MIC/LINE (formerly named Sound Check) is HYPEBEAST Radio‘s music-centric show that looks to deliver in-depth conversations with your favorite artists, digging into their origin stories and asking the questions you want answered. For our newest episode, we have Kris Wu as our special guest.

Kris Wu is one of the biggest artists in the world and made his solo debut with his album, Antares, which dropped at the top of the month. The 28-year-old superstar got his big break when he was a member of the Chinese-Korean boy band EXO, but parted ways to pursue a solo career in 2014. Since then, it’s been nothing but success, becoming prominent in film (xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets), music and fashion (Burberry, Louis Vuitton). Wu understands the challenge he’s face to crossover as an artist from overseas to the United States, yet looks forward to the opportunity to lead the new generation of artists to America.

“This thought came to me about three years ago, when I felt like I’ve done a lot of stuff in China already, I kinda felt like it’s time…because I always want to be a pioneer in whatever I do, so I felt like this might be the time to step up and do something,” he explains.

For this episode, Kris Wu discusses making his debut solo album Antares, crossing over, eagerness to lead the new wave of Asian artists in the States, street basketball, KPop and more.

You can check out Kris Wu’s debut solo album Antares now on all streaming platforms. The 14-track LP includes previously released singles “Deserve” with Travis Scott, “Coupe” featuring Rich the Kid,” and the Jhené Aiko-assisted “Freedom.” Production for the project is handled by FKi 1st, Wondagurl, Frank Dukes, Murda Beatz, among others.

Keep up with everything HYPEBEAST Radio and subscribe to MIC/LINE on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast or wherever else you enjoy your podcasts. Feel free to reach out to our host, Manny, on Twitter at @ECM_LP and follow HYPEBEAST Music for more original content and music news.