Wowkie Zhang

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Wowkie Zhang 大张伟
Zhang Wei in September 2017
Background information
Birth name	Zhang Wei
Also known as	Wowkie Da
Born	(1983-08-31) 31 August 1983 (age 38) Beijing, China
Genres	Mandopop EDM pop-punk
Occupation(s)	Singer guitarist composer producer TV host reality TV personality
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1998–present
Associated acts	The Flowers
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	張偉
Simplified Chinese	张伟
showTranscriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Wěi Wade–Giles Chang1 Wei3 IPA [ʈʂáŋ wèi]

Wowkie Zhang or Da Zhang Wei (Chinese: 大张伟; pinyin: Dà Zhāng Wěi), is a Chinese singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band The Flowers.

Early life and career[]

1983–1998[]

Zhang Wei was born on August 31, 1983, in Beijing, China. He completed his elementary school education in Chongwen District in Beijing, before joining the Children's Cultural Palace to practice singing. At the age of 10, he won first place in the Chongwen District singing competition, and the Beijing Middle School and Elementary School Students Singing Competition.^{[1][better source needed]}

In fourth grade, Zhang Wei, along with other singers in the Children's Cultural Palace, attended the Children's Choir competition in Russia and came in second place.^{[citation needed]} In fifth grade, Zhang Wei became a member of the China Central Television (CCTV) Yinhe Teenage Art Troupe after passing its audition. The Yinhe Teenage Art Troupe has produced many superstars in the contemporary Chinese pop music world, including Faye Wong, Cai Guoqing, Wang Xuechun and Liu Chunyan.^{[1][better source needed]}

1998–2009[]

In February 1998, Zhang Wei and his friends performed in a pub, and met artist agent Hong Feng, later forming the band The Flowers. In June, he was chosen as one of the Six Most Talented Teenagers of China. As Zhang Wei was a common name in the Chinese language, he became known by his stage name, Da Zhang Wei (大张伟, "the big Zhang Wei").^{[citation needed]}

In January 1999, The Flowers signed with a small Beijing-based Chinese independent label, New Bees Music, and released their first album, On the Other Side of Happiness.^[2] The album turned out to be a success with many hit songs like "Stillness", "Disillusion", and "School's Out".^{[citation needed]}

In December 2001, they released their second album, Strawberry Statement.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002, they won the Media Award in the 2nd Chinese Pop Music.^{[citation needed][ambiguous]}

In 2004, they won the Most Popular Band in the 4th Global Mandarin Pop Chart and the Chinese Music Pioneer Chart. The same year, the band was signed with EMI. In June, they released You Are My Romeo.^{[citation needed]}

From 2004 to 2005, the band experimented with various musical styles including hip hop and techno. In 2005, the band released "Xi Shua Shua"(嘻唰唰),^{[3][better source needed][non-primary source needed]} propelling Zhang Wei to household-name status. Xi Shua Shua remains popular overseas, in countries such as Malaysia, as well as in mainland China, especially for parties, square dancing (广场舞) and karaoke.^{[4][better source needed][non-primary source needed]}

Xi Shua Shua was included on the band's fourth studio album, Hua Ji Wang Chao, or Blooming Dynasty, released in July 2005. The album won numerous awards in China and sold some 200,000 copies in the forty days after its release.^{[citation needed]}

The Flowers has been referred to as China's "first famous adolescent band".^[5] The band disbanded in 2009, and Da Zhang Wei embarked on his solo career afterwards. Since 2009, he has released five albums and over thirteen singles, achieving a record sales of over five million copies.^{[citation needed]}

2009-present[]

Zhang became known to younger audiences as a host and TV personality. In 2016, Da Zhang Wei became a co-host for China's top talk show Day Day Up.^{[citation needed]}

In 2014, Zhang released "Beier Shuang", meaning Super Euphoric. He performed the song at China Central TV's Spring Festival Gala, a show viewed by Chinese audiences at home and abroad. The song became an instant national sensation. Psy used "Beier Shuang" when he performed with Chinese girl band SNH48 in China.^{[6][better source needed][non-primary source needed]}

In 2016, Zhang created a theme song for the advertisement of AliPay's new function, combining Beijing Opera with EDM.^{[citation needed]} He also performed in Heroes of Remix as a guest performer, remixing Beijing Opera, Beijing folk song the Beijing Chick and a 1980s rock classic—the Long March. The final result was New Beijing Chick (《北京小妞》).^[7] In the same show, he also remixed the theme song of 80s cartoon Hulu Brothers (《葫芦娃》).^{[8][better source needed][non-primary source needed]} In this show he brought forward the concept of CDM—China Dance Music, encouraging musicians to create music using their own ethnic style, rather than forgetting their own cultural identity in following international trends.

In 2018 Da Zhang Wei appeared as a judge on Rave Now. In the show, Da Zhang Wei scouted the winning performer—Jiang Liang. He also scouted a team of EDM musicians who mainly performed in underground pubs and bars in China.^{[citation needed]} His 2018 song Am a Popping Candy combines EDM with traditional Yunnan ethnic style and Shandong clapper talk, an ancient storytelling music performance.^{[citation needed]}

He and his team created many songs that remix ethnic music with EDM. For example, he created Nezha, which tells the story of a hero from traditional Chinese myth.^{[citation needed]}

Artistry[]

Influences[]

Da Zhang Wei's early influence came from Green Day and Sex Pistols.^[7] After he went solo, he turned his interest to EDM. He also tries to incorporate elements of traditional Chinese art forms into his music.^{[citation needed]}

Songwriting[]

Unlike many other singers in Mandarin pop,^{[citation needed]} Da Zhang Wei writes his own songs. As of January 2019, he has written over 190 songs.^[7] During his time with the Flowers, he was the principal songwriter of all the songs on the band's albums.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

External links[]

• Wowkie Zhang at IMDb