Hlwan Paing

Hlwan Paing (လွှမ်းပိုင်; born 1 March 1989) is a Burmese singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. He is considered one of the most successful Burmese singers, and rose to fame with his debut album Done Pyan (Rocket), which was a duo album with Bobby Soxer. Hlwan Paing is also an active gaming streamer and started online streaming in 2018 by using his online alias Bo Paing Gyi.

Early life and education
Hlwan Paing was born on 1 March 1989 in Taunggyi, Shan State, Myanmar. He is the youngest son of three siblings. His elder brother Kyaw Hsu is also an actor. He graduated from Technological University, Thanlyin.

Music career
Hlwan Paing began his career as part of the underground group "89" while still in school, collaborating on songwriting and vocals. Subsequently, he was approached by Ah Boy, the leader of the Rock$tar group, and was invited to become the final member of Rock$tar. Since then, Hlwan Paing has begun collaborating with mainstream artists. Renowned for his distinctive approach to music creation, songwriting, and rap delivery, he became known as Myanmar's sole recognized twister, showcasing his unique flair for rapid-fire lyrical delivery.

In 2009, Hlwan Paing was selected as one of the highlighted artists for Ye Lay's track "Ma Nhoute Sat Chin Bu" (Do Not Want To Say Good Bye), featured on the album "Tat Ta Ya Kar Yan" (Third Rhyme), where he showcased his hip-hop rap skills. He catapulted to fame in the music scene with his smash hits "Done Pyan" and "Bo Kay," both featured on the "Done Pyan" album. Additionally, tracks like "Uptown Girl," linked with Yair Yint Aung, "A Girl of a Boy," associated with Bunny Phyoe, and "The Letter For Friend," released as a single, gained widespread popularity among teenage audiences.

On November 21, 2011, he released the collaborative album Done Pyan (Rocket) alongside his partner Bobby Soxer, which included songs like "Done Pyan" and "Bo Kay." Done Pyan received the prestigious "Best Music Album Award" from both Shwe FM and City FM. Hlwan Paing and Bobby Soxer donated 1 million Myanmar kyats from the proceeds of a gold prize to support orphan children through the Thu Kha Yike Myone charity organization. Hlwan Paing delved into commercial advertisements, stage performances, and concerts across Myanmar. He collaborated with Bobby Soxer and Eaint Chit on the song "Ko Ko," which went on to win the esteemed "Best Music Award" at the Shwe FM Music Award.

On June 8, 2014, Hlwan Paing unveiled his debut solo album titled "Gi Ta Sar So Hlwan Paing." Following this success, the follow-up video album was released on February 12, 2016. One of the tracks from that album, "Min Ye Kyaw Swar Bo Nay Toe," was subsequently adapted into a film.

He released his second solo album, "Gita Bay Da" on 24 June 2017.

Acting career
Hlwan Paing has been involved in presenting and acting in a travel documentary series titled Let's Go, alongside fellow artists such as Bunny Phyoe, Kyaw Htut Swe, Nann Thuzar, Nan Myat Phyo Thin, and Bobby Soxer.

Hlwan Paing made his acting debut by securing a leading role in the 2016 film Old Jacket, where he starred alongside Khin Wint Wah. Following Old Jacket, Hlwan Paing starred in his second film, 67 Plaza, alongside Kaew Korravee. The film was released in June 2018.

He made his big-screen debut in the 2018 Burmese film Kyway, where he starred alongside Ei Chaw Po and Tyron Bejay. The film, based on the novel Pyaw Tine Yone Tak Pote Thin Nyo by Min Lu, was directed by Thar Nyi.

He continued his acting career in the 2018 drama film Nga Ko Nann Tae Mone Tine (The Storm That Kissed Me), where he played the lead role alongside Phway Phway and Yair Yint Aung. Hlwan Paing's portrayal of the character garnered praise from fans, who commended his acting performance and interpretation, leading to a resurgence in his popularity.

In the same year, Hlwan Paing took on the male lead role in the film Ko Saung Nat, co-starring Khin Wint Wah and Htoo Aung. Directed by Win Lwin Htet, the film's screenplay was also written by Hlwan Paing himself.

Brand Ambassadorships
Hlwan Paing was appointed as brand ambassador of Ve Ve on February 28, 2015, and also as brand ambassador of Vivo-Y55 smart phone in 2016.

Personal life
Hlwan Paing had been in a relationship with hip-hop singer Bobby Soxer since 2009, but they parted ways in 2023 after being together for 14 years. After the breakup, Hlwan Paing entered into a relationship with actress Nan Su Yati Soe.

Awards
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width: 101%;" ! scope="col" | Award ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) ! scope="col" | Category ! scope="col" | Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable" |Ref. ! rowspan= "2"|City FM awards ! rowspan= "2"| Shwe FM awards ! rowspan= "3"| Myanmar Music Awards
 * 2014
 * Hlwan Paing
 * "Most Popular Male Vocalist Award of Year"
 * Won
 * 2017
 * Gita Bay Da
 * "Best Selling Stereo Music Album Male Vocalist of the Year"
 * Won
 * "Best Selling Stereo Music Album Male Vocalist of the Year"
 * Won
 * 2013
 * Done Pyan
 * rowspan= "2"|"Best Selling Album of Year"
 * Won
 * 2014
 * Gi Ta Sar So Hlwan Paing
 * Won
 * Gi Ta Sar So Hlwan Paing
 * Won
 * rowspan= "3"| 2014
 * rowspan= "2"|Ko Ko
 * "Best Rap Song of the Monsoon (Artist Choice Award)"
 * Won
 * "Freshest Rap Song of the Monsoon (People Choice Award)"
 * Won
 * Ngar Doe Way
 * "Best MTV Award"
 * Won
 * Ngar Doe Way
 * "Best MTV Award"
 * Won
 * Won

Film (Cinema)

 * The Storm that Kissed Me (MY ငါ့ကိုနမ်းတဲ့မုန်တိုင်း) (2018)
 * Kyway (MY ကြွေ) (2018)
 * My Rowdy Angel (MY ကိုယ်စောင့်နတ်) (2018)
 * Yat Kyaw Ywar Kyaw (MY ရပ်ကျော်ရွာကျော်) (2019)
 * Ka Gyee Kha Khway (MY ကကြီး ခခွေး) (2023)

Film

 * Old Jacket (MY ဂျာကင်ဟောင်းလေး) (2016)
 * 67 Plaza (MY 67 ပလာဇာ) (2018)
 * Yat Kyaw Ywar Kyaw (MY ရပ်ကျော်ရွာကျော်) (TBA)

Solo albums

 * Gi Ta Sar So Hlwan Paing (MY ဂီတစာဆိုလွှမ်းပိုင်) (2014)
 * Gita Bay Da (MY ဂီတဗေဒ) (2017)

Duo albums

 * Done Pyan (MY ဒုံးပျံ) (2011)