Jackson Wang (왕잭슨; born Wang Ka-yee on 28 March 1994) is a Hong Kong rapper, singer, songwriter, dancer and fashion designer.
He is a member of the South Korean boy band Got7, formed by JYP Entertainment, and the founder of record label Team Wang, where he serves as the creative director and lead designer for its subsidiary fashion brand Team Wang Design.
Wang was born in Hong Kong on 28 March 1994.
He was raised by two athletic parents: fencer Wang Ruiji and gymnast Sophia Chow.
Wang started his fencing training at the age of ten.
2010
In 2010, while playing basketball at his school, Wang was noted by a representative of South Korean talent agency JYP Entertainment and invited to participate in the global auditions in Kowloon.
In December 2010, it was announced that he passed the audition, ranking first out of 2,000 applicants.
2011
He went on to win multiple awards as part of the Hong Kong national fencing team, including first place at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championship in 2011.
In July 2011, Wang moved to Seoul, South Korea for his K-pop training.
2012
While preparing for the 2012 London Olympics, he was offered a scholarship to attend Stanford University for fencing, but turned it down as a result of the successful audition.
2013
In 2013, Wang made an appearance on the reality survival program Win: Who Is Next.
The program was a competition between YG Entertainment trainees and JYP trainees.
Wang appeared alongside fellow trainees Mark, Yugyeom, and BamBam, who were then selected as members of Got7.
2014
The group released its first single, "Girls Girls Girls," of its debut EP Got It? on 16 January 2014.
In 2014, Wang joined his first variety show, SBS' Roommate, as a member in its second season.
Wang was later awarded the Newcomer Award at the 2014 SBS Entertainment Awards.
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, Saturday Night Live Korea, A Look At Myself, and others.
In December 2014, Wang joined his first variety show, SBS' Roommate, as a member in its second season.
Wang was later awarded the Newcomer Award at the 2014 SBS Entertainment Awards.
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, Saturday Night Live Korea, A Look At Myself, and others.
2015
On 12 May 2015, Wang was appointed as a new MC for SBS' music show Inkigayo, following the departure of ZE:A's Kwanghee.
On 12 May 2015, Wang was appointed as a new MC for SBS' music show Inkigayo, following the departure of ZE:A's Kwanghee.
In December 2015, Wang presented (alongside He Jiong) on the Chinese version of the show Please Take Care of My Refrigerator, called Go Fridge.
He also wrote the lyrics, composed, and arranged the theme song for the show in seasons 2 and 3.
2016
In March 2016, Wang was appointed as MC for Fresh Sunday, a show on Hunan TV.
On 29 April 2016, Got7 held their first concert in Seoul, where Wang performed his self-composed songs "I Love It" and "WOLO (We Only Live Once)" with his group members Yugyeom and BamBam.
In December 2016 Wang's first solo commercial for Midea was released in China.
In July 2016, Wang appeared on the Chinese reality TV series, Fighting Man.
In December of that year, he was named Variety Star of the Year at the Tencent Variety Show Star Awards.
2017
In November 2017, prior to the release of Got7 second Japanese extended play "Turn Up", Wang dropped out of all group activities in Japan due to health concerns and conflicting schedules.
In January 2017, Wang was awarded the Popular Artist of the Year award at the Sina Weibo Awards.
On 26 June 2017, JYP Entertainment announced the release of Wang's first solo album in China, as well as the establishment of a dedicated management team, named Team Wang, for his activities in China.
Wang also established Snake or the Rabbit, which is a distribution company based in the United States, as partnership with Team Wang.
In July 2017, Wang was awarded the MTV Special Award at the Asian Music Gala in Guangzhou.
His first single, an English language track titled "Papillon", was released on 26 August and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 's China V Chart on the week of 16 September; moreover, on 30 August, he released "Novoland: The Castle in the Sky" (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.
2019
Wang released his first solo album, Mirrors in 2019, which peaked number 32 on the American Billboard 200, followed by his second album Magic Man released in 2022, which peaked number 15.
In 2021, Wang left JYP Entertainment and formed the Chinese hip hop group, Panthepack, under Team Wang.
Prior to his music career, Wang was a sabre fencer and competed in numerous domestic and international competitions.
Wang was featured in the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list and ranked 10th in 2021.
Wang has the highest number of Instagram followers among Chinese celebrities, with 32.2 million as of May 2023.
