JAY B Interview [HYPEBEAST]
From GOT7 to H1GHR MUSIC’s JAY B
On the 11th of May, it was announced that GOT7’s leader JAY B had joined H1GHR MUSIC. Ever since his time in JYPE, Jay B has been taking on the responsibility of writing lyrics and composing songs for albums, even participating as a producer. On Soundcloud, he has released 5 mixtapes under the name Def., showing his ambition as a solo musician in various instances. That’s why the fact that he did not join a KPOP entertainment company but instead joined H1GHR MUSIC is not a particularly surprising thing. However, it’s no lie that this will bring a huge change to his career as an artist. <HYPEBEAST> met with JAY B and had a talk about the reason he decided to move (to H1GHR MUSIC), his new single ‘Switch It Up’, his future activities as well as his ambition.
HYPEBEAST: You’re known for being on “team mint chocolate”. You even left comments about it on <HYPEBEAST>’s instagram page.
JAY B: I like the way the flavour is pungent yet wrapped up in chocolate. I don’t really like plain chocolate. I like it when something is added to it, such as chocolate milk or white chocolate, but when I had mint chocolate for the first time, it was really revolutionary. After that, I’ve been enjoying eating it.
HB: It’s still something that sparks a lot of debate. There are also a lot of products released aimed to spark controversy.
JAY B: There’s something I always say. If I am eating it well and I like it, I just hope that you won’t say things like “why would you eat that?” to me. If you’re enjoying your food and then someone next to you says that sort of thing, you’d lose your appetite, right? Just don’t say that kind of thing to someone who’s eating. Let’s love one another!
HB: Your group, GOT7, left JYP Entertainment after 7 years. How did you feel promoting without a company for the past few months?
JAY B: I feel the same now. It’s more fun. Personally, one of the reasons why I decided to leave JYP was because I wanted to take on more challenges. Maybe it’s because of that but the time I spent as a kind of freelancer felt really new. Even though I won’t be able to know everything about what kind of system I’ll be working in, I got to learn about it roughly and gained a more serious attitude regarding work. I also felt a sense of pride and that it was precious.
HB: Out of the ‘challenges’ you mentioned, your photo exhibition was one of them, right? We heard that you like taking pictures.
JAY B: Even this morning, I saw a pigeon spread only one side of its wings. I’ve never seen that before, so I wanted to take a picture of it, but in a short moment it sensed that I was there and flew away. I’m the kind of person who takes a lot of pictures of those little moments. In that way, I got to hold a photo exhibition too. Honestly, I was embarrassed to do the exhibition. I was just going to try to do it personally as a small thing with the pictures I took myself, but JYPE said “let’s do it even better”, and as we exchanged ideas, the scale got a bit larger.
HB: Is there a particular theme that you like when taking pictures?
JAY B: I’m the kind of person who comes up with (themes) as I take the pictures. As I am taking pictures of something, thoughts like “ah, it would be fun to hold exhibitions with this kind of pictures” come to mind. For my first exhibition, I took pictures revolving around the theme of ‘loneliness’, ‘living alone’, and ‘even if you are living alone, you need someone by your side’. It was mainly involving people/figures, but I actually prefer taking pictures of landscapes or larger compositions.
HB: In the past, you’ve said “I think my next album will be a product that includes the loneliness felt in life”. Is it related to your first photo exhibition <ALONE>?
JAY B: There’s no relation between the two. I wanted to work out all the feelings I had after being under a lot of pressure as I lived my life. Putting aside whether the album is good or not, I think it will be an album where I honestly share what I felt when I felt pressured. I don’t know whether or not it will be released, and if it does, I don’t know in what form it will be released in, but for now I’ve just made the album with this theme. It might sound boring, but it contains a lot of my honest thoughts.
HB: We don’t know when or how, but it will probably be released through H1GHR MUSIC now right? After your contract ended with JYP, you probably received offers from various places, why did you choose H1GHR MUSIC?
JAY B: I’m well aware of the fact that I was protected by the fence called JYP. But as I mentioned previously, I left JYP because I wanted to try and experience something on my own. I also had doubts regarding whether I was an artist who could bring in as much profit as the company wanted. I think that changing my image in order to earn a profit is something that I’ve done a lot in the past. After leaving the company, I received offers from multiple places, and some were really good companies too. However, the most important thing was that it had to be a company that I could exchange opinions and create with. I think H1GHR MUSIC matched up with that the best.
HB: As the field of your promotions change, it will probably come with some concerns as well.
JAY B: I’m the kind of person who worries a lot and is cautious. My own concerns aside, I was really worried about whether H1GHR MUSIC’s image would be damaged because I joined. I thought people might say that an idol joining would muddy the waters* (*ruin the label’s image). No matter if there’s a good or bad reaction, H1GHR MUSIC has already accomplished things, and I would be a new addition. On top of that, I’m not someone who is just starting to make music. I’m making a new image based on the one I already had. Even so, just this once, I wanted to make a decision that was for myself. That’s why I was even more cautious with each and every step.
HB: Is the title of your new single ’Switch It Up’ referring to the changes you are going through?
JAY B: When I came up with the title, I did think that it was possible to give it that sort of meaning. I wanted to express a basic love story while also including the meaning of switching up my life. However, Jay Park hyung gave me some advice, saying that rather than doing that, it might be better for me to naturally blend in what I’ve already been doing. Following that advice, even though the title itself carries the meaning of change, the lyrics are just about love.
