By And just like that, another all-star group immerged this year, no problem though, the more the merrier. The quartet called Panthepack consists of Jackson Wang, J.Sheon, Karencici, and ICE.
The hip hop group first made their presence known through the song “DNA” (not to be confused with the song of BTS) which was released on April this year. Even though they had a track released, there weren’t any details that went with it regarding the group and who it consists of. A second single went out called “Transmit” and was performed live by Jackson and ICE at the Baidu Chao Gala. So now that all members have been revealed and more facts about Panthepack have surfaced, here are reasons why you have to include this quartet on your playlist.
THE MEN
We have four talented men in this power group, let’s get to know a bit about them, shall we?
Jackson Wang
This GOT7 member is now soaring high with his solo endeavors. He has his own record label (Team Wang) and fashion brand (Team Wang Designs). If it wasn’t for him passing his audition at JYP Entertainment for K-Pop training, he would have been competing in fencing. An all-around talent and multi-lingual, Jackson released “LMLY” March of this year followed by “Drive You Home.”
ICE
A native of Chengdu, Sichuan, Yang Changqing a.k.a. ICE participated in the Chinese competition show The Rap of China produced by iQiyi in 2018. Jackson and ICE painted the town RED with their collab back in 2019 entitled “RED” in which according to Jackson via Twitter that they finished producing the track in three hours.
J. Sheon
This award-winning Taiwanese singer and rapper lived in New York and started working on his music there. He eventually went back to China to further work on his tunes and signed with Sony Music Taiwan. In 2017, he released his self-titled debut album under the label. Last year, J.Sheon won a total of three awards at the 2020 Golden Indie Music Awards including Best Hip Hop song for “Razor.”
THE WOMAN
The lone female member of Panthepack is equally brilliant as the men. Karencici started her singing career when she was in her teens. Born in the US but opted to push her music in Asia. She appeared in a singing competition called Sing! China and wrote tons of songs, not only for herself but for other Chinese singers as well. Karencici wrote a song called “Useless” for Hebe Tien, a singer-actress and ex-member of the Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. She released her first EP called Blow-Up, a mix of chill hip-hop and Rn’B songs followed by her debut album Sha Yan, a combination of Rn’B and dancehall that stapled the kind of music that’s perfect for her voice.
C-POP
Even though music in general is still heavily influenced by Western artists, it’s nice that finally, East Asian music are making waves and being supported by many. C-Pop (Chinese Popular Music) has been around for decades but with a group like Panthepack, who are proud Chinese musicians who write and produce music using predominantly their native language is something to be celebrated. They named their group Panthepack because it’s derived from one of the national symbols of China, which is the panda. If that’s not showing love and pride for their country, I don’t know what is?
THAT VIVID AESTHETIC
Loud! That’s how we can best describe the aesthetic of the group. The hair colors, flashy outfits, it’s not only their songs that you have to watch out for, it’s what Panthepack will come out next when it comes to their looks. Not one to be last when it comes to the latest fashion and styles, you can check out every member’s social media accounts to see how they express themselves unapologetically. That’s why they all look well together in all their photos and videos. Speaking of videos, their music video for “Buzz” is now out and was based around the concept of cutting-edge trends, which shows the group being in a futuristic setting trying to create a robot panda.
For more updates on Panthepack, follow them on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.
Denise J. Mallabo 