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Photo by Dan Pak

Edison Chen has sold over a million CD’s. He’s starred in Hong Kong films and is about to see his U.S. film debut in The Grudge 2.

He’s appeared in ad campaigns for Levi’s and Samsung. He launched a pair of the most coveted sneakers of the year with his Nike Air Max Clot Ones, and he runs CLOT Inc., his own lifestyle company.

Oh yeah, and: dude is 25.

Staple Design Studio’s Jeff Ng caught up with the busiest man in Hong Kong for a quick Q&A.

Jeff: You’re at a dinner party with some people you have never met...Someone asks, “What do you do?” What do you say? I always have great difficulty answering this question so I want to know what you say since you do a million + 1 things.
Edison: I am a creator. I create movies, create music, create design, create formulas for companies to excel, create new thinking methods, and I create a new wave to push us into the future. I mean like you said, I act, I rap, I design, I think the easiest way to put it is that I am a creator. Mr. Suzuki-san from Honeyee.com said it best, “You do so many things, if you try to explain it one by one people will be confused, keep it simple and direct and say you are a creator.”

That’s a good one; I might need to borrow that sometime.

So what were your career aspirations before you got into all this? When you were a young buck… Did you ever imagine all the things you would be doing?
When I was young, I wanted to be a NBA baller. In Hong Kong I used to play basketball everyday, like 4 – 5 hours. I was pretty good up in the local scene but you know life hits reality checks when I played some pick up in NYC when I was about 16. I got smacked around and my shot kept getting blocked and I was sitting my ass on the floor half the time so I kind of HAD to give up… And NO, I would have never thought I would be doing this, I actually never thought much about the future when I was young.Would you classify yourself as an “outcast of society?”Can you give us a little background info on your past? Born…schooling…university…post grad…early jobs…etc.I was born in Vancouver, Canada and I was there until I was 9. You know, Vancouver is a fairly safe place for young people growing up. I had no big problems there, and then at around 9 I moved to Hong Kong and got exposed. My pops was always working and all, so I was there basically by myself. I was exposed to crazy shit all the time; I swear the legal age is 13 in Hong Kong because I could get away with anything there. This is where I learned that the dollar bill rules everything and it was quite crazy. School I would rather not talk about because I would say I have a lack of schooling, but I come from a different type of school and I know you feel me. Man, I did some jobs when I was young; nothing to be proud of though to be real, like CHAMPS SPORTS and a hobby store that sold sporting cards and comics and jazz like that.

Honestly, what is your favorite thing to do out of all the things you do? What elements do you hate the most?
I love spending time with my lady, just hugging her in my room and just being silly wit her…but if you are talking about work then I would have to say working with CLOT is the most rewarding experience I have. I mean doing the movies is cool, don’t get me wrong, I am blessed to have such an opportunity and doing music stimulates my soul so much I wouldn’t be the person I am without it…but in doing CLOT I learned a lot of things from top to bottom. In film and music, I just get the middle arena. I get to learn about the production part. I make the movie or the music and then it is out of my hands. With CLOT, I get to decide from top to bottom the people who will work on a project, the project they do, and then I also get a say. The delivery of the project is also part of my mind so I am happy that it gets produced the right way, and also promoted the right way. I am about to start my own media company, so I am happy that maybe in entertainment I can do the same thing as we at CLOT have been doing in lifestyle youth culture or whatever the hell you want to call it.

Lets not get it twisted. In the past 5-10 years, you’ve seen your popularity and fame skyrocket. What are the pluses and negatives of this? Do you ever wish you could go back?
The pluses are simple and plain:

1. The people I’ve met and friendships I have made during this time
2. The money I earn

You know I love my job, I really do, but there are so many downs about it especially in the Asia region. They torture me and torment me. In the beginning, the pressure and the paparazzi culture in Hong Kong almost ruined me. I was so caught up in the entertainment GAME and I was dazed and confused. You know, I hate being in the public spotlight the way it is in Hong Kong. I feel it is more negative being public than positive, and like Biggie Smalls once said: “Negativity breeds Negativity, I wanna live ’till I am 70 years old. Think positive and positive things will happen.” So I try to distance myself from the happenings and people of the entertainment circle; it hurts me but I have had so many hardships, lies, and deceit within the past 6 years in the industry that have shaped my life.