HB: How was your first production at H1GHR MUSIC?
JAY B: I had a lot of concerns and was worried. After I made the decision to join H1GHR MUSIC, I told Jay hyung that I wanted to release a song or an album quickly. It just so happened Cha Cha Malone was back in Korea, so we aligned our schedules and produced songs together. Everything happened naturally. Jay hyung said that I shouldn’t go all out from the beginning, and that it’s more important to keep going steadily. I agree with that. I’m satisfied with the result too. I worry a lot so I’m the type to ask around for opinions, but everyone said it was good. But honestly, I’m not sure how the public will react to it. (laughs)
HB: Sokodomo’s feature was really impressive, how did he end up participating in the song?
JAY B: The funny thing is, it really came about naturally too. When I went to the studio, sokodomo was there and he asked if he could stay while we were working on our songs, so we said it was okay. As we worked on songs like that, after I finished up my recording, sokodomo suddenly went into the recording studio. I was wondering “what’s going on?”, but what sokodomo showed us was really good. Turns out, while I was recording, he came up with some ideas and asked if it was okay if he tried it out which I didn’t hear. But what sokodomo came up with was a style that I couldn’t express well. And so right there and then, I cautiously asked if he would be willing to feature in the song, and he agreed without hesitation. That part was so good that I even thought “I can’t be eaten by (overshadowed) sokodomo”. Haha.
HB: In the past, you were a B-boy, and even in GOT7 you received a lot of attention for your dancing. So we were wondering if we would get to see you dance to ’Switch It Up’.
JAY B: You’ll be able to see it through the live clip that will be released at the same time as the single. There are various elements in the live clip. First of all, I tried really hard to make it look cool. I sang live with sokodomo too. I think there’s a lot to see. The dance comes on at the very end. I thought that since I’m a performer, I should dance too. Honestly, at first when I listened to ‘Switch It Up’, I thought it would be kind of hard to dance to it. But even so, I have to dance. Other artists are cool too, but I think Chris Brown is really cool. He dances and sings at the same time really well. Because dance was my beginning, and I gained interest in singing later on and ended up working hard at it, I can’t let go of dance.
HB: Do you have any plans or ideas for the next album you’ll release through H1GHR MUSIC?
JAY B: I think that I have to move quickly. I’ll have to wait and see what I’ll end up with, but for now, I think it’s closer to a chill vibe. ‘Switch It Up’ was chill, but it still had a kind of energy to it. Rather than that, I think it will probably be the kind of music that is suitable to listen to while going for a drive. I want to show music that’s groovier and more sensual as much as possible. But I still don’t know. It’s possible that the company might say “let’s go for pop.” I want to create things together with the company, so I’m open to accommodating their opinions for a couple songs.
HB: You’re also promoting with the name Def. and not Jay B. Why did you come up with the name Def.?
JAY B: Actually, even in the early days of GOT7, I didn’t feel any attachment to the name JB. I felt really strongly that it was a name that someone else came up with. I’m more comfortable with people calling me by my birth name, Jaebeom, too. Of course, I like it now. I wanted to separate Jay B and Def., that’s why they are separated. When I was in JYP, I got permission to release my music on Soundcloud, but I couldn’t release albums separately. So I released all the music that I couldn’t release as JB through Def. For now, I decided I would make music that people could approach more comfortably under the name Jay B, and I would release things that are more to what I want to do through Def. I’m not sure how it will end up in the future though.
HB: Listening to the music under these two names, there is quite a difference. The music you release under the name Def. has more characteristics of the neo soul genre.
JAY B: When I made <1/? Vol. 1>, I liked trap soul, so it contains a lot of that kind of music. After that as well, it mostly is filled with songs that were the style that I liked at the time. If you listen to my mixtape, excluding the intro and outro, there are about 5 songs. While I prepared those songs, I also worked on 15 songs that would be for GOT7 albums at the same time, making about 20 songs at a time. I’d work on GOT7 songs from morning till late night and if I had time, I would then work on my mixtape. That’s why they are songs that I really cherish. People might wonder why I would work so hard, but I thought that as an idol, I have to do my job well so that I can gain autonomy within the company. That’s why I worked hard and pushed myself to my limits.
HB: When will we be able to hear your music as Def.?
JAY B: Firstly, I want to get my name as Jay B out there, and later on I want to use the name Def. again when I can do what I want. Things that are more unusual, alternative, and experimental.
HB: Hearing you talk, we can really feel the love you have for music. You also seem like a realistic person.
JAY B: It’s because I feel that if I stubbornly insist on doing what I want to do and it doesn’t turn out well, I’d get a rough reality check. I’m a cautious person, so if I persist only on what I want and then fail, I’d end up thinking that I just have no aptitude for music, and I thought that is more dangerous. If that happens, I’d feel sorry for the music that I like and I might even think that there was something wrong with the music or genres that I like. People might say that that’s “not real”, but it’s “real” to me. It’s just my way of living.
HB: You’re currently also in the crew ‘ØFFSHORE.’ What kind of crew is it?
JAY B: It’s a place where people who sell songs commercially and people who make their own music gather. It started with the purpose of people with the same interests making fun music together and releasing it. Offshore has the meaning of “shore/coast”. On the shore, there are lots of living things. There are times when the waves crash but also times when it’s calm. Just like my Def. character, I think it’s a place where I can freely include things I’ve never done before. It will carry on in the future too, but we won’t have any eye-catching activities. We’ll just go on calmly.
