Dawen

Dawen
Dawen in 2012.
Background information
Birth name	Dawen Wang 王大文
Origin	Chicago, IL
Genres	Soul, R&B, Neo-soul, Funk
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	vocals
Years active	2007-present
Website	dawen.us
Notable instruments
Piano, keyboard, guitar

Dawen (王大文), is an American singer and songwriter. He gained prominence when he won Kollaboration Acoustic 4.^[1] 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.^[2][3] 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.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Dawen has recently become popular for translating famous popular songs into Chinese on YouTube, with his Mandarin cover of Rebecca Black's "Friday" becoming a viral runaway hit garnering much media attention including Carson Daly, exposure on AMP Radio^[8] and the Kevin and Bean Show on KROQ^[9] in Los Angeles and other online publications.^[10] Subsequently, Dawen’s Mandarin covers have become widely popular among Chinese language classes everywhere and often used in lesson plans as examples to learn Mandarin. Some of his translated covers include the aforementioned “Friday” by Rebecca Black, Backstreet Boys, "I Want It That Way", and the 2012 summer smash "Call Me Maybe", by Carly Rae Jepsen.^[11]

Early life

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 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 Shatin College, before returning to the United States to study at Northwestern University, at Evanston, Illinois, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance.^[3][12] 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.^[13]

In late 2009, he released his debut album, "American Me" and followed soon after with a tour including stops in Taiwan and Hong Kong.^[2][14][15] In August 2010, Dawen entered the renowned talent show Kollaboration and emerged the Grand Prize Winner, increasing his prominence and exposure online.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}

Subsequently, Dawen started using YouTube as a platform to reach more fans and a wider audience. With many of his cover videos gaining popularity, Dawen began gaining fans and attracting the attention of the media and the music industry. Dawen is currently residing in Taipei, Taiwan and his debut album "Hello" will be released on Universal Records Taiwan on Christmas Eve.

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.^[24]

Discography

Studio album

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dawen.

• Dawen official website
• Dawen on YouTube