of emotion I’m trying to invoke and what idea I will talk about,” he started. “Then I write melodies based on my standard of catchiness and how my vocal tone [will] sound. As I listen to the melody that I wrote (oftentimes just the hook), I will start to hear the music in my head—starting with the chords, the sonics, and the drums. [From there] slowly, but surely, the song will be made.”
Ever since entering the music scene in 2020, baron. had learned and realized that the pursuit of his dreams in the industry is “going to be a process.” “I learn[ed] that it was going to take a lot more as an artist for me to have a presence in the community and bring something really special and inspiring,” he started. “We’re blessed to have so many artists these days that are inspiring each other to be different, fresh, and bring their personalized taste.”
He also believed that it’s crucial for an independent artist to be different. Thus, he has been putting a lot of effort into his music and keeps his songs exciting by incorporating changes “in various sections throughout [his] song[s].” “I particularly enjoy a tasteful change of pace and groove. I think it allows songs to feel more like a journey,”baron.said.
When asked about baron.’s future plans, it appears that he has a lot of things in store for his listeners. The artist disclosed, “I have lots of ideas, concepts, and, of course, songs that I will release throughout the year! I sometimes have trouble sleeping at night in excitement to show you what I’ve been working on.”
He then expressed his desire to collaborate with a lot of artists, including South Korean rapper PENOMECO and Ghanian singer Amaarae.
“I’m really excited for the future because I’m constantly developing as an artist and I really think I’ll be able to create something special for the world to experience,” he said.
The world’s largest trial of a four-day work week — with no pay cuts! — commenced in the United Kingdom on Monday, June 6. The pilot, which is slated to last for six months, involves more than 3,300 workers at 70 companies, ranging from local restaurants to top companies in the financial sector.
Chinese netizens have been following the news closely, and a related Weibo hashtag has garnered almost 3 million views. Most Weibo users are jealous of the new work arrangement.
“Now I’m not sure which country is capitalist. I just wonder when we can enforce two-day weekends [sad emoji],” lamented one netizen.
Another quipped, “Don’t be envious of more days off; don’t forget they have higher salaries as well.”
Meanwhile, a few level-headed netizens astutely pointed out that the trial only applies to a small percentage of the population.
“Do y’all understand? It’s a trial, an experiment organized by groups, not government-led; the whole country isn’t going through it,” explained one netizen.
“It doesn’t count until it becomes statutory. Though there are no pay cuts [in the U.K. trial], it just means that Friday’s work is divided among the remaining four workdays,” reads one comment.
China is notorious for its overtime work culture, which is colloquially dubbed ‘996’ (working from 9 AM until 9 PM six days a week) or ‘007’ (working round the clock, or from midnight until the following midnight, seven days a week).
In recent years, however, employees have been opposing the system by opting for flexible employment, doing the bare minimum at work, or quitting their jobs entirely.
As a result, some corporations have rolled out fairer rules. Tech giants such as TikTok maker ByteDance, short-video platform Kuaishou, and Tencent have canceled required overtime — although this also means less pay.
Earlier this year, online travel agency Trip.com announced that they would be introducing a hybrid work policy from March 1 onwards, making it the first large Chinese company to adopt such a model.
Having a chit-chat with Far East Movement’s Kev Nish and James Roh, the 10th episode of RADII’s podcast China From All Angles unpacks the complex realities of being Asian musicians in the global arena.
“When we first had our headline show, the bouncers didn’t even think we were on the bill,” spill the duo in a conversation with host Wes Chen.
With hits such as ‘Like a G6,’ making waves the Los Angeles-based hip hop and electronic music group became the first Asian-American group to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2010.
After enjoying mainstream success and going on international tours, the musicians expanded into artist management with Transparent Arts, which aims to take “the best of American and Asian entertainment business” to the global stage, sign Asian talent, and bridge cultures through music.
Nish and Roh, two Asian Americans who grew up in L.A., discuss being deeply impacted by their tours in Asia: “It was so eye-opening being there with people who look like us. There was a sense of pride. Let’s try to explore that with our music. We were so L.A.-centric, so we started collaborating with more Asian artists.”
A still from Far East Movement’s music video for ‘Like a G6.’ Screengrab via YouTube
Fans might have little or mo knowledge about it, but Far East Movement started making hip hop music in a garage and grabbing the mic in spaces dedicated to the conscious rap genre. Years later, they steered towards pop when they realized their Asian identity didn’t resonate with the general public.
However, the past decade has seen massive changes in the music and entertainment landscape. Latin and Asian music — K-pop in particular — are on the rise.
“Technology and the internet acted as equalizers,” explain the Far East Movement members. “Hip hop became mainstream in the U.S., and people started looking for that kind of glossy pop elsewhere.”
Get more of their insights on Asian and Asian-American music in this episode of China From All Angles.
The place I went to when I could not speak was also where my voice came from.
Part memoir, part manifesto, Some Answers Without Questions is a rigorous and lyrical work of self-investigation. Lavinia Greenlaw sets out to explore the impulse to say something, to write or sing, and finds herself confronting matters of presence and absence, anger and speechlessness, authority and permission. The result is important and timely, a spirited and vital exploration of what enables anyone – but a woman and an artist in particular – to create and respond even when not invited to do so. Some Answers Without Questions is the result of decades of answering questions that don’t really matter – and not being asked the ones that do.
You must be logged in to post a comment.