HB: As you share your stories, we’re getting curious about Jay B as a producer too. Will we be able to hear songs that you produce for other artists someday?
JAY B: When I was in JYP, I’ve sent out songs that the publisher said would not work for GOT7. There were also songs that were selected by other people but could not be used because of my name. Now, I don’t think there will be those sorts of limitations, so I want to try producing for other people too. I don’t have confidence in being responsible for someone or nurturing trainees, though. I’m still busy trying to feed myself. But even so, I’d like to try to produce just one song for someone else. I would have a sort of image about someone, right? An image that they themselves wouldn’t even know. I think the process of trying to bring that out would be fun. Of course, I’m focused on my music now, but it would be nice if I got the chance someday.
HB: Another GOT7 member, Yugyeom, joined AOMG. Fans can’t help but look forward to the reunion of your unit ‘Jus2’.
JAY B: Since Yugyeom is in AOMG, I think that if we talk to Jay hyung, it’s possible that we will release something as Jus2. Jus2 and JJ Project both include Jay B, but they are also units that are part of GOT7. I think that if we work hard at promoting them too, fans would feel a sense of security. I think that from now on is the time when both I, as well as GOT7, have to really do well.
HB: You mentioned that you wanted to release 1 GOT7 album a year.
JAY B: I don’t know whether it will work out, but we have to try and plan for it. I’ve mentioned multiple times that GOT7 has not disbanded. I believe that I should keep my word. Right now, everyone is actually busy working on their own things. Even so, we want to try and make one song for GOT7 a month, so that we can promote about once a year.
HB: You have a strong image as a great leader and hyung in GOT7. What would you like to show as JAY B in H1GHR MUSIC?
JAY B: I would like to hear people say “ah, I guess they did a good job bringing him in”. I hope that when people listen to ’Switch It Up’, they won’t think that “Jay Park made the wrong choice this time”. I think it would be nice if people thought that I was worth anticipating. Not that they brought in some strange kid. I don’t want to get cursed at. Haha.
HB: Do you have a final goal you want to achieve as an artist?
JAY B: I don’t. I just want to keep on steadily and quietly making music. To me, saying that you want to receive some sort of reward or that you want to become something is quite vague. I just hope that I can gain the drive to keep going on steadily and continue that cycle of creation. That’s all.
Translation by @mindellay x @defdaily
May contain slight inaccuracies.
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AOMG facts
AOMG is an independent R&B and Hip Hop records label created by Jay Park
Jay offered to Simon the coCEO position and he is named the coCEO after a couple of months
AOMG stands for Above Ordinary Music Group or Always On My Grind
The name originally comes from the “Art of Movement (AOM)”. The “Art of Movement” is a Seattle-based B-Boying group which Jay Park joined in 2003 with members such as Dial Tone, Junior, and Cha Cha Malone
In January 2016, CJ E&M acquired some shares on AOMG, allowing the latter to have access to CJ E&M’s distribution channels, marketing resources and international connections
As of October 2016, CJ E&M is the exclusive distributor of AOMG’s releases excluding those of Loco, handled by LOEN Entertainment
AOMG has had multiple collaborations with dance crews and studios including 1MILLION Dance Studio, Prepix and PURPLOW
They have done several tours in Asia and the U.S.
The ‘6′ in A6OVE relates to both Seoul and Seattle area codes
The creation of AOMG is celebrated on October 10th
JAY PARK
PERSONAL FACTS
Name: Park Jaebom ( 박재범) / Jay Park
He was born April 25th 1987 in Edmonds (Washington, US)
He is from Seattle (Korean-American)
He is 170 cm and 60 kg (Although he said in a SNL cut that he was 1 cm taller than Ssam D. so he would be 171 (Not sure if he was kidding though)
His Blood type is A
His religion is Christianism
He has a younger brother, called Jehan
He attended Edmonds Woodway High School
He started writing raps during high school
He attended Dankook University
He likes basketball
He has been learning Chinese
His favourtire group is 2NE1
He respects BigBang a lot because they’re really talented
He loves drawings that fans give him
He likes cool, laid-back girls with a nice smile.
He always wanted to prove people that he can rap in Korean, but he also likes doing R&B
His favourite colour is blue
His favourite cereals are Lucky Charms
He visits fancafes and reads what fans say about him
He wears clothers that fans give him as gifts
On the last episode of 2PM’s Idol Army, as the top member Jay won 70 GB of porn on DVD (this was mentioned in Weekly Idol)
He doesn’t get embarrased a lot because he feels that “life goes on”
In an interview for I-D, they asked him what was his everyday personality, and he answered:
In general, when you’re talking about life, I’m just a regular guy, I just ate a Shake Shack burger, like, now I need to do 100 sit-ups. But I’ve always been sort of rebellious, when someone says: “You have to do this,” it never makes sense for me to do it. Like, why can’t a K-Pop person swear, why can’t they have half-naked ladies in a music video. It’s just a music video, why not? I’m a nice guy when it comes to daily life, but when it comes to society and how people think things should be a certain way, I have to challenge those invisible rules.
His favourite artists are Eminem, Usher, Musiq Soulchild, Drake and Method Man. Usher, Michael Jackson and Chris Brown influence him and are an inspiration for him
His ideal type is Bora
He has two dachshunds, called Pj (whose name stands for Peatry Jr) and Oscar (their IG is @pjxoscaraomg)
He writes and composes his own songs, produces his albums, chooses the people he wants to work with, and participates in the mastering and mixing of his songs
He writes songs both in English and Korean. He admits that he is more at ease when writing songs in English than in Korean, as he started learning Korean in his late teens.
