Music, fashion, F&B, esports, Web3: How many universes does JJ Lin have?

JJ Lin sometimes thinks of himself as the comic book hero Dr Strange, barrelling through inter-dimensional portals of an infinite multiverse. Sometimes he’s bending space and time, speeding up or turning back the clock, or conjuring alternate realities. Other times he is summoning circles of orange energy to his fingertips – they swirl around like planetary systems at his command.

The comparison isn’t as far-fetched as you think. While many know him as a music superstar with 20 years of hits and awards, his fans recognise him as much more – a multi-talented entrepreneur with several ventures in various industries, including fashion, F&B, e-sports and Web3. Lin certainly has many balls to juggle, but he keeps them in the air with almost superhero-like powers, transcending human-dom.

“I make jokes about it. But I really do feel like Dr Strange sometimes, co-existing in different universes at the same time,” he says. “Seriously speaking, I feel like I have multiple roles that are not bound by time and space. Like I have to exist in different time zones and different spaces for different people.”

When he’s not touring, he splits his time between Singapore and Taiwan, which provide different kinds of inspiration and refuge – with occasional sojourns in cities like Los Angeles “where I can move freely and see life from a broader perspective”. 

But he spends just as much time in the metaverse, interacting with his over six million social media followers, blazing through his favourite video games Gran Turismo 7 or Cyberpunk 2077, or wandering through Decentraland and Sandbox sometimes, where he owns plots of virtual land. He believes in the potential of blockchain, crypto and NFTs to shape a better, freer world. And he holds a few blue-chip NFTs, including a CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT.

“I didn’t buy these NFTs to speculate or make a profit,” he says. “I bought them because they give me access to communities I believe in and want to support. This is where I find people I can vibe with, people who love science fiction and mech culture as much as I do. So regardless of what’s happening in the crypto markets now, the construction of the Web3 universe is on-going. And I want to be a part of that future.”   

This article was first published in The Business Times.