Jackson Wang doesn’t need any introduction from anyone, least of all me, but here’s one anyone. He’s barely in his thirties, but he’s lived a lot of life in that time; he won a dozen gold medals in fencing, he debuted as a k-pop idol in 2014 as a member of the JYP group GOT7, he speaks five languages, and he’s one of the most popular Chinese singers of all time, which is why we’re here today.

Here are my credentials: So, I’d consider myself a casual fan of GOT7 (more of the members than their music, honestly) after doing a deep dive on their music last year, and I really liked what I saw of Jackson through that. So here we are, on the eve of his new album coming out, and I decided it was time to cover his solo career too. Let’s get into it!

(Note: Jackson has something like forty singles, if you include his collaborations, and I, frankly, don’t have the time to cover all of that. So I’m covering his four albums and a handful of his most popular singles outside of that; hope you can understand.)

Single #1: Papillon

I’m going to level with you about my thoughts on Jackson’s debut Papillon: I hated it. I like to think that I give a song the benefit of the doubt, but god was it hard with this song. To start, I have absolutely no idea what kind of effect they put on his voice, but it doesn’t even sound like him, and I especially disliked the weird AAVE in the lyrics (“I’ma stay up on my grind” // “aight, aight, better dodge for your life, fool”, and so on). The music video doesn’t make it any better, unfortunately; besides the weird camera shots lingering on women’s bodies—which is a whole other conversation—it just feels like he watched a single video of an African-American rapper and was like “ok. We’ll do that” without thinking about why hip-hop by African American artists is the way it is. It’s…not a strong start, but I’m doing my best to not judge yet.

Album #1: Mirrors

Bullet To The Heart takes a sharp 180 from Papillon, and thank God for that. Not only does Jackson sound a lot more like himself here, but the lyrics are much better, not just bragging about how much money he makes but showing a real pain and vulnerability that get a lot more respect from me. As for the MV, it’s also worlds better. There’s some impressive work with wires and bodily manipulation on what feels like a low budget that I really appreciated. It’s technically shot in color, but the only shades (besides skin tones) are black and white, which make for a very striking visual. That being said, I really am not a fan of asylums (or straitjackets, padded rooms, etc) being used as an aesthetic. I get what Jackson was going for here—love makes you crazy, and all of that—but it still makes me queasy.

DWAY is much more along the lines of Papillon than Bullet To The Heart was. The music video was better than the song, I thought, showing Jackson transitioning from job to job and constantly changing clothes with the help of staff. While it’s not necessarily offensive to my ears, and is fine if you just casually listen, I really wasn’t a fan of the lyrics.

(Quick TW, just for next paragraph: brief discussion of possible sexual coercion, brief mention of sexual crimes (not related to Jackson))

First of all, leave Mick Jagger and Keith Richards out of this. And second, much more seriously, I really didn’t like the way he talked about women here. I know that it’s common in hip-hop to brag about “getting” women (which is a whole other conversation, because, gross), but “Baby you was made for the limelight // I’ma turn yo ass to a star” and “Then she don’t want me // gotta put some respect on the check” just…rubbed me the wrong way. And that combined with the objectifying shots of women in Papillon and here leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Maybe it’s that I’m extra sensitive to anything like this because I’m writing this the day after Taeil of NCT 127 was sentenced to only six years in prison for committing a sexual assault, I don’t know. I just felt like it was important to mention.

(TW ends)

As for the other six songs on the album, I honestly didn’t like any of them. The autotuning was excessive, in my opinion; again, Jackson doesn’t even sound like himself. And we’re back to the weirdly sexual, even more weirdly disrespectful lyrics again, which is even more irritating. But my favorite of them was 爱 (I Love You), which comes the closest to the honesty of Bullet To The Heart, and is gentle in a way none of his songs have been yet.

Single #2: 100 Ways

Like the old lady I am, 100 Ways always makes me think of 50 Ways by Paul Simon, so it took a few listens before I stopped thinking “No need to be coy, Roy, just listen to me…” But I digress. This song takes a very different path with its title, the main hook being, “There’s a hundred ways to leave a lover, but I’m the only one that you need”. The song is simple but effective, with a synthy underlying instrumental, and I found myself nodding along to the beat.

The music video is interesting, being shot like a wuxia drama (especially with the costuming and the choreography), which seems like an odd choice for a song like this. I have no idea what the two have to do with each other. I did mostly like it, though, especially the ending’s paired dance that he does with his female co-star, though I don’t know why Jackson looks so utterly serious and almost…angry throughout the music video, since he’s supposed to be encouraging someone to leave her lover for him. Ah well. Clearly I’m not the target audience.

Single #3: LMLY

LMLY, no question about it, is my favorite of Jackson’s early singles. It strikes a great balance between being catchy and being vulnerable, with some great turns of phrase (“What if I just hole on for a while, baby, there’s no drug quite like denial” // “If you tip-toe out in the morning, I need a warning”) and a synthy background that suits Jackson’s voice very well. And part of that is me—I’m a sucker for a disco-y crying-on-the-dancefloor sound.

As for the music video, its restaurant setting, movie-like plotline, and especially the ultra-saturated lighting reminded me a lot of a Wong Kar-Wai film. And even though the song’s lyrics are undeniably sad, I still wasn’t expecting the way the MV ended. And I’ll be damned if it didn’t get me a bit emotional. I didn’t realize he also directed it until the post-credit scenes showing the making of, which were really cool to see. Jackson said in an interview with Paper Magazine that, “I think what we’ve all realized this past year [2020] is how fleeting life can be. Whether it is love or an aspiration, I hope we can all be more courageous in pursuing our happiness. If you like someone, you should let them know.”

