All these facts and biography lessons, all though interesting and needed, I've always found to be rather cold. Who is Sa DingDing? During the interview for The Independent, she reveals that there is not one specific moment that changes her path but she forged it over time with every single one of her decisions. Music has always been her freedom and allows her to express emotion, to even build the world around her. Reading even a small fraction of her speech and thoughts, I can't help but admire her and her way of making art with attention and soul. The genres that can be loosely attached to her songs are world, electronic, ethnic, even folkloric, at the same time even pop. For the fans of such amalgama of sounds, she can be put next to huge names like Dead Can Dance, Azam Ali, and Niyaz. She even reminds me of a similar Bulgarian band - Irfan.

Sa DingDing reached the European media and public in 2008 by winning the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award. I was surprised to find that after the win and initial media coverage - she was still famous mainly in China and East Asia, not so much in Europe or the Americas.

Somewhere far in the distance, a faint sound can be heard. Is it Chinese? Is the melody Indian or Mongolian? Or even from the mystical Tibet? We settle, close our eyes and fall into the heavenly symphony of various cultures combined in a masterpiece. There is a soft female voice now but the language is unknown and unclear to me. Somehow tho, I understand it and follow the emotion it brings. Can you hear it?
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The official Facebook page of Sa DingDing
The official blog of Sa DingDing in Chinese

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In his interview for Jing Talk Show, the musician reveals the hardships his family has faced in the past as well as the hardship he faces now as a complete artist. While he talks and smiles ever so subtly I can't shake off the feeling that he is completely honest. His urge to create music out of the k-pop box that has the main audience of young adult girls shines through. Okay and Papillon are connected almost by a plot line in this order. In Okay we see the backstory, the roots to all of his nuanced emotions. In the video for the song, we witness strong symbolism and elements that connect with the video for Papillon. Jackson reveals that both MVs are made with thought and everything in them (especially in Okay) can be food for interpretation.

Both songs I loved immediately. They are just so true to him as an artist and a creator. Music that is made with love and a need - as if it just needed to be sang. The moods in the two songs are completely different and both of them as a whole is absolutely tremendously different than his Wang Puppy alter ego from the past. Jackson Wang used to be just a funny guy. Now, he is a brilliant artist which I come back to not to get a laugh but to get good music.

I told myself that I'll be okay - is a dominant line throughout Okay. Makes me wonder how often all of us need to repeat it to ourselves just so we don't fall apart. Makes me wonder how often he said it to himself? So much, it needed to be sang to the world. 

The official Instagram of Jackson Wang
The songs by Jackson Wang in iTunes

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