WayV, the five-member Chinese pop group, made its New York City debut at Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield on Aug 2 as part of the free SummerStage festival — a show presented in partnership with the China Institute. Days later, on Aug 10, the group released “Vision Wings”, its first album built around traditional Chinese instruments and sounds.
Key facts:
- The show — Free SummerStage concert at Rumsey Playfield (Central Park), Aug 2, part of the 40th annual City Parks Foundation SummerStage season. Thousands of fans (WayZenNi) packed the park.
- The album — “Vision Wings” dropped Aug 10: traditional Chinese instruments fused with hip-hop, R&B, and jungle beats, with both English and Chinese-language tracks.
- The background — All five members are Chinese; they trained in Korea as teenagers and debuted as WayV in 2019. The members have known each other for over a decade.
- The moment — Xiaojun pulled out his in-ear monitor during “All My Youth” because the crowd was singing every word. “At that moment, I felt so magical.”
This is more than a concert recap. WayV spent seven years navigating the Korean entertainment system before leaning into their cultural roots on their own terms — “Why don’t we try it? Because we’re the authentic ones,” Yangyang said of the album’s Chinese style. Their message, echoed at SummerStage: cultural identity and modern pop can coexist, and representation travels.
For NYC, it’s also a reminder that SummerStage keeps bringing world-class, boundary-pushing acts to city parks for free — and this one was a milestone for a group that has waited years to play the city.