Sounds like you are constantly asked to do things you don’t really want to do? How do you “repel” that? Or decide what projects to do and not do?
Shit, I became the artist, the agent, and the manager, so now I have the control to say “yes” or “no” to whatever comes my way; I think it is a much better way of handling my career. I decide on projects if they are fruitful to my career and to my team. I mean there are so many projects floating around that we choose carefully now, even I myself choose carefully now with movies and music. I used to have to release 3 albums a year. Now I pace myself; I haven’t released in about a year and a half but I’ve been putting in time for this next one coming out in the fall, my first Mandarin album in 3 years. Shit is going to rock, and now I choose roles in movies real carefully. Before, I would just accept a role if they paid me enough but now I respect the people watching my movies. I respect FILM in general more now, so I carefully select roles even if they do have many zeros after the denominator so to speak.

If you could pinpoint one day that changed your life, what day would that be and what happened that day?
I got so many, so many. But one that strikes me as being quite outstanding recently would be the time I got into a scuffle backstage at an awards show. I don’t know what the hell I was doing. I was young and full of adrenaline, but you know when the whole ordeal came out, I truly saw who were my people. People were pointing the finger right, left, and center. People were coming out publicly helping the other side while I sat there quietly choosing not to speak about high school-like conflicts. The whole time NO ONE came out and spoke for me who had a voice to say something and that hurt.

From that day on I have found a new meaning of respect for my true friends, and I have found that I respect being true to self a lot more now too. I am tired of the fakers in Hong Kong lying and being deceitful; I am here to try to change that and here I am. If no one else is going to stand up then I guess I will. It has been long overdue for something to happen in Hong Kong.

Word. Unfortunately, it takes those types of situations to bring out either the best or worst in people.

Does being an Asian have any influence in your life/work? More specifically how about being an Asian born outside of HK/China?
Being Asian influences everything about me. When I was younger I didn’t respect the roots of my own culture; I disregarded them and looked at North American culture as my identity. I do not disrespect American culture and society, actually I quite dig it and still do, but I needed to get in touch with who I was. In doing that I have learned so much and become more proud to be Asian. I want to do all the things I can do to make a representation for the Yellow People. A lot of the stuff I do now mixes both together and I think it is quite exciting. I can’t say I will be doing this forever but at the moment it is quite mind tingling. In the beginning, I had a hard time getting people to take me seriously. My Chinese was off and I had no idea what was going on locally. It took me like 3 years to get it, and it is breezy now. I am happy to be where I am, and I think I fit into the picture here a lot more clearly now.

Was acceptance as a “true” Asian ever an issue? And the opposite also, was being Asian ever an issue in gaining acceptance internationally? Do you think it’s harder in some ways?
I think, like the above question, I had some troubles but I shed them by now. I am happy with the way I am inside, and most importantly, I am comfortable being me so I am chill on that issue nowadays. You know, I think it is a plus being Asian today; I think our time is coming up and I think we are actually getting easier passes to do stuff. I mean I do feel pressure in the international forum. I just did The Grudge 2, releasing in the States this fall, and I do feel pressure. I feel like I am repping the Asian cinema heads and I got to come equipped. It is a whole other level but I feel confident that we can gain a fair entry and good market share of the INTERNATIONAL market very soon and being Asian and successful will all of a sudden be very sought after.

I too look forward to the day when an Asian Hollywood star is not even seen as “Asian”. I mean, when people speak of Denzel, they don’t say, “Wow, that movie has an African American in it!” And its also refreshing that we can finally be portrayed as something other than A) Kung Fu Master B) A Nerd/Geek/Fool or C) Two Gun Toting Mafia Gangsters.
Word, and trust me I am going to bring it. I have faith in myself and in my team, and the people who I work with have faith in me. I feel like this is the time. Trust me and believe me, I know I cannot do this myself. I need the help of my soldiers and my generals; I have so many people I work with and work for that I respect. I feel like this role for me is so important and I am pretty sure things will be aiight. All the people who support me have given me great faith in the cause I am striving for.

What’s HK’s cultural situation like?
COPYCATS AND HATERS…Hahaha. Nah, nah. Not everyone is this way. But I do feel that the Hong Kong culture, especially the arena I work in, is really confused right now. They follow international trends and let them fade in a second. There is nothing really to call local, it is always just an interpretation of something in another market. I feel the local creators have to really make something that is representative of Hong Kong and not what the world is doing. I am not trying to be cocky or nothing, but I am happy with the way CLOT has developed onto the scene. We have kept it local and garnered international interest. We still have a lot of work to do but I think we are going in the right direction, next up is CHINA baby.

Could you operate anywhere else in the world?
Name the spot and I will do my best.