Album #2: Lost & Found

Lost And Found is classified as a “mixtape”, but I’m calling it an album here, for ease. That’s also why there’s no single, because none of these songs have a music video. So, from this, I enjoyed the trippy beat and clever turns of phrase in Dead, the cathartic golden-age musical brass of I Don’t Have It, and the catchy hook of Power.

Album #3: Magic Man

Blow was one of the few song I knew of Jackson’s before this deep dive, and remains one of my favorites of his. It’s one of those songs that you’d listen to on a long drive home through a city at way too late at night. It does a great job of pulling back and rushing forward, which I’m always a fan of. The music video reminded me of a strange cross between The Greatest Showman and Moulin Rouge. I’m always here for men walking around in corsets and loose white pirate movie shirts. The MV feels almost like a do over of Papillon; it manages to be sensual without feeling like it over sexualizes women in a way it doesn’t with Jackson or other men, and its lyrics are the same way.

With a name like Blue, you might expect a song that’s heartbroken and gentle. And you’d be half right. But it’s actually about having people you can count on when you’re at your lowest points, and is quite a lovely tribute to those people. There are a lot of good lines in it, but my favorite would have to be, “When the sky is on fire, I know that I can run wild with you // When the water comes dry, I know that I can always come find you”. It’s a really nice song, genuinely, and I’m happy that this review got me to find it.

Side note: I have absolutely no concept of how popular groups / idols are when I cover them, maybe with the exception of someone like BTS. So I admit I kept being surprised with Jackson’s videos having 30 or 40 million in only a couple of years. I know kpop streaming culture has rotted all of our brains, but let’s not forget how much that really is.

From the album, I enjoyed the tense, rock-influenced Cruel, the snappy beat of Champagne Cool, . My hidden gem—the first so far—was Drive It Like You Stole It, which has this great under-cover-of-darkness atmosphere, marrying a simple synthy beat with sensual lyrics that work very well together. It’s a look into what I think Jackson’s discography could look like if he stuck with this sound, and god do I wish he did. This is definitely my favorite of his full-length releases so far.

Single #4: Cheetah

Cheetah is an interesting one, that’s for sure. It reminded me a lot of Michael Jackson, and not in the same way a lot of kpop does. The MV is honestly hilarious, feeling like it’s giving a wink at the camera. And the dancing from all four of the women in catsuits (just realized that that’s a decent joke) is impressive; I’m always blown away by dancers who can move like they’re boneless. There are a couple moments that give me pause for the same reasons DWAY did—like when he pulls the dancer’s hair at the beginning or when the camera lingers just a bit too long on the women’s bodies for my tastes—but on the whole, I thought it was alright. And the lyrics are as snappy as ever: “She’s a cheetah, grown man-eater // Sink her teeth in ’til you think you need her // She’ll break your heart in someone else’s T-shirt.”

Album #4: Magic Man 2

(Note: I know that there are like seven different singles for this album, but I didn’t have time to cover them all, so I just picked two)

Buck has one hell of a start to its MV, with Jackson slamming a heart down on a table until it covers him in black blood. The dancing in this is honestly some of the best it’s been so far, from both Jackson and his backup dances. But it also makes me realize that I don’t think I was overreacting in my discomfort at how women were portrayed in his past videos. There’s a marked difference between these dancers (all men) and those—besides them being more covered up, the camera doesn’t linger on their bodies the same way, the dance moves aren’t as sexual, and even when they do lean that way, it doesn’t feel the same. I suppose the feeling is what it comes down to.

The song makes less of an impression on me than the video. I’m not the biggest fan of the verses, to be honest with you. I liked the featured artist, Dijit Dosanjh, a lot; I thought their voices went well, and I especially enjoyed that he was singing in Hindi (which I assume is his native language). As a linguistics nerd (everybody rolls their eyes), I love seeing more than one language in a song, and I especially love seeing people sing in their native languages in collaborations. It feels like an exchange. So, kudos for that.

After so many different genres—and my very varied opinions on them, I didn’t know what to expect from Made Me A Man. But it wasn’t what it is. It’s acoustic guitar led, stripped back in a way that makes its straightforward yet affecting lyrics feel very honest. It follows in the footsteps of Blue, talking of a relationship (the kind isn’t specified) that made him who he is. It’s genuinely a really good song, and I hope that it marks a turning point for him to start embracing this sort of authenticity in his sound.

From the album, I enjoyed the light instrumental and vulnerable lyrics of Not For Me, the synthy EDM of Hate To Love, and the gentle, percussion-led Sophie Ricky.

Verdict: TL;DR

I’m glad I did this. As mentioned, I was already a casual fan of Jackson, but I enjoyed getting to learn more about him here. I watched his most recent interview with Zane Lowe about Magic Man 2 to get some insight into his creative process, and besides that I watched his two “answering the web’s most asked questions” videos and some clips of his appearance on Eric Nam’s podcast.

My Top 5 songs were LMLY, Blow, 100 Ways, Made Me A Man, and Drive It Like You Stole It, with Power as an honorable mention. Jackson gets a 7.5 out of 10 from me. I have a lot of mixed feelings about his music, for all of the reasons I’ve said before, but I’ll put it all together here. I’m much more of a fan of his more vulnerable, honest songs, rather than his more boastful, over-the-top tracks about how he gets girls and parties and has money, or whatever, because I already know those things. In my opinion, music should tell an audience what they don’t know about someone. It should be vulnerable and genuine and bring people together, and when Jackson’s music does that, I really enjoy it. Jackson is a charming man, in interviews, with Got7, basically by breathing. And yet in his songs, that charm, somehow, often doesn’t translate.

Next time, we’re onto a girl group I’ve been meaning to do for the longest time now. Tschüss!