Jackson Wang (traditional Chinese: 王嘉爾; born 28 March 1994) is a Hong Kong rapper, singer and dancer based in South Korea. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Got7 under JYP Entertainment, and is known for his appearances on Korean reality television, notably Roommate. He is also active in China as a solo artist and TV host.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Jackson was a sabre fencer for Hong Kong's fencing team. He was ranked eleventh in the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics,[2] and won first place at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships in 2011. After passing a music audition, he moved to Seoul, South Korea in July 2011 to pursue a career in K-pop. In January 2014, after over two years of training, Jackson debuted as a member of Got7 with the single "Girls Girls Girls."

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Debut with Got7 1.3 Solo appearances 2 Discography 3 Filmography 3.1 Television series 3.2 Television shows 3.3 Music videos 3.4 As presenter 4 Awards and nominations 5 References 6 External links Biography Early life

Jackson was born in Kowloon Tong, British Hong Kong on 28 March 1994. His father, Wang Ruiji, was a member of China's national fencing team and an Asian Games gold medalist. His mother, Sophia Chow, was a former acrobatics gymnast from Shanghai, China.[3] His maternal grandfather, Zhou Yongchang, was the pioneer of ultrasound diagnostic medicine of mainland China, who died in 2017.[4][5] Under the guidance of his father and other professional coaches, Jackson started his fencing training at the age of ten. He went on to win multiple awards as part of the Hong Kong national fencing team,[6][7] including first place at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championship in 2011.[2] He attended the American International School Hong Kong.[8]

In December 2010, Jackson auditioned for the South Korean talent agency JYP Entertainment in Kowloon. He was offered a scholarship to Stanford for fencing, but turned it down after passing his auditions.[citation needed] In July 2011, Jackson moved to Seoul, South Korea for his K-pop training. He made an appearance on the reality survival program WIN: Who Is Next two years later, which aired on Mnet on 6 September 2013. The program was a competition between YG Entertainment trainees (who have now debuted as members of Winner and iKON), and JYP trainees. Jackson appeared alongside fellow trainees Mark, Yugyeom, and BamBam, now all members of Got7.

Debut with Got7

Jackson made his official debut as a member of Got7 with the debut single "Girls Girls Girls", released on 16 January 2014, from the group's first EP Got It?.[9]

On 29 April 2016, Got7 held their first concert in Seoul, where Jackson performed his self-composed songs "I Love It" and "WOLO (We Only Live Once)" with his group members Yugyeom and BamBam.[10] In November 2017, prior to the release of Got7 second Japanese extended play "Turn Up", Jackson dropped out of all the group activities in Japan due to health concerns and conflicting schedules.[11][12]

Solo appearances

In 2014, Jackson joined his first variety show, SBS' Roommate, as a member in its second season. Jackson's individual popularity rose after he appeared on the series, and because of it he was eventually awarded the Newcomer Award at the 2014 SBS Entertainment Awards.[13] He subsequently appeared on several other Korean variety shows such as Star King, Law of the Jungle, Happy Together, Radio Star, Problematic Men, Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education, SNL Korea, A Look At Myself, and others. On 12 May 2015, Jackson was appointed as a new MC for SBS' music show Inkigayo, following the departure of ZE:A's Kwanghee.

In December 2015, Jackson made his Chinese television debut as one of the presenters (alongside He Jiong) on the Chinese version of the show Please Take Care of My Refrigerator,[14] called Go Fridge, which was well received. He also wrote the lyrics, composed and arranged the theme song for the show in seasons 2 and 3.[15] In March 2016, Jackson was appointed as MC for Fresh Sunday, a show on Hunan TV.[16] Later in 2016, he starred in the show Fighting Man alongside Jam Hsiao, Wang Kai, Jing Boran, Bai Jingting, and Yang Shuo.[citation needed]

In December 2016 Jackson's first solo commercial for Midea was released in China.[17]

