Jackson Wang was recently in Malaysia to attend the opening of Louis Vuitton's new store at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Louis Vuitton Malaysia
Jackson Wang exudes a different aura about him today. He seems relaxed, more comfortable in his own skin.
The 30-year-old Chinese artiste is dressed in a tweed, checked jacket.
But as the punishing afternoon sun streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he removes the jacket, revealing his signature look: a black tank top, black pants and chunky shoes.
The larger-than-life celebrity appears smaller in person, showcasing a lean and toned physique that suggests a single-digit body fat percentage.
He also looks well-rested. And there’s a reason for it.
After a relentless work schedule over the past decade, Wang has decided to stop and smell the proverbial roses.
He mentions he’s been on an extended vacation to reset.
“For the past seven months, I have been on a break. I wanted to take my time to prepare for my next output, whether it’s music or in fashion, properly. You can’t rush art,” Wang says as we are seated in the sprawling living-dining room of a presidential suite at a five-star hotel in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
Today, Wang is taking time out from his vacation to attend the opening of Louis Vuitton’s new store at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur as the brand’s House Ambassador, highlighting his commitment to the French label.
He has been known to be a consummate professional when it comes to work.
Jackson Wang started his music career as part of the seven-piece boy band GOT7. Photo: Handout
As a member of the K-pop group GOT7, Wang has won fans worldwide with his rapping and dancing skills.
As a solo artiste, he’s released a couple of hit albums and has collaborated with top artistes – from Hong Kong’s Sammi Cheng and Nicholas Tse to Indonesia’s Afgan and US singer Ciara.
As a fashion trailblazer, Wang has founded Team Wang Design where he serves as creative director and designer.
To say he’s an overachiever would be an understatement.
However, that proverb, “all work and no play makes Jack(son) a dull boy”, rings true which is why Wang is currently on a sojourn.
After wrapping his successful Magic Man World Tour (which lasted 14 months) in early January, he was ready for a well-deserved holiday.
He says he has immersed himself in new environments like Japan, and now Malaysia, his final stop.
“Even though I’m not in the centre of KL, I explored places without any tour guides. I wanted to see what the locals are really doing, rather than following typical tourist recommendations.
“To me, travelling means experiencing a place as locals do. It’s like in China – we have the Great Wall, but we don’t visit it every day.
“I went to local malls, tried random restaurants, and even visited a mamak at 3am, asking people on the street for food recommendations,” Wang says.
Jackson Wang and US singer Ciara collaborated in the 2023 release, 'Slow'. Photo: Jackson Wang/Instagram
He waxes lyrical about the food he has tried so far, naming his top two favourites – nasi lemak and shaved ice dessert.
“From my experience, what stood out to me in Malaysia is how sincerely every restaurant treated their food. That means a lot to me,” he adds.
In this exclusive interview, Wang gets personal and shares his thoughts on several key topics, including his current state of mind, his complex relationship with fame and why he buys many light bulbs.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
This year marks Wang’s 10th year in the music industry. He made his debut with the K-pop group GOT7 in 2014 when he was just 20 years old.
Formed by JYP Entertainment, the seven-piece boy band went on to achieve success globally, including the United States when it became the first K-pop group to make it into the Billboard Artist 100 chart.
Wang then branched out, making his solo debut in 2017. He has since released two solo studio albums, with the third one, Magic Man 2, scheduled for next year.
Congratulations on hitting your 10th year in showbiz. You have certainly come a long way. But take me back to 2014 when you made your debut. What aspirations did you have for Jackson Wang then and do you think you have achieved them today?
At that time, I wanted to be seen musically in many ways. Through GOT7, we achieved that, and we put ourselves on the map.
But if you asked me who Jackson Wang is, that’s a unique flavour.
Think of GOT7 as a rainbow with seven colours, it’s vibrant, but each colour is different.
For me, I only started doing exactly what I wanted to do about three or four years ago.
While I’ve achieved a lot, there’s still so much more I’m exploring.
Whether it was in 2014 or now, I’m still trying to figure things out, but it’s just a different stage of the journey.
Jackson Wang celebrating his 30th birthday with his parents. Photo: Jackson Wang/Instagram
This year also marks a special occasion for you. You turned 30! That’s a whole new age bracket.
Oh, man, after turning 30, I realised the last few years of my 20s were intense.
I was partying hard. I was doing everything, partying, drinking every day, to some point that I thought I was gonna die the next day, really. I was letting loose, talking trash.
It felt like I was in a dark room, sprinting in all directions and constantly bumping into walls.
But after my birthday in March, something changed. I began to understand.
When you’re in the dark for a while and keep bumping into walls, you eventually get a sense of the room’s size.
That’s how I feel now.
That sounds like maturity.
I think I’m in that mindset right now. With the reality of leading a team, being an artiste, being human and managing my family, everything comes with a lot of responsibilities and discipline.
That’s what a leader is supposed to be. Since March, I think I’ve toned down a bit.
What’s the legacy you want to leave behind?
Legacy? I don’t know.
I think I’m just honoured and grateful for the life I live at the moment. Not everyone can wake up and do what they love or even dream about doing what they love.
I’m just going to keep creating, being sincere, authentic and honest about it.
Sometimes there will be bad results, sometimes good, but either way, it wouldn’t really bother me.
As he sits perched on a chair in the dining room overlooking the Petronas Twin Towers, we can’t help but notice the numerous tattoos Wang sports.
One catches our eyes: A small ink of a fencing sabre on his left forearm, just beneath another tattoo of the logo of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.
These two are reminders that Wang was a sportsman before becoming an idol.
Born in Hong Kong to parents who were athletes (dad was a fencer while mum was a gymnast), it wasn’t surprising that Wang followed in their footsteps.
He started training in fencing when he was 10 and quickly rose up the ranks, which led him to compete in the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010.
Jackson Wang is celebrating his 10th year in showbiz this year. Photo: NABIL ELDERKIN
He also trained to represent Hong Kong for the London Olympics and was even offered an athletic scholarship to study at Stanford University in the US.
However, when presented with the opportunity to become a trainee with JYP and pursue a career as an idol, Wang chose music over sports.
Do you think your background in sports is why you’re so laser-focused and always have your eye on the prize?
Definitely.
Being raised as an athlete, with both of my parents being athletes as well, has instilled in me the mindset of that “failure is normal and winning is a bonus”.
The values of sportsmanship have greatly influenced me.
The Olympics are upon us. When you look at these big sporting events, do you wish that you were still competing?
I honestly have no regrets.
Even though I left the sports community when I became a trainee at JYP in 2011, while my fellow athletes were competing in the London Olympics in 2012, and later in Rio, I still stayed in touch with them.
Many are now medallists and champions, and it’s fascinating to follow their journeys.
I have imagined what it would have been like (if I had stayed on), but I don’t necessarily regret it.
I’ve just moved forward with my life.
So, the fencing and Olympics tattoos on your arm serve as remembrance.
You know, maybe in some other multiverse, another version of me pursued that path.
Where do you call home, given that your career spans several countries, and you travel frequently?
Home for me, now, is who I’m with.
I spend like two to three months out of the year in Shanghai where I live with my parents.
And in Korea, I would go back to heal, to be alone, to produce music.
I heard that you leave a light on in your house in South Korea because you don’t like returning to an empty home. And that the light symbolises someone greeting you when you come back.
I still do that! I always leave the light on. It’s on right now.
And the person who cleans my house knows that if the bulb is faulty, it needs to be replaced.
Trust me, I bought enough light bulbs.
Jackson Wang has been known to be a consummate professional when it comes to work. Photo: Louis Vuitton Malaysia
