Dawen Wang (), known as Dawen, is an American singer and songwriter. He first gained prominence when he won Kollaboration Acoustic 4. Dawen's first single "Wake Up", deals with Asian American

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

and prejudice towards minorities, and is especially popular among high school and college students.Q&A with Singer-Songwriter Dawen, embarking on New York "American Me" Tour , Hyphen magazine – Asian American arts, culture, and politics
/ref> Known for his socio-politically conscious music, Dawen's material is a staple of Asian American Studies departments all over universities across the US, frequently performing and speaking at various panels and conferences. Dawen became popular for translating famous popular songs into Chinese on YouTube, with his

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

cover of

Rebecca Black Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American singer and YouTuber. She gained extensive media coverage when the music video for her 2011 single "Friday" went viral on YouTube and other social media sites. "Friday" was derided by many ...

's "

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...

" becoming a

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

runaway hit in 2011.

Early life

Born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

on October 28, 1981, Dawen grew up in

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was firs ...

and attended Lexington High School as a freshman. At the age of 14, Dawen moved to Hong Kong to reside with his mother, attending

Sha Tin College Sha Tin College (STC) is a co-educational international secondary school in Hong Kong and a member of the English Schools Foundation. Established in 1982 as the Shatin Annexe based in the campus of KGV School in Kowloon Tong, the school re ...

. Dawen returned to the United States to study at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. He majored in English and vocal performance. After graduation, he worked at

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

for two years. His brother George Wang, is a new media and TV producer based in Los Angeles, California.

Career

Dawen first appeared on the music scene as an indie artist in the mid-late 2000s. He started off in Chicago, Illinois, playing at open mics and at various music venues. In the fall of 2008, he decided to move to Los Angeles, upon the advice of his brother George, to further pursue his music career. In late 2009, he released his debut album, "American Me" and followed soon after with a tour including stops in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and Hong Kong. In August 2010, Dawen entered the talent show Kollaboration and emerged the Grand Prize Winner, increasing his prominence and exposure online. His translations of American pop songs, such as Rebecca Black - "Friday" and Backstreet Boys - "

I Want It That Way I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...

", have turned into YouTube hits. His brother shot a music video for his

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of Bruno Mars - "Just the Way You Are" in 2011. The video was uploaded onto YouTube, where it caught the attention of

Universal Music Taiwan Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its o ...

. Dawen later moved to Taiwan in 2012 to sign with Universal Music Taiwan. Although Dawen grew up speaking Mandarin, he was not fluent in the language. Upon moving to Taiwan, he took an intensive Mandarin course. He released his first Mandarin language album "Hello" at the end of 2013. Dawen was awarded Most Popular New Artist at the Singapore Hit Awards in November 2014. Dawen's first Mandarin single, "A Change of Heart" (" 回心轉意") debuted in episode 9 on the Taiwanese idol drama, ''

Lady Maid Maid ''Lady Maid Maid'' () is a Taiwanese idol romance drama television series created and developed by SETTV. It stars Nicholas Teo, Reen Yu, Janel Tsai, Danny Liang and Katherine Wang as the main cast for the drama series. The drama debuted on 27 ...

'' (愛情女僕), broadcast on

SETTV Sanlih Entertainment Television or Sanlih E-Television (SET; ) is a nationwide cable TV network operated in Taiwan which was founded in May 1993. It also produces Taiwanese drama that are broadcast on free-to-air channels e.g. Taiwan Television ...

. It has been regularly featured on subsequent episodes and has since been released as part of a fourteen song TV soundtrack compilation, available as a digital download on Taiwan-based KKBox.愛情女僕情歌合輯 – 回心轉意 (演唱：王大文) (愛情女僕插曲) – KKBOX
/ref>

Discography

Studio album

* (2009) ''American Me'' * (2013) ''Hello'' * (2015) ''Happy Or Not'' * (2019) ''The International Space Station''

References

External links

* * {{authority control Living people American expatriates in Taiwan American keyboardists American male singer-songwriters American musicians of Chinese descent American people of Hong Kong descent Bienen School of Music alumni Musicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Musicians from Los Angeles Musicians from Taipei Northwestern University alumni People from Lexington, Massachusetts Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts 1981 births Lexington High School alumni 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers