Wilber Pan is a Taiwanese singer (and rapper) who is clearly heavily influenced by hip hop and R&B music. I am honestly almost never a fan of these hybrid Chinese artists, I just don't like how the rapping sounds in Chinese and a lot of it feels very forced, like they woke up one day and decided to be hip-hop (like Janice's sister). However, Wilber has a very nice mix in his music, it doesn't overpower the singing, and generally a nice mix in his albums which allows his style to shine. He is actually American born, and although he moved to Taiwan at an early age he cannot read or write in Chinese. (His music is in Mandarin as he releases cds out of Taiwan.) His songs range from ballads for faster, almost dance music type songs. He sings, occasionally raps, and generally has a good mix. I really like his cd from 2006, Around the World. Although if you are just starting to check him out, I'd recommend his Singles + Collection (Will's Future).
Wilber Pan - Bu De Bu Ai (Have To Love) I really like this single. Interesting if you go to youtube, you can see the (pointless) back and forth K-Pop fans seem to engage in with non K-Pop fans. I think some of that comes from the fact people don't realize how much the asian pop scenes cross polinate each other, and they all accuse the other artists of stealing, etc. It's funny Japanese and Chinese pop fans don't argue this with each other, just both of the fans with K-Pop fans.
Wilber Pan & Akon - Be With You - His new single with Akon. Great song, typical Akonish song but on a Taiwanese cd!
Check him out.
Links
http://www.willpan.com.tw/ - Official Site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilber_Pan - Wikipedia Page
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