Dawen
| Dawen | |
|---|---|
Dawen in 2012.
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| Background information | |
| Native name | 王大文 |
| Birth name | Dawen Wang |
| Born | 28 October 1981 |
| Origin | Chicago, IL |
| Genres | Soul, R&B, Neo-soul, Funk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | vocals |
| Years active | 2007-present |
| Website | dawen.us |
| Notable instruments | |
| Piano, keyboard, guitar | |
Dawen Wang, known as Dawen (Chinese: 王大文) 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. 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 garnering much media attention including Carson Daly, exposure on AMP Radio and the Kevin and Bean Show on KROQ in Los Angeles and other online publications. 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.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 28 October 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, 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. His brother George Wang, is a new media and TV producer based in Los Angeles, California.
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