Having grown up listening to music of American artists, he admits his music sounds more “American” than Korean
His musical process starts by listening to a lot of beats sent by various producers, while thinking of what kind of song he wants to write, and eventually short-listing a selection of potential beats to work with. Then, he works on the melody of the song, along with ideas and lyrics. He writes the hook of the song first, and finally the verses. He is inspired by everything when writing songs : “just listening to good songs, seeing a good live performance, having good conversations with people. Just everyday life”.
Some songs he wrote are influenced by songs from other artists
He has the same hairdresser as Zion.T, Simon D,Gray and Crush
He prefers being called ‘oppa’
His favourite alcoholic beverage is champagne
He can’t drink tequila because he gets drunk very fast
Whenever they find a good girl around them, Jay plays a bad guy on purpose to make Simon D look like a good guy. And then, Jay leaves quickly with a wink at Simon D
He does cleaning in the AOMG office
He doesn’t like muscular or skinny girls. He prefers girls that are slightly chubby. He also likes girls taller than him
He is interested in mixed martial arts
Zico and Crushed revealed that whenever they go out to eat, Jay always pays the bill
If he had to choose between love or friendship, he would give up on both of them, because he wouldn’t be able to decide
His first kiss was with a Vietnamese girl
He doesn’t wear cologne
He considered signing with YG but he decided to create his own label
He cried when he watched Toy Sotry 3
He loves buying things for the people he loves
He would like to spend his honeymoon in Hawaii
When he was younger his dream was to study animals and become a scientist. He wanted to go to Africa and Australia and hide to take pictures of animals
He drools while sleeping
His favourtire Korean male and female artists are Crush and Tasha
His favourite female singer is Beyonce
He doesn’t like playing loud music when he’s driving and he get’s nervous when his friends make noise
After posting or tweeting something he always reads the comments
When he is drunk he’s unable to reject a person and tends to become very friendly
He is scared of heights
He dreams in both Korean and English depending on who appears in his dream
His favorite season of the year is summer
His brother Jehan looks after Cafe Dudart
Jay has stated that when he first went to Korea, he couldn’t converse with all the new people he met, due to not being able to speak the language very well, and he didn’t know what to eat. He says he cried every day for the first two weeks he was in Korea, but decided to work hard even though he wanted to go back home, to not disappoint his parents
The name of his fanclub is J-Effect and his fans are called Jwalkerz (he has jwalkerz tattoed on his back because “fans always got my back”). Its pose represents his roots as a b-boy and its official colours are black and yellow
When he signs someone for AOMG, he looks not only at their music, but at what they talk about, how they perform, their image, and how they are as a person. He says: “ They can be the greatest rapper in the world but if they’re an asshole I don’t want to work with them, they don’t have to be at AOMG”
PROFESSIONAL FACTS
He is founder and co-CEO of AOMG, along with Simon Dominic (although Jay owns more percentage of the company)
He has recently created H1GHR MUSIC RECORDS with Cha Cha Malone
He is a singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, actor, dancer, b-boy, model, choreographer and entrepreneur
In 2003, he joined Art of Movement (AOM), a Seattle-based B-boying group
In 2004, Jay’s mother suggested him to audition for the Korea-based company JYP Entertainment, which brought him to Korea in January 2005 to receive further training in dancing, rapping, singing, and the Korean language After passing an audition in the US, he signed a contract with JYP Entertaiment and moved to South Korea to be a trainee
He practiced singing and Korean for 4 years and eventually debuted as leader of 2PM in 2008. After a controversy about some messages he wrote on his personal Myspace back in 2005 when he was still a trainee, he was forced to leave 2PM. He wrote messages about how bad was South Korea (He was in a foreign country, he didn’t knew the language nor the culture, he had no friends or family there. He was going trough a lot). Although outraged protesters demanded that Park should be removed from 2PM, JYP Entertainment’s CEO, Park Jin-young, stated on September 7, 2009, that he was going to continue as a part of the groupThe following day, Jay announced on his official fancafe that he would be leaving the group to calm the situation and return to his hometown, Seattle. He also apologized to the other 2PM members
He went back to Seattle in 2009
His vocals weren’t removed from the older songs he promoted with 2PM
Through their acceptance speeches at end-of-year award shows for “Again & Again”, the members of 2PM thanked Jay and reiterated their wish for his return. At the Mnet Asian Music Awards, the group paid homage to him during their performance of “Again & Again” with a spotlight shown over his usual position in the dance formation and his lines left unsung. However, some 2PM fans said that the members used to insult Jay after his departure
After returning to Seattle Jay worked at a local tire shop, because he didn’t want to rely on his parents
Soon after Jay returned to the United States, the South Korean public changed their perspective on the matter when they realised that his Myspace messages had been severely mistranslated and taken out of context, in addition to strong fan support for Jay’s return
On February 25, with Jay’s comeback looking more and more likely, JYP suddenly announced that Jay Park’s contract with them had been terminated, citing a separate “personal mistake” that Park had made in 2009. JYP would make reference to this unknown event several times in 2010, but would never elaborate on any details
“It’s not illegal, but it will be a very big scandal socially. We cannot reveal it for the sake of Jay Park. Even Sidus was curious and released articles of asking us to tell the reason. But we have to keep it a secret for Jay Park. He committed the act during AAA promotion without letting his members know. As soon as the members found out, they stated that they could not promote with him as a group anymore.”
