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Wang Feng
Born	People's Republic of China
Years active	1997–present
Musical career
Origin	People's Republic of China
Genres	Chinese rock
Labels	MusicNationGroup

Wang Feng (born Beijing, China; June 29th, 1971) is a Chinese singer-songwriter. He was the founder, and vocal of the band No. 43 in Baojiajie Street. After two albums "No. 43 in Baojiajie Street" (1997) and "No. 43 in Baojiajie Street 2" (1998), he signed a solo contract with Warner Music Beijing Co., Ltd. The third album "Flower in Flame" (2000) was the beginning of his solo career. With a number of songs like "Flying Higher" (2004), and "Blooming Life" (2005) in the the following albums, Wang Feng entered the media's spotlight and became popular in Mainland China. The latest album "Belief Flies in the Wind" (2009) made him the Most Popular Male Singer on the Chinese Mainland at the Channel V's 14th Chinese Music Awards.

Early Life

Wang Feng was born and raised in a musical family. Under Wang's father's command, Wang started practicing violin when he was five years old. He entered Central Conservatory of Music attached middle school at the age of eleven. Wang did not understand the purpose of playing violin, or why he had to stay home practicing while other kids of his age could play outside. At the age of 14, for the first time in his life, Wang realized the beauty of music through a piece composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. After the enlightening incident Wang decided to pursuit the beauty of music for the rest of his life.

By the age of 17 Wang started to listen to Michael Jackson, Beatles, and Taiwanese singer Lo Ta-yu, and Chinese singer Cui Jian. This is the first time he had ever listened to any Rock music. By the time of college, Wang studied in the Chinese Central Conservatory of Music majoring in violin and viola. In his college years Wang joined the Chinese Youth Orchestra and performed overseas. In his senior year in college (1994), Wang and his friends formed the band No. 43 in Baojiajie Street.

Career

Wang Feng and the band No. 43 in Baojiajie Street made their first album in 1997, three years after it was formed. During these three years the band practiced in a basement in the college and performed in local clubs and bars. To comply with his father's will and to have a stable income, Wang took the offer of the vice concertmaster of The National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra. However Wang quit the job after a year even with a promotion of the concertmaster position, and put himself completely into Rock music. In the beginning, the band was sponsored by "Xiao Wei" (nick name), an alumnus of the Central Conservatory of Music. Xiao Wei's sponsorship allowed the band to practice and perform. They gradually build up their reputation in Beijing, which led the band to a record deal from Beijing Jingwen Record Co., Ltd on May 31st, 1997. The band was not profitable under Xiao Wei's sponsorship. Wang couldn't even pay his rent at that time. The record deal with Beijing Jingwen Record was an opportunity for the band to officially enter the music business and to solve the money issue. Xiao Wei understood the benefit of the deal for Wang Feng and the whole band. He terminated the sponsorship himself and left Beijing.

Later that year the band made their first studio album, No. 43 in Baojiajie Street (1997). This album included songs like "Little Bird" and "Good Night Beijing", which became famous afterwards. One year later the band made their second album, No. 43 in Baojiejie Street 2 - Storm Approaching (1998). While the albums were sold in the market, the economic issue of the band and Wang himself did not resolve. In another word, the band was not profiting. Wang started decided to quit the contract with Beijing Jingwen Record. In 2000, the Warner Music Beijing Co., Ltd found Wang Feng and offered a record deal to him but not the whole band. Wang signed the contract and put out the album Flower in Flame (2000) in the same year. The songs from this album were made before the band broke up.

Within the years under Warner Music, Wang had the boost of his career. Three albums were made, including Flowers in Flame (2000), Love is a Happy Bullet (2002), and Crying with Smile (2004). The song Flying Higher, which became very popular in mainland China after release, was included in the album Crying with Smile. Wang also took care of the entire soundtrack of the movie Beijing Bicycle (2001) . In July 2005, Wang ended the five year contract with Warner Music and Started his own independent record label "Feng Sheng Music" (Feng Sheng is the Chinese translation for Feng's voice). In the same year, Wang released his fourth studio album "Blooming Life" (2005). The song Blooming life, same as the name of the album, became famous quickly after the album was released and became the most downloaded ringtones in some region in mainland China. In the same album, Wang included another two famous patriotic pieces, Our Dream and I Love You, China. Our Dream became the Beijing Olympic Top 10 Golden Songs; I Love You, China was considered a gift for the success of Shenzhou 6, the second human spaceflight of the People's Republic of China. In 2006 Wang was awarded the Pepsi Chart "Best Male Singer in Mainland China".

In May 2007, Wang made a new record deal with the Hong Kong media company MusicNationGroup. One month later, Wang released his fifth studio album Brave Heart (2007). Wang claimed to be very satisfied with his work in this album, however one of the tracks, Gone Crazy, was forced to take out by the authority. During the time the album was released, some people on the Internet claimed that the hit song Brave Heart was a copy of the song Crazy from the Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan. Wang made a simple and straightforward respond, "I don't need to copy other people's work. It's just as simple as that. No need to do that at all."

In 2009, after two years since the last album, Wang came back with the Belief Flies in the Wind (2009). The album brought Wang many awards. InThe song In Spring became No.1 on the 23rd of the Chinese Music Chart. In September, the song Light took the No.1 place again on the 32nd of the Chinese Music Chart. On Nov. 12th, the song When I Miss You won the No.1 again on the 42nd of the Chinese Music Chart. On the 9th Global Chinese Music Awards, the song In Spring won the Best Lyrics award. Wang Feng himself won the Best Producer, and the album Belief Flies in the Wind won the Best Album.

Discography

No. 43 in Baojiajie Street

No. 43 in Baojiajie Street (1997)

No. 43 in Baojiajie Street 2 - Storm Approaching (1998)

Studio Albums

Flower in Flame (2000)

Love is a Happy Bullet (2002)

Crying with Smile (2004)

Blooming Life (2005)

Brave Heart (2007)

Belief Flies in the Wind (2009)

Movie Soundtrack

Beijing Bicycle (2001)

See also

Chinese rock

References

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