Namewee

Born and raised up in the town of Muar, Johor, Malaysia, Wee was educated in SRJK Chung Hwa 1B and Chung Hwa High School.

While in secondary school, he wrote his first 400 songs. Around the same time, Wee and a few good friends formed a band named Aunt Band (Chinese: 大娘乐队) and won several competitions. He had also released several songs, along with complementary music videos on YouTube, which include Muar's Mandarin (Chinese: 麻坡的华语) and Kawanku (Malay for 'My friends'), the latter sparking controversy being mistook by many as a song targeting Malaysian Chinese, Malays and Singaporeans.

Wee went to Taiwan for higher education, a common destination for ethnic Chinese who cannot enter Malaysian universities due to educational and racial policies. He studied mass communication as an undergraduate at Ming Chuan University in Taoyuan between 2002 and 2006. Namewee's work commonly touches on themes of multiculturalism and multiracialism, Malaysian identity and issues, and Sinosphere/Sinophone cultural experiences.

His debut work, "Muar Mandarin" (2006), advocates for pride in his hometown's non-standard mixed culture, such as its unique dialect of Mandarin Chinese.

In 2007, Namewee's video "Negarakuku" was released and quickly went viral, gaining 400,00 views in a month. The song, a parody of the Malaysian national anthem "Negaraku" (punning on the Hokkien profanity "kuku", meaning penis) sparked controversy over its irreverent lyrics about the country's politics, which some deemed as mocking the government, ethnic Malays and Islam. However, Namewee and others challenged this view, stating that the song was meant to comment on the facets of Malaysian life in a satirical way and not to insult anyone. Then-culture minister Rais Yatim asked Namewee to publicly apologize, and he was questioned a year later when he returned to Malaysia after graduation.

A small controversy erupted when a three-part video Teacher Hew's ABC Time (Chinese: 邱老師 ABC 時間), directed by Wee was released. In the video, a close friend of Wee, known as teacher Hew, introduces the English alphabet from an adult-oriented perspective. It soon became notorious from its heavy use of profanity as well as orgasm sounds, and the board of directors of Chung Hwa High School decided to sue Wee, as the video was filmed in the school compound, but the lawsuit was later dropped.

In July 2009, Namewee composed the theme and ending songs for the latest Singaporean film 'Where Got Ghost?' which was released on 13 August 2009.

He acted as the principal cast in "Potong Saga" and as the supporting cast in "Meter".

Namewee also made a video clip in the late of October 2009, titled Namewee fuck TNB. In the video, Namewee's house and Muar suffer a blackout at night, but the local TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) branch office remains lit, while his brother is sitting for the examinations the following day, so Wee goes to TNB to look for answers, but the ensuing quarrel leads the security guards to escort him out of the facility. After that, Wee scolds TNB and tells them to 'go back to sleep'. The ending song is dedicated to attacking TNB, parodically insulting 'TNB' ('Tenaga Nasional Berhad') as "Tiu Nia Bu", foul language in Hokkien.

In May 2010, Wee made a music video Handicap Goal, featuring himself and his friends, including teacher Hew, to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup by playing football with women.

On 26 August 2010, Wee made a music video titled Nah! 2010 posting on YouTube criticising a school principal in Kulai, who was reported to have made racist remarks during a school assembly on 12 August 2010. The clip contained obscene language condemning the school principal and the Education Ministry. However, Wee was asked to give a statement in Kuala Lumpur police station and also Cyberjaya Investigation Unit for two times later.

In September 2010, he published another video I Am Who I Am (Chinese: 我還是我), depicting his past experiences and determination to pursue his dream with no return despite having obstacles.

In October 2010, Namewee was officially invited to attend the world-famous Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.

Wee released his first film Nasi Lemak 2.0—which he starred in and directed—in September 2011. The movie gained major success in Malaysia, grossing over RM7 million.

In September 2011, a public service announcement video titled Undilah, encouraging Malaysian citizens to vote, was released by Pete Teo. Namewee composed part of the music and rap lyrics as well as appearing in the video, featuring various other local celebrities and politicians.

He starred in Petaling Street Warriors, which was released in December 2011.

After the success of Nasi Lemak 2.0 and Petaling Street Warriors, Namewee started off with his another directorial work, Hantu Gangster. The film was filmed in Klang and was released on 9 August 2012.

Namewee uploaded a video about Lynas, and talked about Australian and Kangaroo in the video, on 28 February 2012.

On 25 September 2012, he officially launched an online talk show entitled Namewee Tokok, hoping through this program, the Malaysian could have a different perspective on viewing various issues and news in Malaysia as the mass media of the country was consolidated by the government.

In 2014, Namewee established RED People, a group of Internet personnel, and was also involved in composing Joyce Chu's song Malaysia Chabor.

On 22 April 2017, Namewee uploaded a song on YouTube named "18X PAPAPA" (Chinese: 18X禁歌啪啪啪), reaching more than 8 million views in 2 months and becoming the 2nd most popular song to the group of 7–12 years old students according to research. Namewee's fans commented that although the song was only for 18+, they enjoyed it and kept replaying the song.

To remember the 10th anniversary on 20 May 2017 since he started uploading his songs on YouTube, Namewee released a music video titled Muar Mandarin 2017 Official MV (Chinese: 麻坡的華語10週年紀念版), featuring various places including the Wetex, 8th avenue, etc., in his birthplace Muar, a city in Johor, Malaysia. It was an instant hit, reaching more than one million views on YouTube in one month.

In July 2020, Namewee debuted a music video of his song "Five Hundred" (Chinese: 五百), which is a rock song made in the style of and a tribute to Taiwanese Wu Bai (Chinese: 伍佰) and his band China Blue. While Wu Bai does not appear in the video, a group of impersonators portray him and the band China Blue.

On 22 August 2021, Namewee published an article about the Taliban's 8 suggestions for seizing the regime of Afghanistan on Weibo. Unexceptedly, he was insulted by Chinese netizens resulted in his Weibo account was blocked and he became the first Malaysian artists who blocked by China.

In October 2021, Namewee's "Fragile" (Chinese: 玻璃心), collaborated with Taiwan-based Australian singer Kimberley Chen, garnered over 10 million YouTube views in six days since upload. The singers were banned from Mainland China as a result of the song.