On 26 June 2017, JYP Entertainment announced the upcoming release of Jackson's first solo album in China, as well as the establishment of a dedicated management team named Team Wang for his activities in the country.[18][19] His first single, an English track titled "Papillon", was released on 26 August; moreover, on 30 August, he released "Novoland: The Castle in the Sky" (Chinese: 九州天空城), the theme song for iOS game Novoland: The Castle in the Sky 3D, breaking away from hip-hop and making a first try with melodious and classical music.[20] After establishing his own studio in China, Jackson began endorsing beverages, clothing brands and electronics, which include Pepsi,[21] Snow Beer,[22] VIVO X21,[23] Adidas,[24] Douyin Application,[25] Lenovo[26] in China, and Hogan in Hong Kong.[27]

Jackson attended the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards as an Ambassador of Great China on 12 November.[28] On 13 November, he was appointed as Alibaba Group Tmall Global's Chief Wonderful Goods Officer.[29] On 30 November, he released its second solo single, "Okay": similar to "Papillon", he wrote the lyrics, and composed and arranged the song together with BOYTOY.[30]

On 9 February 2018, Jackson was appointed as envoy of Hong Kong Tourism.[31] On 20 April, he released his third self-written single, "Dawn of Us", an English song once again composed and arranged in collaboration with BOYTOY.[32] While "Papillon" dealt with the theme of self-struggle and "Okay" described self-love, the track exhorts to appreciate the present and live with enthusiasm.[32] The duo paired up again for "Fendiman",[33] a collaboration with Fendi China: upon its release on 25 May, the song topped the U.S iTunes Pop Chart and ranked second on the iTunes Top 100 Songs Chart,[34][35][36] reaching first place on the latter the following day in the U.S. and several other countries, including Thailand, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia.[37][38] In the meantime, "Papillon" was included in B2 Music and Vibe Asian hip hop and rap compilation album Urban Asia Vol. 1, which was released worldwide on 9 May. Jackson also featured in one of the four exclusive tracks, "Can’t Breathe" by Eddie Supa, together with Stan Sono.[39][40] On 14 May, his solo track "X" for Snow Beer superX was released.

On 22 October 2018, Wang signed with Canxing Culture to enter the international market.[41][42]

Discography Main article: Got7 discography Title Year Peak chart positions Album CHN KOR[43] Alibaba[44] V Chart[45] As lead artist "Some Strange Work" (上班有些怪) 2016 — — — Non-album singles "Generation 2" 2017 — 1 — "Papillon" 11 1 — "(V)ision" — — — "Okay" — 1 — "Dawn of Us" 2018 — 1 — "X" — — — "Fendiman" — — — Collaborations "Stress Come On!" (스트레스 컴온!) (as part of Big Byung) 2014 — — — Non-album singles "Ojingeo doenjang" (오징어 된장) (as part of Big Byung) 2015 — — — "Mood" (with Meng Jia)[46] 2017 — — — "Bruce Lee 李小龙" (with Al Rocco) 2018 — — — "Different Game" (with Gucci Mane) — — — As featured artist "Frozen in Time" (멈춰버린 시간) (Sunmi feat. Jackson) 2014 — — 100 Full Moon "Lucky Rain" (Tia Ray feat. Jackson) 2018 — — — TIARA "Can't Breathe" (Eddie Supa feat. Jackson and Stan Sono) — — — B2 Music & Vibe Presents: Urban Asia Vol. 1 "Creo en mi" (Sammi Cheng feat. Jackson) — — — Believe In Mi "Creo en mi (Jackson Boytoy remix)" (Sammi Cheng feat. Jackson) — — — Soundtrack appearances "Fresh Sunday Theme Song" (透鲜滴星期天主题曲) (With He Jiong) 2016 — — — Fresh Sunday OST "Please" (拜托了) (With He Jiong and Go Fridge cast) — — — Go Fridge OST "Go Fridge Season 3 Theme Song" (拜托了冰箱3主题曲) 2017 — — — "Novoland: The Castle in the Sky" (九州天空城) 69 — — Novoland: The Castle in the Sky OST "U&I" (with JB) — — — The Package OST "U&I (Chinese Version)" (with JB) — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.Notes: Billboard's China V Chart was issued in November, 2015.Alibaba Chart was first issued on 31 July 2016.