This termination had been agreed by all 6 members of 2PM and led to fan boycotts on 2PM-endorsed products. Protests for Jay’s return to the group began to take place, not only in South Korea, but internationally as well. Various Jay Park-dedicated forums and fansites all over the world organized silent protests and flash dance mobs. Fans also hired a plane with a banner showing "J, what time is it now?” to fly over Seattle, and was broadcast on Seattle-based radio stations
On June 15, 2010, B.o.B released “Nothin’ on You” featuring Jay Park, in South Korea, where he replaces Bruno Mars’ vocals. His YouTube cover helped contribute to much of the song’s success in Korea, with more than 5 million copies sold. He subsequently thanked his fans for their support and continued to urge them not to hate remaining 2PM members
Los Angeles-based entertainment attorney Ned Sherman, CEO of Digital Media Wire, announced on May 28 that he was representing Jay as his legal representative. Sherman and his wife Tinzar reached out to Park, after seeing Jay’s story and feeling bad about what happened to him during the MySpace controversy. The Shermans and Jay worked on a lot of projects together, including his movie deal for Hype Nation, an endorsement deal with dENiZEN, Levi Strauss & Co.’s new brand, and others
SidusHQ defended Jay against claims made by Park Jin Young…
“We hope that Park Jaebeom will no longer be wounded by his former company and will be allowed to actively promote himself. We would like to express our gratitude towards the people that continue to support and regard him with warm eyes. We greet you once more with a better image. Thank you.“
In March 2010, he uploaded a cover video of B.o.B’s ”Nothin’ on You“, with his own rap and lyrics, to YouTube, which went viral and reached over 2,000,000 views in less than 24 hours
He debuted in 2010 as a solo artist, under the name Jay Park, with his EP “Count on me (믿어줄래)”He returned to South Korea in June 2010 for the filming of Hype Nation
He became the first ever artist crowned winner on a debut stage by winning on KBS’Music Bank with "Abandoned”, and was the only solo artist to win “Record of the Year” at the 2011 Golden Disk Awards
His English mixtape ,Fresh air: Breath it, which became the first mixtape by an Asian artist to have gold status by surpassing 100,000 downloads on DatPiffIn 2011, he was chosen to be the sole opener for Ne-Yo in his first concert in Seoul. He also cooperated with Ne-Yo for a charity event for children dreaming to become musicians
In 2012, several songs composed and written by Park for other artists were released
Also in 2012, he became a fixed panel member on MBC's Come to Play
In May 2012, it was revealed that he would be participating in the soundtrack of After Earth, after having been personally contacted by Will Smith and Jaden Smith. The song, titled “I Like 2 Party”, is written and composed by Jay himself. He attended red carpet premiere in Korea along with Will and Jaden Smith
In 2013, he started his own records label, AOMG
He participated in the drama Vampire Idol and in the movies Mr. Idol and Hype Nation
He was producer in SMTM4 and Unpretty Rapstar season 2
He was part of the SNL permanent cast between 2013 and 2015
He participated in shows like Inmortal Songs 2 and Dancing 9 season 2
He has collaborated with artists like Dok2, Swings and Dumbfoundead
He is producer in SMTM6, along with Dok2
He tried to join Illionaire before founding AOMG, but Dok2 and The Quiett rejected him (they are really good friends though)
He has won a lot of music awards
He has recently signed under Roc Nation
SIMON DOMINIC
PERSONAL FACTS
Name: Simon Dominic (사이먼 도미닉) / Simon D. (사이먼 디) / Ssam D. (쌈 디)
Real name: Jung Ki Seok (정기석)
He was born March 09th 1984 in Busan (South Korea)
He is 170 cm
His blood type is AB
He has a younger brother
He attended Namsan High School (Busan) and Gyeongju University
He attended the same High School as CNBLUE’s Yonghwa with whom he is good friends
He is good friends with B2ST Kikwang. One night, Kikwang asked Sam to tell him about his girlfriends, and Sam was about 5 hours talking.
He is friends with Miss A’s Min
He is in a group of friends called “Chocoball”(artists with type blood AB) , which includes Kim Heechul, Mitra Jin, Hongki and some others
He was in a relationship with Lady Jane for 6 years (they broke up in 2013)
He did not really have a comfortable life during his debut days and used to be financially troubled
He was exempt from military service after losing the retina of his left eye.
He said he came to AOMG mainly because of Gray, since he thinks Gray is a genious producing music)
He likes fashion
He met Jay at a club
On a broadcast of JTBC’s ‘Witch Hunt, Simon told that his first sexual experience was with a girl 6 years older. He also said: “It’s weird. I think even these things my girlfriend do are cute. I haven’t farted before in front of her. But one day my girlfriend suddenly rushed into the bathroom. Even though she turned on the water, I heard everything. It wasn’t dirty. One time I opened the toilet lid to look at her waste and noticed that she hadn’t flushed. It smelled but I didn’t dislike it. I think it’s because I loved her."
In E-Sens trial for using marijuana, he stated:
“I feel some responsibility for the fact that E-Sens has become like this.” He adds, “While we were working together, I was busy because I was also doing solo work at the same time and trying to make a living.”“I feel sorry because I think I didn’t do my duty as his hyung,” he continues. “I am now more available, both in terms of time and emotionally. I’ll be close by his side, even if it’s not often, and I’ll do my best to look after him even more than I would if he was my real younger brother.”
