Winnie Wu of Umamiya Revealed

Born in Taiwan, Winnie “WWII” Wu makes up the Taiwanese percentage of the Pan-Asian girl group Umamiya. Winnie Wu moved to an affluent neighborhood in California when she was only six years old, only living with her siblings, Wendy “WWI” Wu and Wendell “WWIII” Wu. Winnie graciously absorbed the urban hip hop culture as a form of rebellion. Though they only see each other once a year, Winnie is thankful for the bountiful allowance given from her parents every month. A downside to a life of such comfort is the expectations from her parents to be an obedient and well-respected daughter. To explain the pressure Winnie is under, she turns to rap lyrics and minor crimes. WWII can usually be found bragging about a developing record deal in Taiwan and will probably leave the States once the deal is finalized. In truth, there is no such record deal. If that wasn’t ironic enough, Winnie has never actually seen a real gangsta. She chooses to not leave her well-off neighborhood for fear of “getting shot.” She tends to just hang out at the local Boba shop.

On Music:

On when she first got interested in singing, she explained that she started at a young age. “Some people may have called it just talking or an annoyance or mayhem, but I considered it self-expression.” She lives by the most excellent advice given to her which is, “Listen to what moves you. Everything else is peripheral.” Winnie is also currently doing some “crazy stuff” with a Casio keyboard and auto tune. When asked about what song she would sing at a karaoke, she instantly replied, “Let’s not even go there,” which left me to wonder what song this rapper would choose when put into that situation. Winnie would love to work with Kanye West some day. She explained that she could definitely see a collaboration happening, but “that’s if he could keep up!”

When it comes to Umamiya, Winnie had a pretty big part in the songs. Winnie raps on the tracks and was also instrumental in the lyrics. Winnie expects Umamiya to make a big breakthrough in the music business within a year and recreating the music world within five. If someone was to ask Winnie to describe Umamiya, she would only have five words: “Titillating Audio and Visual Pleasure.” She wasn’t surprised when she was chosen to be a part of the group, “It was natural, and to be expected.” Winnie considers her deep and unabridged knowledge of hip hop and rap along with her deep love of urban culture is very important to Umamiya’s character.

Also see our interview with other Umamiya members: Cathedral Leung