Published on August 4th, 2020 | by Dr. Jerry Doby

Who Is ØZI?

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From the outside looking in, who is ØZI?

I am a Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter, music producer, and visual director that wants to bring something fresh to the table. I’m an artist who likes to push boundaries and experiment with every aspect of artistic expression, from visuals to music style to fashion. I am a trailblazer on a mission to introduce an unprecedented approach to the game in hopes to attract the worlds attention to my culture and put Chinese/Mandarin music on the the map.

What brought you to the entertainment industry, music specifically?

I don’t think there was a specific moment in my life that brought me to the entertainment industry, I’ve been in it all my life. My mother was a well-known pop artist and singer-songwriter in Taiwan, and my dad was the go-to photographer for all the fashion magazine covers and album artworks from the 80s to the mid 2000s, so I was very much raised in this environment. I began taking music classes since the age of 4, and formed my first rock band in the age of 7. If I were to really try to pin-point a specific time that made me want to pursue music as a career, it’d probably be in middle school when I fell in love with Eminem and Linkin Park. It was them that made me feel like music is the way I want to express myself as an individual. From then on, I’ve developed interests in music production and film making. I used to shoot music videos of myself performing in my dad’s photography studio, and asking my friends to hold my phone on a 3-axis gimbal and just do music videos on the streets of Taipei. This continued all the way throughout high school and until I decided to leave Boston after a semester in Berklee to really get into music for real.

What do you want people to get from your music?

It’s hard to say what I want people to get from my music because each song I make represents a different piece of my artistic expression. I am constantly inspired and stimulated by different styles of music and therefore I find a hard time categorizing my music into one genre. The only common denominator of my music would be me, and what I as an artist want to express at the time of my life. Being a third-cultured kid is most certainly a big factor of this identity crisis, but I learned later to utilize it as my own way to bridge the gap between not only the east and the west, but between different cultures in it.

Tell us about your current project

I am currently finishing up my second full-length project since my first album in 2018, and will be the first project to be mainly in English. The project will include several collaborations with oversea artists and will showcase a side of me that is unheard of from ever before.

For new listeners, what song of yours would you pick as an introduction to you as an artist?

I think my new song “LAVA!” is a good introduction of me as an artist. You get to hear a bit of me both as an R&B singer, rapper, and director too. “Missionary” or “Diamond” would be good follow-up songs to listen after.

Tell us a bit about your work and passions OUTSIDE of music…

I play a lot of games during my leisure time. Im a huge fan of the Dark Souls series by Miyazaki, and a a heavy Super Smash Bros player on the Nintendo Switch. Other times I play ice hockey for sport; I’ve been playing it since the 5th grade. Recently, I’ve also been tapping into the world of culinary arts and bartending. To a certain extent, the pandemic is allowing me to explore and unlock next skill sets in life.

Last but not least, HYPE wants to know…What’s your CRAZIEST WTF?! moment…

My craziest WTF moment to date is me getting nominated for 6 awards and receiving the “Best New Artist” last year at the GMAs in front of 10 thousand people, including some of the most iconic artists in the music industry. Right after receiving the award I had to stay on the stage to perform my song in front of these legends since my childhood. That whole entire experience to me was so nerve-racking and surreal.

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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.