Yen-j , also known as Yan Jue, is a Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

ese jazz-pop singer-Songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

. He has achieved rising success as a newcomer on the Mandopop

Mandopop

Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs...

 scene, due to testimonials from popular artists such as Wang Leehom, Mayday’s Ashin, Dee Hsu

Dee Hsu

Dee Hsu , more commonly known as Xiǎo S , was born on 14 June 1978. She is a Taiwanese actress, singer and host. She is well known for being co-host of TV program KangXi Lai Le which airs on Chung T'ien Television with fellow host Kevin Tsai, for which they were awarded Best Host in a Variety...

, Blackie Chen and DJ Xiao Shu. His fresh combinations of jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 has made him a noticeable star on the rise. His debut album , Thanks to Your Greatness (谢谢你的美好) contains 11 songs, all written , and produced by him, or with his input. He also plays many instruments, such as the piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, trombone

Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

, guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 and bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

.

Compositions for other Artists

-“没有如果”。梁静茹（2007）
-“他们”，张惠妹（2011）
-“未来的情人”，叮当（2011）
-“偷偷的爱” ，叮当，严爵（2011）

Biography

Yen-J was born as Yen Jue, on 23 April 1988 in Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...

, Taiwan. He moved to the USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 at the age of 10 to continue his studies. He started playing the piano and the trombone at an early age, and at the age of 11 started composing his own music and also learned to play other instruments to further his interests in jazz music. During his high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 years, he took to performing with his high school teachers at jazz bars in San Francisco. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 to further his education at the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

, studying music. However, he withdrew from the university after his first semester and decided to move back to Taiwan to begin his career as a singer.

Yen-J who comes from a family of doctors, was given a deadline of two years to start off his music career by his father, who wanted him to study medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

. Seeing how successful he has been since his decision to become a singer, his father has since changed the deadline to ten years, instead of two.

Music career

After only three months, he was able to land a contract with a recording company in 2008, with Taiwan’s Bin music. In January 2010, he released an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, Trapped in Taipei (困在台北, Kùn Zài Táiběi) and went on various live gigs

Live Music

Live Music is a reggaeton company owned by DJ Giann.-Artists:* Jowell & Randy* Tony Lenta* Watussi* De La Ghetto* Guelo Star* Galante "El Emperador"-Producers:*DJ Blass*Dexter*Mr. Greenz*DJ Giann*Los Hitmen*Dirty Joe*ALX...

 around Taiwan to be able to get used to performing by himself, and to raise audience awareness. Yen-J states that learning how to perform live was not enjoyable in the beginning as he was only learning the ropes, but he gradually learned to enjoy performing live and interacting with the audience.

His 2010 album, Thanks to your Greatness (谢谢你的美好, Xièxiè Nǐ De Měihǎo) was released on the 29th of April, proved to be a huge success, with his Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 page and blog

Blog

A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

 receiving tens of thousands of hits. His new album took out KKBOx’s “Most Played Album” spot which was contending with albums by other Mandopop veterans, and also reached number four on HIT fm’s global music charts. It also peaked at number 2 on the G-Music’s Mandarin album charts a month after its release. He has been nominated for a number of awards in prestigious awards ceremonies such as the Golden Melody Awards as "Best Newcomer" and also the Singapore Hit awards, where he was nominated for and won the Best Newcomer Award. His 2011 single, "Good Things" (好的事情, Hǎo De Shìqíng) has reached #1 on the KKBOX Charts in Taiwan.

Yen-J has also received much interest towards his music from providing songs for some drama soundtrack

Soundtrack

A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

s, such as Queen Of No Marriage

My Queen

My Queen , also known as Defeated Queen or Queen of No Marriage, is a 2009 Taiwanese drama, produced by Sanlih E-Television.-Cast:-Minor characters:...

(敗犬女王), P.S Man (偷心大聖PS男) as well as the popular Autumn's Concerto

Autumn's Concerto

Autumn's Concerto is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Ady An, Vanness Wu of F4, and Tiffany Hsu. It was produced by Sanlih E-Television and directed by Chen Hui Ling...

(下一站,幸福) , which featured some of his songs, such as “拓也的秘密心願 - 我以為" (I Presumed - secret version) and "相遇就不放手" (Not Letting Go).

His idols include Wang Leehom, Khalil Fong

Khalil Fong

Khalil Fong was born on 14 July 1983. He is an American born, Hong Kong-based soul Mandopop singer-songwriter signed to the Warner Music Hong Kong.-Biography:...

, Jay Chou

Jay Chou

Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...

 and Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

, who he hopes to be able to sound like in 5 years’ time. He has shown himself to be a hardworking artist, with him re-recording some tracks in his album many times in order to get the best result for his album. At the present time, he has said in an interview that he has already presented his record company with songs for his second album. His 2nd album, Good Things (好的事情, Hǎo De Shìqíng) was released on the 27 May 2011. Prior to the album release, Yen-J also released a duet with René Liu

René Liu

René Liu was born June 1, 1969. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer. She is the first to win Best Actress awards at the Asia Pacific Movie Festival in both television and film productions...

, "Méiyǒu xuánlǜ pèi de shàng nǐ" (沒有旋律配得上你) for the television drama Mr & Mrs Single (隱婚男女).

Discography

<謝謝你的美好> (4/22/2010)

1. 追尋
2. 一心二用
3. 謝謝你的美好
4. 愛就是咖哩
5. 我喜歡(不,我愛)
6. 救命恩人
7. 需要點時間濃段澱
8. 困在台北
9. 夏日羅曼史
10. i給得不夠
11. 我的愛438

<嚴爵不孤獨> (5/27/2011)

1. 謝謝你的靈感
2. 全世界最最美麗的女孩子(Interlude)
3. 李唐娜
4. 好的事情（台視、三立強檔偶像劇《醉後決定愛上你》片尾曲）
5. 拿你的意志力
6. 又不是這樣就不孤獨（台視、三立強檔偶像劇《醉後決定愛上你》插曲）
7. 沒有你怎麼辦
8. 沒有旋律配得上你(feat. 劉若英)
9. 無法想像
10. 明星的愛
11. 真的
12. 隔壁大樓

Endorsements

His rising success has also led to endorsements deals with many brands such as GOZO, a menswear

Menswear

Menswear may refer to:* men's fashion* Menswear...

fashion brand and also many university campus performances.