Justin Wellington known as JW is a PNG singer and songwriter based in Australia has hit the Pacific and the world by storm with his rendition of the song IKO IKO.
The song IKO IKO made popular from a movie that inspired the singer to put his own spin on it and has lead him to top the global billboard charts and achieved Gold status for sales in Italy.
Justin's unique style and sound is stemmed from his diverse musical influences, but it is also undoubtedly a result of his life experiences in his home, Papua New Guinea.
When asked about how he felt seeing how well his song was doing he had this to say: “Yeah its such an amazing feeling and the emotion is like a dream come true. It’s something that I always dreamed of something like that happening, without necessarily expecting that it actually would happen but kind of like a dream nonetheless.
“Now to have that to even just to say it, that I have got a song on the global billboard charts is so surreal and like a dream. So yeah, its probably the best moment in my entire career.”
JW said his inspiration for the song came from the soundtrack of the movie ‘RAIN MAN’ where he heard the original IKO IKO track and since then it has always been a favorite that he even performs it during his shows and its always a hit with his audience.
“There’s just something about the song IKO IKO that has this spirit that people just connect to and love and that’s why I always had this strong instinct about it and also you know that strong kind of will to make my own interpretation of it”, said Justin.
Justin said seeing people around the world, using his rendition of IKO IKO on their tiktok videos and other social media platforms has been so surreal.
He added that he has been the spectator watching it unfold from Australia where he is based.
“Seeing all these, the things that people tag me in and its so, I just love it and at the same time its still so hard to believe that its real. So, its crazy and its just a dream come true.”
Since hitting the billboard on a successful note, JW stated that it has been an amazing journey. In the last week and weekend, the song has done very well and has even achieved Gold status for sales in Italy being on the number one spot for all airplay across all of Europe.