What is CLOT?
CLOT is the gathering of all the funky shit from around the world in one place. Thus, it “clots” and then explodes onto the scene to affect people all around. We try to gather elements from every arena: pop, underground, Asia, America, everywhere and anything that is good and then bring it harder. We wish to bring a level of freshness to the Chinese people and the international forum. We do clothing, we do music, we do film, we do parties, we do consulting, we do design, we do almost anything related to youth culture, and so I can keep going on and on and on. I definitely will tell you we ’bout to explode in ya area sooner or later, C-L-O-T remember the letters.

You do so much as it is, why start CLOT on top of everything?
I started CLOT because I read a book called THE TIPPING POINT. It was something inspirational and it taught me something special. From reading the book, I found a huge opportunity and I capitalized on it. CLOT has to thank Malcolm Gladwell for writing that book because here we are right now. CLOT is also very rewarding because it is mine. My management essentially owns my entertainment career, but CLOT is owned by me and my homies. We call the shots and now we are doing clothing, design, consulting, music, and soon to do movies as well.

Speaking specifically about CLOT, what project are you most proud of?
I would have to say the recent product launches with the LEVI’s 501’s and the NIKE AIR MAX ONE’s have made me super happy. They embodied what CLOT is about and many people were digging it. I am super proud of them and I think the consumers really like them also and this makes it even more special. The Nike’s we made were so Hong Kong and working with MC YAN is the shit. Also, we worked it on that shoe; I also think we flipped it a little and if you can see the box, the HONG VERSIONS that come in it makes it even more special. The 501’s we did were ill because I did the whole project from top to bottom. I especially like the idea of the jeans we used for the UNION RAIL Chinese workers for the American Railroad. It was fun using a piece of my people’s history and putting it into awareness through a design. It was a special moment for me.

What can the world expect from CLOT in the near future?
Everything and anything. We are doing so much I don’t know what to say…just watch out for us everywhere. But, finally, the CLOT apparel line is coming out really soon and it is going to be so fire. I am excited. Watch the hot street fashion websites to peep it.

We’re technically co-workers for a company called Honeyee.com. What’s your opinion of blogs nowadays?
I don’t know what the hell it is actually. I have fun doing it sometimes and sometimes it is a drag. I try to keep it kind of personal/impersonal, so I don’t really tell too much, you know. But definitely it is a good promotional tool. I do the blog for HF, enough said…I don’t know if I would have ever if he hadn’t asked me.

Seeing your blog, it seems family is pretty important to you. What factors did your family have in your career development? Or were you basically on your own throughout?
My family is my blood and I respect that more than anything. You know, family is family meaning problems come. There are happy times and sad times but the constant of the FAMILY is something important to me; I love them to death and I would do anything to help them out. I’ve been on my own basically the whole time and I am proud of this. I am proud to go home and be able to give money to my mom and pops. It makes me feel like I have achieved something they can be proud of.

Were they supportive of your career decisions early on? I know Asian parents can tend to be very “traditional”.
I think they were supportive; they just wanted me to be a good kid. I think they are proud that I finally made something of myself. I did no schooling to be honest and to be where I am, shit, I am happy. “Happy” is an understatement…I’m ECSTATIC. So my parents should be happy; I know my mother is for sure.

When I was interviewed for Theme, the writer asked me a great question: If you could go back in time and speak to yourself when you were just starting out, what advice would you give him?
You know what, I’m kind of a person who doesn’t look back but only forward. I wouldn’t have changed a single thing in my life. I am happy where I am and I am thoughtful of the future. No need to go back in time; things are going well. Everything happens for a reason some way or another…let life LIVE.

Influential Artists/Designers/Creators?
Jay Z
HF
Nigo
Jordan

Influential Musicians/Albums?
So many.

Influential people in general?
So many people as well, but recently I can say that this one person is someone that pops out to me. My girl has influenced me in so many ways possible it is crazy. She has taught me to value things; I used to run around like a wreck and just have no regard for anything but she has taught me things are precious in life…and she also taught me that money isn’t everything. There is something above that and that is human nature, and that is love, it is a funny thing.

What’s on your Things To Do List as we speak?
Promo my new HK/Japan production Dog Bit Dog
Administer a HUGE shoe exhibition in Shanghai in conjunction with Nike
Record my new mandarin album Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself
Release my first Hollywood picture The Grudge 2
CLOT Apparel Coming Soon
And oh yeah…love my girl…WUDDUP V.