everypart 11,409 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 In 2016, Drake and Kevin Hart faced off as the head coaches of the NBA All-Star Celebrity Basketball Game. Though it's debatable if Team Canada's 10-point victory was the result of hometown bias, (the NBA's 2016 All-Star weekend was held in Toronto) a more pressing question arose about one of the team's contributors, Kris Wu. Americans and Canadians alike found themselves a bit puzzled as to who exactly the six-foot two-inch celebrity was. “How many fans does Kris Wu have in here?†the Yahoo Canada Sports account tweeted. “This place goes berserk whenever he gets the ball.†After a quick Google search, one finds that the now-26-year-old Kris Wu boasts a resume that lists appearances in numerous Asian and Stateside films, including a recent role starring alongside Vin Diesel in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. In 2015, Wu landed a job as a Burberry model, and stood alongside Kendall Jenner on the cover of Vogue China the same year. At the Met Gala, Wu was reportedly the fourth most-tweeted about celebrity in attendance following Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Beyonce. But despite landing roles in films that have collectively grossed over $600 million, gracing magazine covers and acquiring 40 million Weibo fans (China’s Facebook equivalent), Wu is still a relatively undiscovered prodigy in the States. His role as a Team Canada draft pick in the All-Star game begins to make sense when one finds that the Chinese-born star spent his teenage years in Vancouver. Though his home was a hefty trek away from Drake’s hometown of Toronto, the soft-spoken Wu was enamored with hip-hop’s culture. In 2008, he took his talents to South Korea where he joined EXO - a 12-member K-Pop group that makes a sizable living singing and performing songs in multiple languages. The group’s debut album XOXO moved more than one million units, and EXO was listed as one of FORBES Korea’s top 10 celebrities. But the their success was not enough to keep Wu from venturing out on his own. In 2014, he left the group and made his acting debut. He starred in a number of Chinese films, including The Mermaid - a film that grossed over $500 million worldwide. Wu took on roles in six films from February 2015 to September 2016, and more were in the pipeline. Though acting had proven financially fruitful, he had an itch to reach the same heights with his music. He told his retinue to hold off on movie casting for a year so he could regain traction in his music career. “You have to sacrifice sometimes,†Wu said. “There are so many things in life you might want to do, but you have to know when to let go.†In Wu’s case, his sacrifice was a calculated risk. The first single after his two-year hiatus from the music scene, “July,†garnered over 12 million views since its November release. He followed up with “Juice,†a single that not only appears on the xXx soundtrack, but also features Vin Diesel in the accompanying music video, which accumulated nearly 3 million YouTube views just 24 hours after its release. In spite of a massive fan base that is willing to support his slew of ventures, Wu faces two challenges: Not only must he take the slow, but necessary, steps to authentically permeate hip-hop culture Stateside, but he also shoulders the burden of bringing the genre to the forefront of China’s music scene. However, China’s strict censorship laws dampen the chances of the latter. Undeterred, long-time friend and mentor Sean Miyashiro, believes "Kris has the goods to really make this happen from a popular culture perspective...He already has that level of superstar impact. Now we are going to make music the centerpiece of it all, and turbo this." It’s unknown if Wu will be able to cultivate the same global significance in the music world that his former All-Star celebrity coach - Drake - currently holds (who, according to Spotify, was the world’s most-streamed artist, accumulating over 4.7 billion streams in 2016). But, the possibility of an an off-court discussion between the two may arise about the proper way to go about achieving such a feat. Regardless, Wu's aspirations are lofty. “I really am striving to be the first [artist], not just from China, but from Asia that all people can relate to, and can really get down with.†source PS: Kris has two movies grossing over $130 million currently screening right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only 1 U Need Connoisseur 6,671 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 GET THAT RECOGNITION KRIS WU IS BECOMING A WORLD WIDE STAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ddeona Oneul Bame 61,630 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 EXPECTED OF CHINA'S EMPERORTM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waycrispy1 3,434 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 I snorted at hip hop savior, but I can honestly jam to Juice and July all day everyday. Glad to see him getting more recognition as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSHE 874 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 He was my bias in EXO... I'm so proud of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAUCY 44,499 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 hip hop saviour is a....nono but otherwise he's turning out to be very successful and he'll go even further! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli London 1,762 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli London 1,762 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serechan 1,482 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 While the hip hop savior is bit much, everything else is truly amazing of him. He really is a superstar to be reckon with. Galaxy is the limit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthropology 969 Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Hip Hop savior? But, keep doing what you're doing Kris! I can't wait to see his future successes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentasGlittery EyeMakeup 36,570 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 but haters will still say he's not doing that well Kris disproves them with his work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickIaus 1,211 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 hiphop... saviour? lol... k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Hamster Named Loneliness 3,680 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 and to think he wouldn't have gotten all these opportunities if he had stayed in EXO and SM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBase 3,193 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 40 mil weibo? what? starring in mermaid what? cameo? hip hop savior ... hmm i'm done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoreaBeau 381 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 ofc some haters will only focus on hiphop saviour they turned blind with the other words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel_Nessa 11,378 Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 great article talking about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxsodamncharming 1,461 Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 40 mil weibo? what? starring in mermaid what? cameo? hip hop savior ... hmm i'm done Got me curious. Kris's Weibo page: http://www.weibo.com/u/3591355593 --> 22,313,864 fans as at 6th Feb 2017 Quite surprising that Forbes didn't fact-check prior to publishing the article. But in any case, since Kris's team has their target set on hollywood, it's probably a good thing that they have a fantastic PR team with the right connections. One of my long-time fav hollywood actor is Robert Downey Jr., and I think there was an old interview where he mentioned that hustling is one of the most important skills in life. Since he is now one of the biggest hollywood stars, I assume his advice definitely apply to the Hollywood industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everypart 11,409 Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Got me curious. Kris's Weibo page: http://www.weibo.com/u/3591355593 --> 22,313,864 fans as at 6th Feb 2017 Quite surprising that Forbes didn't fact-check prior to publishing the article. But in any case, since Kris's team has their target set on hollywood, it's probably a good thing that they have a fantastic PR team with the right connections. One of my long-time fav hollywood actor is Robert Downey Jr., and I think there was an old interview where he mentioned that hustling is one of the most important skills in life. Since he is now one of the biggest hollywood stars, I assume his advice definitely apply to the Hollywood industry. 40 mil weibo? what? starring in mermaid what? cameo? hip hop savior ... hmm i'm done Both of you are quite transparent. 1) 40 million or 22 million doesn't take away from his point - which is that Kris is famous in China but relatively unknown in the West. 2) They wanted to bring up Mermaid because 1) Kris IS highly billed in the movie and 2) They wrote several articles about Mermaid and wanted to plug in their own articles. They can bring up his current $203 million movie as first lead (something other fresh meats have yet to achieve btw) and it would still acquire the same point, he IS a box office superstar. His films, not including Mermaid, have all collectively grossed over $600 million... a point he's correct in btw. A lot of that are from lead roles. That's not even counting the money xXx has yet to make in China which will probably add another $100 million or so. So... to recap, he is famous in China compared to the West, he is a box office superstar in China (and the only one his age that title can apply to except perhaps Jing Boran) and he is trying to raise interest about hip hop in a country where it's not as popular as in the West. Y'all can be bitter or whatever but those are facts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxsodamncharming 1,461 Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Both of you are quite transparent. 1) 40 million or 22 million doesn't take away from his point - which is that Kris is famous in China but relatively unknown in the West. 2) They wanted to bring up Mermaid because 1) Kris IS highly billed in the movie and 2) They wrote several articles about Mermaid and wanted to plug in their own articles. They can bring up his current $203 million movie as first lead (something other fresh meats have yet to achieve btw) and it would still acquire the same point, he IS a box office superstar. His films, not including Mermaid, have all collectively grossed over $600 million... a point he's correct in btw. A lot of that are from lead roles. That's not even counting the money xXx has yet to make in China which will probably add another $100 million or so. So... to recap, he is famous in China compared to the West, he is a box office superstar in China (and the only one his age that title can apply to except perhaps Jing Boran) and he is trying to raise interest about hip hop in a country where it's not as popular as in the West. Y'all can be bitter or whatever but those are facts! Defensive much? I've great respect for people who market themselves well. Some of the biggest stars I like are terrific at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogambo 160 Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Nice. He's got excellent communication skills and is extremely business-savvy. The thing differing him from his similar-aged peers in the industry (the "fresh meats" and such), among many other reasons, is the fact that he's got the ability to make good judgements and actually act upon them. It's cool to see things like this, puts everything in perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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