Universal Music Group (UMG), recently announced an exclusive international recording agreement with Kris Wu, one of Asia’s biggest stars and an artist whose creative success spans music, film and television.

Under the agreement, future music from the multi-talented phenomenon will be released internationally through a partnership of Interscope Geffen A&M in the U.S., Island Records in the U.K., and Universal Music China, as well as UMG’s operations in more than 60 countries, delivering impactful worldwide campaigns across digital platforms, physical releases, audio-visual titles and select live events. 

The 27-year-old music producer, singer song-writer and actor was born in Guangzhou, China, in October became the only Chinese artist to reach No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes Chart with the smash success of the single Deserve, featuring Travis Scott. Along with gaining significant airplay on American radio, Deserve has racked up more than a billion streams to date. Noting its “sensual, harmonizing vocals,” Billboard hailed Deserve as a “trap-laden banger built to be played in clubs around the world.”

Over the past few years, Wu has steadily amassed an international following thanks to a series of viral hits that he produced and wrote, including July, B.M”, 6,and Juice, a song featured in XxX: Return of Xander Cage, a 2017 movie that co-starred Wu as a member of Vin Diesel’s super-agent team.

In addition to XxX: Return of Xander Cage, Wu has starred in films including Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017). In addition, Wu represents leading global brands including Mercedes-Benz’s Smart Cars, which introduced the “Kris Wu Edition” in China; American Express Hong Kong’s I.T. Cashback Card; and he serves as a brand ambassador for BVLGARI. In addition, Wu is a global brand ambassador at Burberry, the first non-British person chosen to represent the luxury brand. He’s also brand ambassador for McDonald’s and he is the first Chinese brand ambassador for BEATS.

In making the announcement, Sir Lucian Grainge, UMG’s Chairman and CEO, said, “Kris is an incredibly talented recording artist, songwriter, actor and entrepreneur. I’m thrilled that Kris is joining the UMG family and honored that we will have the opportunity to build upon his remarkably successful career.”

Kris Wu said, “It‘s my pleasure to be part of this collaboration with Universal Music Group. I'm enjoying the time to share creative and vision of my music. As a singer-songwriter and producer, the album I’m working on now is elaborately produced and rounded by me and I will keep working to deliver more beautiful works to all my audiences around the world.”

Sunny Chang, Chairman and CEO of UMG’s Greater China operations, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Kris and our sister companies to launch new global hit songs from Kris, who is a genuine musical talent. As one of the industry’s top producers and singer-songwriters, Kris has global ambitions and he’s fluent in Mandarin, English and Korean, allowing him to uniquely overcome any language barrier. As China grows into one of the world’s biggest music markets, Universal Music China will continue to develop Kris Wu as well as the very best Chinese talent and position its artists for success both in the local market and across the globe.”

John Janick, Chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M, said: “Kris is an incredible talent.  There are literally and figuratively no boundaries when it comes to his musical and cultural reach.  We are looking forward to working alongside Kris and his team to bring his vision to global scale.”

Darcus Beese, President of Island Records, said, “Kris is a fantastic talent who represents the incredible opportunity of the modern music business – one without borders, where hit songs can come anywhere in the world and seamlessly translate into great success whether in Asia, North America or the U.K. We’re thrilled to work with Kris and excited about everything that he has in store for fans.”