Dawen

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 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 cover of Rebecca Black's "Friday" becoming a viral runaway hit in 2011.

Early life

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 28, 1981, Dawen grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts 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.

Dawen returned to the United States to study at Northwestern University. He majored in English and vocal performance. After graduation, he worked at Starbucks 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 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", have turned into YouTube hits. His brother shot a music video for his a cappella cover 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. 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'' (愛情女僕), broadcast on SETTV. 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
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Discography

Studio album

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

References

External links

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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