He was involved in a diss battle involving Swings and other rappers
On ’Radio Star,’ Swings appeared and talked about Simon D. He said: ”I heard that Simon D came out on 'Radio Star’ and said that he originally had no intention to take part in the diss battle until I provoked him. Honestly, that put me in a bad mood.After hearing that, I called him up first to personally tell him that it made me feel bad. Simon D is a bit sly, right? He told me, 'We could make a great picture,’ so I met up with him and talked to him, and we had a good discussion,“ ”You guys do a lot of video messages, right? Can I just send him a video message?“ ”Simon D. A lot happened between us … Things became awkward between us, but I miss you. Do well.“
He and Gray have a ship name, Simon choose the name himself: SimG
PROFESIONAL FACTS
His stage name is a combination of Simon, Wesley Snipes’ character from the movie Demolition Man, and Dominic, his baptismal name
He is co-CEO of AOMG
He first appeared in the Korean underground Hip-Hop scene under the name K-Outa
He was leader of Illest konfusion crew
He participated in the drama Standby
He participated in TV shows like Running Man, Immortal Songs 2 and Mix & Match
He was producer in SMTM 5 along with Gray and they won with BewhY
He appeared in Jay Park’s Mommae MV
He has collaborated with artists like Epik High, Lessang, Dumbfoundead and Vasco
He won the 2010 MBC Broadcasting Entertainment Awards: Variety
On "Sunny’s FM Date”, Simon D made some sexual remarks as jokes. that made listeners uncomfortable and he had to apologise
He is one of the funniest people in the industry and is known for both his skills and his comedy
His rapping origins begin in his early school days
He is a former member of Hip-Hop duo Supreme Team along with E-Sens
Supreme Team won several awards during their career, including Best New Male Group at the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards and the Hip Hop Award at the 2010 Golden Disk Awards.
Supreme Team broke up in 2013 when E-Sens left to pursue a solo career
In March 2014, it was confirmed that he would leave Amoeba Culture and become co-CEO of AOMG, along with Jay Park
At his leaving, Amoeba Culture stated
"He’s leaving Amoeba, but all of us will continue to support him. He is a loyal and trustworthy friend who will be able to progress and mature in both his music and other pursuits in the entertainment industry.“
And he twitted:
"My contractual obligations with Amoeba Culture ends on January 31st, 2014. I like to thank each and every member of Amoeba Culture for their unending support of me, and I ask that my fans continue their gracious support of me."
His pre-release single, "Simon Dominic”, achieved a Certified All-Kill on the charts three days after its release and reached #2 on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart
His song “Confortable” with One and Gray (SMTM5) reached #1 on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart
He appered in King of Masked Singer as a contestant, and he surprised evryone with his enormous skills
He appeared as host in the episode number 154 of SNL Korea
He was cast member in School Variety 100 Points Out of 100 and Hot Brothers (2010-2011) and in MAPS (2015)
GRAY
Hangeul: 그레이
Real name: Lee SungHwa (이성화)
He was born December 08th 1986 in Seoul
He is producer, rapper and singer
He is 168 cm
His blood type is A
He debuted as a singer with his maxi-single “Call me Gray” under AOMG
As a producer, he has worked with artists like Dok2 and Beenzino
He appeared in Mix & Match and 4 Thing Show
He was producer in SMTM5, along with Simon D.
He plays the piano and the guitar, instruments that he uses for composing
His song “Confortable” with One and Simon D. (SMTM5) reached #1 on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart
He is part of the VV:D (pronounced VIVID) crew, along with Zion T. (leader), Loco, Elo and Crush
He appeared in Zion T’s “Babay” MV, along with the VV:D members
He collaborated in Jay Park’s “Metronome” and “Drive”
He produced Gary’s “Showe later”
He produced several songs by Swings
His ideal type is someone kind, with beauty eyes and beauty smile
He has a tattoo above his left elbow, 4 Chinese characters representing the members of his family: his father, his mother, his sister and him
He participated in the mini web-dama “Love is…”
He appeared on ep. 154 of SNL Korea
He appeared on K-POP Planet, along with Loco and in Radio Star
He likes fashion and loves bying clothes and shoes (but not a Dok2′s level, he said)
He is the type who saves money
He once vomited in front of the girl he liked
10002 in Gray’s Dangerous actually means ‘a lot’.
