K-Pop Blog > Artists > GOT7 / Jackson Wang
He can sing, rap, dance, produce music and much more! Over the years, Jackson Wang has proven these numerous talents again and again and thus conquered millions of hearts. On Instagram alone, the Chinese superstar has more than 32 million followers! Jackson originally rose to fame as a member of GOT7, but now also has a successful solo career.
We give you an overview of Jackson's career; from his time as a member of the Hong Kong national fencing team to today!
- Pre-Debut
- GOT7
- Solo Music
- Popularity in China
- Jackson's numerous talents
Pre-Debut
Many idols have had experience as actors or models before their debut. But not many can claim to have been offered an athletic scholarship from Stanford University!
Jackson was born in Hong Kong on March 28, 1994, and grew up as the son of fencer Wang Ruiji and gymnast Sophia Chow. So it was natural for him to be interested in sports as well. Jackson started fencing training at the age of 10 and became so good that he was accepted into Hong Kong's junior national team at the age of 16.
With his team, he won first place at the Asian Junior Championship and the Cadet Fencing Championship, among others. He even prepared to participate in the London 2012 Olympic Games! In 2011, he was also offered an athletic scholarship from Stanford University in California.
But then everything turned out differently! Jackson had a passion not only for fencing, but also for dancing and singing.
So in 2010, he attended an audition for JYP Entertainment. A representative of the agency had noticed Jackson while he was playing basketball in school and invited him to come to the audition. In December 2010, JYP announced that Jackson had won first place out of 2000 applicants!
So Jackson had to choose between an already successful fencing career and a potential future as an idol.
He decided against the athletic scholarship and risked everything for his dream of becoming an idol. Despite his parents' concern about the sudden career change, Jackson moved to South Korea in 2011 and began training in JYP Entertainment. About three years later, he debuted as a member of the seven-member boy group GOT7!
GOT7
The debut album "Got It?" was released on January 20, 2014, when Jackson was 19 years old.
GOT7 is a diverse group with different backgrounds. Jackson's bandmates are not only from South Korea, but also from Taiwan and Thailand!
Already with the first album GOT7 topped the Billboard World Album Chart! Among other things, the guys attracted attention with their acrobatic dance elements like flips. To this day, they regularly occupy No. 1 in the charts and are one of the few groups that are still active together, although all members are now at home in different entertainments.
Read more about the history and success of GOT7 here: Got7's varied history and discography!
Solo Music
On October 25, 2019, Jackson released his first solo album, Mirrors! It contains eight songs, including the partly self-written and self-composed song "Bullet to the Heart".
But in fact, the singer has released his own works long before his official solo debut:
In April 2016, for example, he performed two self-composed songs called "I Love It" and "WOLO" with his bandmates Yugyeom and Bambam. "I Love It" even appeared on GOT7's repackage album "Present: You & Me Edition" in December 2016.
In 2017, Jackson established his own studio "Team Wang" in Hong Kong. His first release there was the English single "Papillon". "Mirrors" was also released by Team Wang. This was followed by the mixtape "Lost & Found" in March 2022 and the second solo album "Magic Man" in September 2022.
In January 2021, the singer left JYP Entertainment, but to the relief of fans announced that he would still remain a member of GOT7.
That same year, Jackson formed a hip hop group called "Panthepack," with which he released an album called "The Pack" in September 2021.
To date, Jackson alone has released not only two solo albums and a mixtape, but also a number of singles and soundtracks. He has also collaborated with other artists very frequently! Among others, he can be heard on Sunmi's song "Frozen in Time", Rain's "Magnetic", "Easier" by Amber Liu or "On My Way" by Epik High.
Jackson's music regularly tops the charts, especially in China, but also receives international recognition:
"Magic Man," for example, has reached the top 15 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, as well as the top 5 on Korea's Gaon Album Chart. It was also named one of the Top 20 Best Albums of the Year (Chinese) at the Asian Pop Music Awards! And that's just one of many awards Jackson has accumulated over the years.
Jackson is one of the biggest stars in China!
Jackson's influence can be seen, among other things, in the number of his Instagram followers: 33 million fans follow the star on Instagram (September 2023). This means that Jackson currently has more followers on the social media platform than any other Chinese celebrity!
In 2021, Forbes China published a Top 100 list that includes celebrities from all over China. This includes singers and actors from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as authors, models, athletes and more.
Influence and income between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021 were considered for the list. Jackson not only made the list, but actually ranked 10th! He was behind nine actors and singers such as Lay Zhang, who is also known as a member of the Korean boy group EXO, among others.
Jackson is not only a singer and dancer, but also a producer and designer:
He is the lead designer and creative director of the fashion brand "Team Wang Design". The brand is defined not only by its products, but also by creative approaches such as the concept of the "Invisible Man". This is an invisible model, because the brand does not want to be represented and defined by a particular image.
As already mentioned, Jackson writes some of his songs himself. In addition, he is also responsible for the composition in many cases and sometimes even for the production. He writes not only for himself, but also for his group and other artists such as Amber Liu from f(x).
As you can see, Jackson is a real multi-talent!
He can sing, dance, fence, produce music, design clothes, and on top of that, he speaks several languages: Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
We are sure that Jackson will inspire us with his many skills for a long time to come!
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