Tseng Kuan-jung (, ), professionally known as Dwagie (), is a
Taiwanese rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
, best known for using
Taiwanese in his performances. His first solo album, ''Lotus from the Tongue'' (舌粲蓮花, 2002), was billed as the first full rap album in the Chinese-speaking world.
[ Republished as ] He has also collaborated with fellow rapper
MC HotDog
MCHotDog (; born April 10, 1978) is a Taiwanese rapping, rap artist and best known as “The Father of Taiwanese Hip Hop Music”. He is also known for his use of Parental Advisory, explicit lyrics in his songs.
In 2001, his four mini-CDs sold o ...
.
Outside of the hip hop scene he is best known for his best-selling single, "
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
Song", which projects an unapologetic Taiwanese assertiveness. The title is a playful pun on the Mandarin word for "
ode
An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...
" (頌,
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
: sòng), which also sounds like a Taiwanese word for "feeling good" (爽,
POJ: sóng), as well as the English word "song".
The 8 March 2004 Asian issue of ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' describes him as a writer of "pro-Taiwan rap" and the "poster boy of the
DPP's southern youth vote campaign" during the
2004 presidential election. He was also featured in a segment of the 2007
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience.
It init ...
special ''The Mystical Tainan'' (謎樣台南). He became a proponent of humane treatment for stray animals in 2009, and has featured their point of view in his music. Dwagie supports
trap, neuter, release programs in Taiwan, and has collaborated with others, such as ,
Yang Lie, and
Su Tseng-chang
Su Tseng-chang ( zh, t=蘇貞昌, poj=So͘ Cheng-chhiong, p=Sū Zhēnchāng; born 28 July 1948) is a Taiwanese politician who served as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2019 to 2023. He was the chairma ...
, to film public service announcements on stray cats, in DVD and online form.
In 2014, he collaborated with
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air (S ...
on the track "Refuse to Listen". In 2016, he collaborated with
Raekwon
Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...
of
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...
on the track "Words to Trump".
See also
*
Taiwanese hip hop
Taiwanese hip hop music started in the early 1990s, popularized by the early hip hop trio L.A. Boyz. A distinctive style of rap emerged using Taiwanese Hokkien as opposed to the Mandarin Chinese used in Mandopop, which before democratization the ...
References
External links
*
Taiwanese Buddhists
Taiwanese rappers
Living people
Musicians from Tainan
1979 births
{{Taiwan-singer-stub