Kenji Wu

Kenji Wu
Background information
Chinese name 吳克群 (traditional)
Chinese name 吴克群 (simplified)
Pinyin Wú Kèqún (Mandarin)
Origin Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born (1979-10-18) 18 October 1979
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Occupation Singer, songwriter, actor
Genre(s) Mandopop
Instrument(s) Guitar
Label(s) Seed Music 2004–
Virgin Records (former)
Years active 2000–present
Partner(s) Laurinda Ho (2011-15)
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wu.

Kenji Wu (traditional Chinese: 吳克群; simplified Chinese: 吴克群; pinyin: Wú Kèqún; born 18 October 1979) is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriter[1] and actor.[2]

Life

Kenji Wu's signature

Wu was born on October 18, 1979 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.[3] When he was six, he moved to Argentina, but came back to Taiwan to compete in MTV Taiwan's "New Artist Fight Game".[2] He attended the National Taiwan University of Arts[3] majoring in theater.

Career

After competing in the "New Artist Fight Game" competition in 2000, he was subsequently signed to Virgin Music.[2] Within half a year,[4] Wu released his debut album Tomorrow, Alone (一個人的Tomorrow).[5] Despite the involvement of top producers, the album only received lukewarm response and weak sales.[4] However, this gave him opportunities to act in Taiwanese drama such as Peach Girl and Moonlight Forest.[2][4] During his time acting, he continued to perform songs he wrote and composed at pubs.[4]

With an intense passion for music, Wu made a comeback to the music industry in November 2004 with a self-titled album, released by Seed Music.[2] All ten songs in the album were written by him. Critics around Asia gave highly positive reviews. The hit song Wu Ke Qun cleverly incorporated the impersonations of well-known singers such as A-do, Leehom Wang, David Tao, Jay Chou, Fei Yu Ching, Emil Chau and Shin band. The song demonstrated Wu's determination to be a unique singer in his own right. In Hong Kong, it peaked at the 7th spot out of 20 in RTHK's Chinese chart for the week of 20–26 February 2005;[6] however, the song did poorly in Singapore, debuting at 19th position on Y.E.S. 93.3 FM's chart for the week of 9–15 January 2005,[7] and remained on the chart for only 2 weeks.

He returned in October 2005 with a new album titled The Kenji Show (大頑家 – 吳克群),[3] also released by Seed Music. Working on a theme of having fun, the album comprises songs with his style of simple yet intriguing lyrics. Songs like "Da She Tou" (literally "Big Tongue") and "Bu Xie Ji Nian" rose to hit charts and were popular among students mostly. He has nominated for the best Chinese male singer in Taiwan at the 2006 and 2007 Golden Melody Awards,[2] but the award went to Leehom Wang and Korean-born singer Nicky Lee, respectively.

In 2006, Wu released a new album entitled "A General Order" (將軍令)[3] and again, all songs were written by Wu himself showing his creativity. This time he experimented with the Chinese music style, therefore the title song was written in that way. Other Chinese style songs including "Peaked You And Me" and "Champion" as well as the hit ballad "Cripple" are featured on this album. Wu will also be featured on a track on Hakka-Pac's new album called "Doing it Chikan Style." He also acted in Brown Sugar Macchiato as a cameo.

In 2008, he release another new album "Poems For You" (為你寫詩),[3] in which he composed all the songs. This album was number one on the sales chart for 7 weeks. All of the five MVs that were released from this album were ranked in the top 10 in two of the largest KTV chains, thus breaking a record.

Aside from writing songs only for his own albums, he also composed and produced songs for other popular singers. He wrote "Ai Ku Gui" for Melody Chiang, "Sha Gua" for Landy Wen, "Nan Ren Nu Ren" for Valen Hsu and A Mu Long, and "Da Ming Xing" for the superboys Yu Hao Ming and Wang Yue Xin.

In 2010, he released his eighth studio album Love Me, Hate Me (愛我 恨我) under Seed Music.[8] The track "沒關係" (No Relations) is listed at number 24 on Hit Fm Taiwan's Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart (Hit-Fm年度百首單曲) for 2010.[9]

Compositions

Discography

  1. Tomorrow, Alone (一個人的Tomorrow) (2000)
  2. First Creative Album (吳克群) (2004)
  3. The Kenji Show (zh:大頑家) (2005)
  4. A General Order (zh:將軍令) (2006)
  5. Poems for You (為你寫詩) (2008)
  6. MagiK Great Hits (New Songs + Collection) (2008)
  7. Parasite (寄生) (2010)
  8. How To Deal With Loneliness? (寂寞來了怎麼辦？) (2012)
  9. On The Way To The Stars (數星星的人) (2015)

Filmography

Television series

Year Chinese Title English Title Role Notes
2001 蜜桃女孩 Peach Girl 東寺森一矢 male lead
陽光果凍 Sunshine Jelly
2002 月光森林 Moonlight Forest
2003 薔薇之戀 The Rose Mao Ji's friend cameo
2005 大熊醫師家 himself cameo
2007 黑糖瑪奇朵 Brown Sugar Macchiato himself cameo
2011 料理情人夢 Love Recipe Fu Yong Le 傅永樂 male lead

Film

Year Chinese Title English Title Role Notes
2003 雨衣 aka 7-11之戀 Rain Coat aka Love at 7-11
2008 絕魂印 The Fatality Hé Shì Róng/A Sēn Ní (何士戎/阿森尼)
2014 脱轨时代 The Old Cinderella
2016 708090之深圳戀歌 708090: Shenzen Love Story

Endorsements

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nomination Result Ref
2007 HITO Radio Music Awards Most Popular Sing-Songwriter (popular vote) Kenji Wu Won [10]

References

  1. ↑ "Taiwanese singer glad to meet fans". The Star Online. 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 吳克羣: 個人檔案 (in Chinese). KKBox. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Seed Music Artists". SEED Music. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  4. 1 2 3 4 褚姵君 (2010-12-31). "吳克羣曾25元捱一天 不愛拜金女". 聯合報. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
  5. ↑ "Kenji Wu new album Love Me Hate Me". MandarinTopTen.net. 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  6. ↑ "RTHK Chinese chart for 2005, week 8 (中文龙虎榜 - 2005年第08周榜单)" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  7. ↑ "Y.E.S. 93.3 chart for 2005, week 2 (醉心龙虎榜 - 2005年第02周榜单)" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  8. ↑ "音樂 > 吳克羣". Seed Music. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  9. ↑ (Chinese) HITO Radio Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart- 2010 (#1 to 50) Retrieved 2011-05-10
  10. ↑ (Chinese) HITO Radio 2007 HITO Radio Music Awards winners list 4 February 2007. Retrieved 2011-04-20
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