Wengie: The Height of International Influence

With 14 million YouTube subscribers on just one channel, Wengie is one of Australia’s most influential YouTube Stars and personalities, Wengie’s unique ability to deliver vibrant, informative,and highly-relatable content (including her wildly popular life “hacks” series) to a global audience—with signature quirk and humor—keeps her zealous ‘Wengiecorns’ wanting more. This unparalleled closeness and trust with her fans has cemented Wengie’s power as a leading content collaborator for both high-profile and emerging brands. Wengie has leveraged her prominence on YouTube to tackle other creative realms—she recorded her first music album in China in 2017 and is the voice of the fourth “Powerpuff Girl” on the Cartoon Network.

Wengie aims to bring positivity and fun to music, and she does just that with her music. Wengie has always loved pop music and R & B. For the majority of her life, she has had multicultural musical taste, listening to mainly J-pop, C-pop, and K-pop. She would learn lyrics to the songs having no idea what she was singing but still would be able to sing it by just memorizing it.

Wengie’s main goal in music is to create fun music that is “east meets west” / K-Pop-fused-with-American-pop, which is essentially all the things she loves. Her musical influences include BLACKPINK, ITZY, Hyuna, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift.

The Hype Magazine caught up with this prolific international star whose music and amazing personality have made her one of the most popular entertainers in the world of pop music and culture! Recently her single “Empire” Featuring K-Pop idol Minnie, garnered remixes from three of EDMs most influential DJs, once again showing the universality of Wengie!

Who is the global phenomenon we know as Wengie?

When I’m not recording music or filming music videos, I’m fairly chill. I like to read, listen to music and hang out with my friends. I have an excitable side and a super calm side which a lot of people don’t get to see. I can be a massive nerd

You’ve recently released hits with multiple international icons, to what do you attribute your ability to take you music universal?

I am really lucky that I’ve been able to pick up how to sing different languages quickly! Because our release schedule has been quite fast there are times where I need to learn my song in a completely different language in 1-2 days. I’ve been told I sound almost fluent so I’m super grateful I’ve been able to do that!

How did you come to record “Mr. Nice Guy” with Filipino pop sensation Inigo Pascual?

I always envisioned a male feature on Mr. Nice Guy, I mean the title says it all! And I was really looking for someone that could both sing and dance and had the right vibe since dancing is a huge part of my music. When I saw Inigo, not only was he a great singer, he had the moves! I mean it was just a bonus he was one of the biggest male singers in the Philippines.

Where does that single rank for you in your body of work?

I love that single! It is one of my top three songs I’ve ever made! It was my first dip into a sound I wanted to try, not so sweet and a little more salty!

Tell us about your recent single with K-Pop idol MINNIE, how did you mesh your styles to come through on this track?

Empire is special since it is a change in direction and sound for both of us! I had been wanting to try an edgier style with some rap, something a lot different than the bright and colorful image people have of me. I wanted to show my audience a new side of me that they probably didn’t know existed. For Minnie, she is known for her melodic vocals so it was a surprise to her fans to see her rap. Responses for the song were positive all around, and many people said our voices blended together perfectly. It was so great to hear!

What’s the most fun you’ve had laying down music?

I love being in the studio and experimenting. My favorite was probably the ad-libs we did for Empire, but also doing the track in Korean was a great experience, it was really satisfying to finally hear it come to life in another language.

How do you incorporate humor into your music?

I think it’s important to have fun while you’re recording your song. That being said, there is a time and a place, and humor doesn’t always belong in all songs.

How do you relate your character Bliss on the Powerpuff Girls to Wengie the artist?

Bliss is an interesting character. I had so much fun voicing her character as the older sister to the other Powerpuff Girls. What was really unique about her is that her power was there but she couldn’t see its potential. She had incredible abilities but she couldn’t control them and it made her feel lost and useless. Really acknowledging your talents and being confident in them is something that I can relate with Bliss – I’m on my own journey and still learning too!

What does it take to balance your artist side and your entrepreneurial side now that your toy line has gone nationwide?

It’s hard to balance as they are such separate parts of who I am – de-stressing and being present are two things I definitely need to work on more! As an entrepreneur you have to take responsibility over everything and your job is to solve problems all day; it can get stressful. As an artist, you need to be present, in the moment, and immerse yourself into the song or story you are trying to convey. But creating Whimsical by Wengie has allowed me to blend those two sides together, and it has been such a rewarding experience. The products are available in Target and Walgreens – I couldn’t be more excited!

Any advice for artists as they venture out into businesses aside from entertainment?

I actually used to be an accountant (my Asian parent’s wishes) and my creative ventures were my side hustle. I am grateful for my solid education. The most important advice I could give is to learn as much about all elements of your business as possible, from how to handle your finances to how your operations work. Sometimes it is best to find a business partner that can handle those aspects for you, so you can focus on creative. However, you still need to understand all the elements and have a general idea of what’s going on, so you can choose the right business partner and make sure they are taking care of business correctly.

Do you have an overall mission as part of the global music community? My mission is to encourage diversity around the world and the best language to share that vision in is music. But mainly I want to inspire anyone that didn’t think they can do something to do it!

My main mission is to inspire my audience to do things they never thought they could!

With the new decade is upon us do you have a prediction for the importance of music and entertainment in the global well-being of humanity?

Music and entertainment makes or breaks cultures. It is how most of us learn our values and where most of us go for an emotional outlet. Regardless of the time period, music and entertainment is a huge driver for how we treat each other. I hope my music inspires and uplifts you.

Is there anything YOU’d like to add to our audience?

I hope you enjoy my new song Empire and it inspires you to build your empire “from the dirt to the sky for the world to see”!

Connect with Wengie

SOCIALS

Instagram: @wengie

Twitter: @wengie

Facebook: @wwwengie

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About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.