10000 (만 man) + 2 (이 ee) = a lot. It also sound like “many” in English
He writes his own lyrics but usually just does the beat for other artists
He worked with a team which produced kpop and idol music and there he learned skills to be an engineer. In early 2012, the team disbanded and he decided to do his own music
His ideal type is Park Bo Young
His major was computer science at Hongik University but he didn’t graduate from university. He applied for a leave of absence after 3 semesters. He then decided to pursue music
He confirmed on Radio Star that he is among the 10 highest earner producers for copyrights
He taught Zion T. how to take selfies
He is close friends with Jessi
He likes girls with neat teeth when smiling and are shorter than him
He started to compose when he was in grade 1 and debuted when he was 27
He had a mind to start doing music in earnest in 2010 after he was discharged from the military service
The voice of Gray’s producer tag is Zion T’s voice
He chose Gray has his artist name because gray it’s not black neither white and it has a lot of shades, just like him
He had another artist name previously, but he doesn’t want to say it
He joined the team which was making Kpop and idol music. He didn’t feel the need to have a stage name at that time and making idol music wasn’t what he liked to do, but he thought there were many things he could learn from the teammates. He leaned skills to be an ‘engineer’ step by step there, not to be an artist. He thinks he learned a lot there and it was a good experience to him. In early 2012, the team disbanded and he decided to do his own music he wanted to do and he made a new start as Gray
When he was asked about Elo’s sexually explicit lyrics, he said Elo tends to be abnormally obsessed with it and thinking he should be sexy. Gray thinks it should be done sophisticatedly to be sexy. If not, people will think it dirty
He used to use sampling a lot, because he couldn’t play keyboard, now , he makes songs playing instruments
After releasing Swings’ ‘A Real Lady’, 5 or 6 companies (both KHH and KPOP) contacted him in a week and asked him to join them
When he was asked why he had chosen AOMG, he answered:
First, I liked him {Jay Park] very much. I could trust him. I chose him because we were chasing the same thing about music. Moreover, I felt we fit together in many points besides music. Definitely I pursue original and (American) native color in many ways, and Jay was definitely showing native color. We, VVD crew’s goal is to be competitive when we are compared to the (American) native artists, so we’ve been thinking highly of him. I was not so close with him in person, but you know, there’s some feeling that we can feel when we meet someone. I was 28 years old last year, I was not too young. I thought he was humane when I first saw him, and he looked very cool with a great mind and his move has been great so far. I think he has contributed a lot (to hiphop). He brought his fandom to this (hiphop) scence and I think he and Illonaire were a win-win relationship. So I didn’t have anything to agonize in many ways. I am not the person who only raps and I do both hiphop and R&B so I thought AOMG would be perfet for me because there would be many things I could do there.
He thinks that AOMG was the company that could support him without interfere, and that they could grow together
He has a ship name with Simon, Simon choose the name himself: SimG
He has his own studio, GrayGround
He and Loco went to the same univertsity (Hongik University) and got close because of that
Jwalkerz from Korea called him 'Soray’ because all he knows to do is working and working (So is cow in Korean )
LOCO
Hangeul: 로꼬
Real name: Kwon Hyuk Woo (권혁우)
He was born December 25th 1989 in Seoul
He is 175 cm
His nickname is Gochoo
He studied Economics in Hongik University
He speaks English
In College he would drink a lot before shows and people would call him crazy, that’s why he chose his stage name, “Loco”, which means “crazy” in Spanish
Gray and him went to the same university (Hongik Unviersity) and got close because of that
His stage name used to be Demaine, which Gray chose for him. However, he thought it was too plain and simple, and he also thought his personality was also plain and simple, so he changed it
He used to stutter when he was younger and it became a serious problem for him while growing up. At that time he came to know hip hop and he found it amazing how rappers express their inner thoughts freely
He was inspired by Kanye West and CB Mass, whom he listened to with his friends
He and his friends decided that they also wanted to compose and they formed a group called “Satgotbong” (which is why his instagram is “Satgotloco”), this was the name of the sauna that was located in their neighborhood. They all had the idea that if they were to do shows like any other rapper, it would be boring, so they decided to wear those particular clothes that they used in the saunas while making their shows
He debuted on Sept 4, 2012 with the single “See the Light”
He went through a fake contract before participating in SMTM
He won the first season of Show Me The Money
At the time of participating in Show Me The Money, he had little experience due to his young age and didn’t have much to talk about but, after wining the show, he went through lots of things which helped to discover more about himself, find a right tone and write more lyrics
He appeared in Happy Together and SNL Korea
He was producer, along with Jay park, in Show Me The Money 4
He is part of the VV:D crew, along with Crush, Elo, Zion T. and Gray
He auditioned to be part of BTS, but he wasn’t chosen
He appears in Jay Park’s Mommae MV
He appears in Zico’s Tough Cookie MV
He has collaborated with artists such as Jay Park, Elo and Gray, Dean, DPR Live and Crucial Star
He appeared in Immortal Songs Season 2
He released his mini album, Locomotive, in November 28.2014
He has recently released an album, ‘Bleached’
He won a Melon Music Award in the “Best OST” category for his track “Spring Is Gone by Chance,” which was on “The Girl Who Sees Smells” OST
Loco has previously said that he lost eight Kilograms of fat because when he had taken a photo with Jay Park and a few others behind the scenes at a Jay Park concert, he thought he looked like a pig and that inspired him to lose weight
His song ‘Hold Me Tight’ was supposed to be Jay’s song, but he gave it to Loco
‘Thinking About You’ was supposed to be a title track of Jay’s album but Jay handed it over to Loco because he thought the song would fit better on Locomotive
