Jackson Wang shares thoughts on being a solo artist with Zane Low on Apple Music 1

Nylon

28-07-2025

Prior to Jackson Wang's recently released album 'MAGICMAN 2', the C-pop superstar sat down with famed radio host Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 to share more about his music and how being a solo artist is different from starting in a group.
Here's a snippet of what you can expect to learn from his interview.
Image courtesy of Apple Music.
On how it feels to be a solo artist since starting off in a group
'For majority of my solo career, obviously I grew with 88rising. It inspired me a lot, but at the same time, I was like a one-man team. I direct all my stuff. I write treatments for all my stuff I wrote. Basically, the craziest thing is the preparation for everything — I just need to do everything.
And, there's pros and cons versus if you're in a system; you have everything taken care of. You just need to show up, execute and focus on delivering the best you can. But, as a solo artist — independent artist — it's so much work. There's so much stuff that I would have to edit. Even my behind-the-scenes, I would have to post this and make sure that it's a one man label.'
On living with his parents and naming a song after them
'There's a song in my album that's named after them. This song is called Sophie Ricky. My mom's called Sophie, and my dad is Ricky. (When living with them) that one year, I started thinking, it's interesting that we're born, but we always tend to think our parents will take care of everything as a kid, but we never actually thought about when they first had us… they had no idea.'
Image courtesy of Apple Music.
On the nuances behind his new album
'Just in general, the entire album is about just going through life. There's so many emotions in life where chapter one, let's say it's manic highs; going into losing control, going into realisation and going into acceptance — that applies to everything in life.
In every single song, there's a message to it according to the chapters — how I feel about love, how I feel about this, this is what happened to me; this is my situation, my scenario, my experience, and everything comes down to the last chapter where acceptance is accepting everything.'
Watch the full interview here.
You can also listen to the full interview anytime on demand with an Apple Music subscription here.