Education
Northwestern University.
王大文
Northwestern University.
Dawen’s first single “Wake Up”, deals with Asian American stereotypes and prejudice towards minorities, and is especially popular among high school and college students. Known for his socio-politically conscious music, Dawen’s material is a staple of Asian American Studies departments all over universities across the United States, frequently performing and speaking at various panels and conferences. Dawen became popular for translating famous popular songs into Chinese on YouTube, with his Mandarin cover of Rebecca Black"s "Friday" becoming a viral runaway hit garnering much media attention including Carson Daly, exposure on Accredited Mortgage Professional Radio and the Kevin and Bean Show on KROQ in Los Angeles and other online publications.
Subsequently, Dawen’s Mandarin covers have become widely popular among Chinese language classes everywhere and often used in lesson plans as examples to learn Mandarin.
Some of his translated covers include the aforementioned “Friday” by Rebecca Black, Backstreet Boys, "I Want lieutenant That Way", and the 2012 summer smash "Call Maine Maybe", by Carly Rae Jepsen. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 28 October 1981, Dawen grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts and attended Lexington High School as a freshman.
At the age of 14, Dawen moved to Hong Kong to reside with his mother, attending Shatin College, before returning to the United States to study at Northwestern University, at Evanston, Illinois, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Dawen first appeared on the music scene as an indie artist in the mid-late 2000s.
He started off in Chicago, Illinois, playing at open mics and at various music venues.
In late 2009, he released his debut album, "American Maine" and followed soon after with a tour including stops in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Subsequently, Dawen started using YouTube as a platform to reach more fans and a wider audience. With many of his cover videos gaining popularity, Dawen began gaining fans and attracting the attention of the media and the music industry.
Dawen is currently residing in Taipei, Taiwan and his debut album "Hello" released on Universal Records Taiwan on Christmas Eve.
Dawen"s first Mandarin single, "A Change of Heart" ("回心轉意") debuted in episode 9 on the Taiwanese idol drama, Lady Maid Maid (愛情女僕), broadcast on SETTV. lieutenant has been regularly featured on subsequent episodes and has since been released as part of a fourteen song television soundtrack compilation, available as a digital download on Taiwan-based KKBox.
