Jay Park is a known Korean-American singer and a rapper who was also a member of AOM breakdance crew. He is the first Asian artist to sign with Roc Nation (Jay-Z) record label company.
Early years
He was born as Park Jae-beom on April 25, 1987, in Edmonds in Washington in the United States. He was very young when he started showing interest both in rap music and in breakdance.
He has a younger brother Yehan.
He has spent a lot of his time breakdancing and rapping to his favorite artists such as Michael Jackson and Usher.
He was a student at Edmonds Woodway High School where he was known for his breakdancing skills. He had good grades, but he wasn’t particularly interested in studying.
He has spent most of his teen years dancing and listening to hip-hop music. He improved himself in writing rap lyrics and in rapping a lot.
Career development
In 2003 he joined a breakdance „b-boy“ crew called „Art of Movement.“ His mother was significant support for him, and she realized that he will always spend more time breakdancing than studying, so she convinced him to go on an audition in Korea in 2005 for a JYP Entertainment.
He entered the show and became an attractive new face in his parents birth country.
In 2008 he debuted on the M!Countdown music program with his single „10 Out of 10“. This was just a few days after his new group called „2 PM“ released their album „Hottest Time of The Day.“
He was the creator of a theme song „Jeong“ for the TV drama called „Conspiracy in the Court.“ He and his fellow group members cast in a lot of programs, including a TV series „Star King.“ He was becoming more famous every day.
As a part of a group called 2 PM, he became their most recognizable face, and he had a huge fanbase himself.
In 2009 he was involved in a scandal after the media found his MySpace comments from 2005 in which he stated terrible things about Korea.
Those comments were comments of a boy who found himself alone in a new country and witnessed how difficult it was for him.
But they were interpreted for people to think that he hated Korea and missed the USA.
He apologized for the comments, and all his group members stood by his side, but he decided to leave the group and return to Seattle in Washington.
A little while after Sout Koreans accused Park Joe of his negative comments on South Korea, JYP entertainment, his management house, was reevaluating their decision and everyone was convinced that Park would come back to AOM.
But eventually, his contract was terminated, which raged his fans who thought he was coming back and started their protest, which even spread internationally.
In 2009, Park started his own YouTube channel called „Jayparkaom“. He released his cover of „Nothin’ on You,“ his version of Bruno Mars’s and B.O.B.’s song. The song reached No.1. on many music sites.
In 2010, he was featured on the same song with its original singer B.O.B. who liked what Park did with his song in the first place.
He appeared on a Korean-American festival in New Jersey.
He signed endorsement deals with deNIZEN, Levi Strauss and many more. This brought him a substantial amount of money.
He signed a movie deal for „Hype Nation“ movie. One of his singles called „Demon“ was included in movie’s soundtrack.
He returned to Korea for the filming of this movie, and he was welcomed like a king amongst his fans.
He signed a contract with SidusHQ which included all of his singing and acting activities in Korea. It semed like everybody forgotten his scandalous words.
Jay Park released an EP called „Count on Me“ in both English and Korean, since he was fluent in both languages now.
He began collaborating with many known artists such as ChaCha Malone, Dok2, The Queit and more.
He was a member of the cast for a Korean movie called „Mr. Idol“ where he starred alongside Kim.Su-ro.
Park was featured on „White Love Party Concert“ for charity purposes in 2011. He always gladly responded to perform at concerts with charity causes.
He was an opening artist for Ne-Yo’s first concert in South Korea the same year. It was the first Ne-Yo concern there.
His new single „Girlfriend“ was released at the end of 2011. His first Korean album was released in 2012 under the title „Take a Deeper Look.“ This was an album which brought him an award at the „Golden Disk Awards“ in Asake.
He often wrote and produced songs for other artists: for U-Kiss, Younha, Tiny-G and more.
His first big Korean album was named „New Breed,“ and it was released at the beginning of 2012. He was selected as R-16 Korea ambassador in 2012.
He held concerts all over America and released a mixtape „Fresh A!r: Breath!t“. At the end of the same year, he performed in Australia the first time.
He was featured on the cover of „Men’s Health Korea“ and „Men’s Health China.“
Park participated in making a soundtrack of a Sci-Fi film called „After Earth“ after he was invited to do so by Will and Jaden Smith. He stayed loyal to SidusHQ label and prolonged his contract with the company.
In 2014 he was a part of Korean dance show called „Dancing 9“.
2015 was a very fruitful year for him when he released numerous songs.
In 2017, he became a new judge on „Asia’s Got Talent.“
Park often mentioned how Usher was his biggest idol and influence. He also thinks highly of Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Eminem, Tupac, Dr.Dre and many more.
His music incorporates a lot of genres: R&B, hip-hop, pop, dance, electronic, etc.
Today he writes and composes all of his songs, he produces all the albums and even mixes his work. He writes songs both in English and in Korean.
In 2018 he signed a contract with Jay-Z’s label called „Roc Nation“ which was a shock for the American hip-hop stage: he was the first Asian to do so.
He is named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Asian countries.
Personal life
His parents wanted him to become a lawyer or a doctor or something similar.
Since he wasn’t that interested in learning, they made peace with his decision.
There aren’t any pieces of information about his girlfriend or his love life, but he once guested in a talk show in which he stated that he lost his first true love because he was jealous.
Quick summary
Full name: Park Jae-beom
Date of birth: April 25, 1987
Birthplace: Edmonds in Washington, USA
Age: 31
Profession: singer, songwriter, producer, dancer
Height: 170 cm
Weight: 62 kgs
Net Worth: $2 million