Music: Chinese-Canadian singer-songwriter Kris Wu is hoping to define himself as one of the top stars of his age with the debut full-lengthy album Antares.
Kris Wu’s star continues to rise with the release of his latest album Anteres
After signing an international recording agreement with Universal Music Group in April, Chinese-Canadian singer-songwriter Kris Wu is hoping to define himself as one of the top stars of his age with the debut full-lengthy album Antares.
During a recent afternoon in Beijing, he shows up at recording studio to preview songs from the album to a limited audience.
“I want the music to be louder, and maybe turn down the lights,” says the 28-year-old singer-songwriter. “I like listening to music at night. I enjoy the atmosphere.”
The album, which was scheduled for release on Nov 2, four days before Wu’s birthday, features 14 songs written by Wu — 12 in English and 2 in Mandarin -— which were selected from material he had written over the past two years.
The title song, Antares, portrays a galaxy of music, which Wu defines as his style.
“As a kid, I liked imagining the universe so the song is about the space, stars and universe, which I imagined in my head,” says Wu.
He adds that the title of the new album, Antares, means the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius, which is the Latin for scorpion, his zodiac sign.
“The song opens the album and it unveils the whole concept of the album,” Wu says. “I don’t want to write songs with a diversity of music styles. My music is solely based on hip-hop music, which is my major influence.”
Wu has been credited with promoting hip-hop into the Chinese mainstream.
“I’ve been trying to think about how I can bridge the East and the West. It’s true that K-pop is competitive in the West. But when my beat is up, you can sense my style, which is different,” Wu says.
The song, November Rain, which he originally called “Sad Boy”, follows his early life in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, where he was born and raised. In November, it rains a lot in the city, and Wu recalls that as a boy he would watch the rain through the window.
“I felt of loneliness which I can still recall today”, he says.
After moving to Vancouver at the age 10 years with his family, Wu found the city is similar to Guangzhou, as it rains in November.
“A rainy day is inspirational to me. It’s an old habit of mine to watch rain in November,” says Wu, who has invited guests to sing on the album. Coupe, features the American rapper Rich The Kid and Freedom featuring Jhené Aiko.
The song Deserve, in which Wu performs along with American rapper Travis Scott, made Wu the firstever Chinese artist to top the US iTunes Chart, when it made No 1 in October.
“I am a very productive singersongwriter. I can write one song a day and arrange it in my head simultaneously,” Wu says. “I know my album won’t appeal to everyone. That’s ok. I am having a good time by making my music. I just hope that some people will enjoy my music.”
On May 18, the singer-songwriter released his first single from the new album, the track Like That, which debuted at No 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, at No 37 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No 1 on the US iTunes Chart. The video for the song features UK supermodel Stella Maxwell and has garnered over 14 million views online.
In June, Wu released the Chinese song, entitled Tian Di, from the album, in which he combines traditional Chinese musical elements with hip-hop music.
Despite releasing all these tracks, he says
“I still wanted to have a fulllength album because it’s complete and speaks for me as a singer-songwriter.”
A former member of K-pop boy group, EXO, Wu launched his solo career in 2014. In the summer of 2017, he joined in the popular reality show, The Rap of China, as one of the three groups of star coaches. A new season of the show, which has catapulted a new generation of Chinese rappers to stardom, aired this summer.
He has also expanded his career path into movies and fashion, successfully entering the Englishspeaking movie market, with roles in Daniel John Caruso’s action blockbuster, XxX: Return of Xander
Cage and Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
This February, Wu was signed up as an ambassador for the NFL and became the first Chinese artist to perform his songs at Super Bowl Live.
I’ve been trying to think about how I can bridge the East and the West. It’s true that K-pop is competitive in the West. But when my beat is up, you can sense my style, which is different.”
Kris Wu Chinese-Canadian singer-songwriter