OKAY, I admit it. I knew Jackson Wang only after his solo career went off. Although I have heard and listened to GOT7 before, I honestly, and shamely knew them only in passing.
Perhaps it is a good coincidence too, since being a fan now would mean that I am watching the better version, more artistic and freer side of the legendary Jackson Wang.
His talents pieced through my heart like a sword (got that reference?) as his voice sooths my soul in many languages – how could he be talented and polyglot too? The world is unfair! Here are the things you may not know about Jackson Wang.
EARLY LIFE
Jackson Wang was born in Kowloon Tong in British Hong Kong on March 28, 1994 and spent his years growing up years in the New Territories. His father used to be a member of the China’s national fencing team and represented the country at and Asian Games, winning gold. His mother is also an athlete – an acrobatics gymnast that hails from Shanghai. With the influence and help of his father, he began his fencing career at a young age of ten, becoming a member of Hong Kong’s national fencing team.
His elite fencing skills won him a scholarship offer at Stanford University, but he had to turn it down in pursuit of his entertainment profession.
CAREER BEGINNINGS
Jackson was spotted by a JYP Entertainment representative in 2010 while playing basketball at his school. He eventually passed the audition which was held in Kowloon. The year after, he moved to Seoul, South Korea to start his K-Pop training.
Prior to Got7’s debut, Jackson already appeared in the reality show Win: Who Is Next which was aired in September 2013. The reality show featured various YG Entertainment trainees which eventually debuted as members of Winner, iKon and Got7. Got7 eventually debuted on January 2014 with members – Mark, Jay B, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam and Yugyeom.
GOT7 AND OTHER SHOWS
Jackson, together with the rest of the members of Got7 debuted with the single “Girls Girls Girls” with their first EP Got It in 2014. The group had their first concert in Seoul in 2016. During their first concert, Jackson performed the songs “I Love It” and “WOLO (We Only Live Once)” which he composed himself.
Apart from being an active member of the group, Jackson was active in various television projects. In 2014, he was a member of the variety show Roommate which increased his popularity. His physique, talents and visuals allowed him to land various projects on shows such as Law of the Jungle Nicaragua (2015), Fighting Men (2016), Where is My Friend’s Home (2016), Go Fridge (2017), Idol Producer (2018), and Chuang (2019).
SOLO CAREER
In 2017, Jackson began his solo career in China, as announced by JYP Entertainment, with Team Wang handling his career and international activities. He also consequently established a distribution company in the United States – Snake of the Rabbit.
In August 26, he released his first single which is an English track “Papillon”. The song eventually reached number 1 on Billboard China. In the same year, he released “Novoland: The Castle in the Sky”, the theme song for an iOS game of the same name.
His endeavor to establish his solo career in China resulted to him having his own studio and numerous endorsement deals with companies such as Lenovo, Pepsi and Adidas.
RECENT NEWS
GOT7 contract with JYP Entertainment expired last January 19, 2021. This led to all the members leaving the agency. Few days after their executive contracts expired, Jackson confirmed that he partnered with Sublime Artist Agency.
The song “Magnetic” was just released by Rain which features Jackson Wang. This groovy track is Jackson’s first “feature” song after leaving JYP Entertainment. The song “Magnetic” is one of the many collaborations that were promised to Jackson’s fans.
