Get a glimpse of the real Vanness Wu with his new offering

Vanness Wu performs live at the Tango club. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Wu, who starred in movies, such as director Chen Kaige's Monk Comes Down the Mountain, in 2015, has also participated in variety shows and his historical TV series, The Princess Weiyang, has been airing on Beijing Satellite TV from early November.

Unlike his last pop-rock album, C'est La V, the new album, whose title is taken from one of the new songs, Music Won't Hurt Your Body, features music from the 1980s, which Wu grew up with.

"I am an 80s child. Then, I listened to lots of music, such as street jams and electric boogaloos. I learned to dance at 13 and that is where music came from to me. There wasn't EDM (Electronic dance music) and music resources were hard to find," says Wu, who was born in Santa Monica, California and spent his teens in the United States before moving to Taiwan at 21.

"I am not trying to fabricate something that is not authentic (in this album). This represents who I was, what I really want to do. It's the truth."

He also says that this is the right time for him to release this album.

"When I first came here, I wanted to do hip-hop music. But, back then, the record company told me nobody wants to hear that. But that is what I am about. I had to do Asian pop, but for me, it is just not natural," he says. "Music, for me, is reality. This is one thing where I am really able to express myself."

The album, which took him two years to complete, was recorded in Hong Kong, Taipei and Los Angeles. One of the songs from the new album, Westside, which was written by Wu, is a song, which he has always wanted to sing.

"Born and raised in LA, Santa Monica to the bay ... Never find a dance floor empty ... I'm from the westside," he sings.

"This song is about all the ABC (American-born-Chinese) kids growing up in LA. I want to pay homage to the place that raised me," he says.

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