He has done his enlistment
He is part of an anti smoking campaign, along with Jay
In 2014, he got in a controversy after using the Islamic prayer (azan) in ‘Act Serious’. On November 28, LOCO re-tweeted an apology from producer WallE and apologized himself for any offense he had caused. The producer also apologized to the rapper, stating that LOCO was not even aware of the azan sample being used in the track
He explained that after he won the first season of Mnet′s Show Me The Money, he signed with a new label that didn′t have the means to support him. Though he desired to leave the label, the penalty for breaking the contract was 200 million won
"That′s when I met Jay Park, and Jay Park said that if I agreed to join AOMG, he would pay the penalty. And my first track with AOMG ′Hold Me Tight′ did so well that I was able to pay my debt back to him in full.“
He likes Descendants of the Sun
When Jay was asked if he had been influenced by Gray when he decided to contact Loco for AOMG, Jay answered:
When we started, there were only me, Gray, Jeongoon and Chacha. Jeongoon and Chacha are composers, so there were only two artists, me and Gray. So I was observing Loco with interest. I have heard about him a lot from Gray, and I asked Dok2 how he was. In fact, Dok2 rarely praises anyone, but he told me Loco was good, so I thought he might be good. I met him often with Gray and I thought it would be good to be with him
CHA CHA MALONE
Hangeul: 차차말론
Real name: Chase Vincent Malone
He was born May 25th 1987 in Seattle
He is a singer, producer, songwriter and composer
He is half Filipino and half African American
He was raised only by his single mother
His first passions were art and illustration
He started playing the piano by ear at 7
He was influenced by his mother who used to write songs and sing in a band
He used to write rap verses in third grade
He has participated in online beat battles at Rocbattle
In 2005 he appeared in episode of MTV’s Made
He graduated from The Art Institute of Seattle in 2009, earning a B.F.A. in Media Arts and Animation
He is part of AOMG and co-CEO of H1GHR MUSIC
He started doing b-boying when he was 12 with his friends at the Seattle-based b-boy crew Art of Movement (AOM)
He is is widely known for his work with Jay Park
His producer tag is “ I need a Cha Cha Beat Boy”
In 2009, he sent friend and fellow Art of Movement member, Jay Park, who had recently returned to Seattle from South Korea, a folder of beats to see if he was interested in collaborating
Since then, both formed a strong partnership into the producing music and writing songs
In 2011, he released an EP, Breakthrough, through iTunes and Bandicamp
Also in 2011,he produced four of the seven tracks on Jay’s EP, ‘Take A Deeper Look’, which went on to win a Golden Disk Award
He also released "Single Life”, which featured Jay Park, as a free download in September 2011
In 2012, he became a member of production team, Iconic Sounds LLC
He has produced and worked with many other artists, like Red Velvet, U-Kiss, Dok2, The Quiett and Beenzino
The voice on Woogie’s producer tag ’ Woogie on and on’ is Cha Cha’s
The voice of his producer tag, ’ I need a Cha Cha beat boy’, is Vivian, who’s friends with some of the members of AOMG
UGLY DUCK
Hangeul: 어글리덕
Real name: Sun Ju Kyung (선주경)
He was born January 19th 1991 in Gwangju
He started as an underground rapper in Buckwilds Crew when he was 20 (in 2011)
He is also part of the Do’Main crew
He joined AOMG in 2014, along with Dj Wegun
He has collaborated with artists like Andup, Giriboi, Okasian, Dok2 and Cjamm
He started writing hip hop lyrics when he entered in high school
He used to play clarinet at high school’s band, which helped him to improve his breathing and vocalization for rapping
He used to have another stage name but he changed it
Although his artistic name is “Ugly Duck”, he says he isn’t concern about his looks and he likes the way he is
It has a lot of meanings. If you translate it literally, well, it means an ugly duck. Of course, it relates somewhat to my appearance as well. Despite the word “ugly” connoting something negative, I wanted to twist that into giving off the ambience of “I’m still better than you even if I’m ugly.” This is also why I wrote down the lyrics, “I don’t care about being a swan. I like being like this.” But the biggest reason behind this name is that I wanted to rap “ugly.” There’s the phrase, “Ugly truth” and if you reverse it, it becomes “Truth is ugly” meaning I’m the truth! I guess I just felt compelled to the word “ugly” and thought of it as cool. Of course, I still think it’s cool to this day. I like it because it feels like hip hop. I started going by this…well, I had another penname before this one but at the time, I didn’t really have the determination to dive into rapping but once I did, I went by this (Ugly Duck) name.
He has a lot of tattos in his arms
He released his debut album ‘Scene Stealers’, with Jay Park, on July 2016
He is good friends with Zico
He likes to be a DJ
He released his first mixtape named ‘Ugly Shit’ November 2011
‘Ugly Boy’ is his favourite song by himself
He doesn’t have a role model
HOODY
Hanguel: 후디
Real Name: Kim Hyun Jung (김현정)
She was born February 11th 1990
She is 173 cm
She is a R&B singer
She debuted in 2013 with “My Ride”
She joined AOMG in 2015, and she still is the only female artist in the label
She writes her own songs and also participates in the production and arrangement
She is a member of an all female underground crew called Amourette (AMRT) along with KittiB
She dated Coke Jazz
She participated in the Follow The Movement tour in 2016
She appeared in Sukira Kiss the Radio in December 2016
She has a SoundCloud profile
She has collaborated with artists like Loco and Jay Park
She got the offer to sign with AOMG because of Elo (they had worked together)
It was announced that she was a new member of AOMG at the second anniversairy party
ELO
Hangeul: 엘로
Real name: Oh Min Taek (오민택)
He was born February 11th 1991 in Ansan (South Korea)
He is 176 cm
His blood type is A
He is an R&B singer
He debuted in 2005
He has collaborated with artists like Swings, Sik-K and Owen Ovadoz
His favourite artists are Mayer Hawthorne and Jessie J
R.Kelly and Frank Ocean are influences for him
He is part of the VV:D crew, along with Gray, Loco, Zion T. and Crush
He has a girlfriend
He has the word ‘mono’ tattoed on his ear becauase of an medical problem (he cant hear with on of his ear)
He did an European tour in 2017 with Dj Pumki
He has also done his entlistment
He likes football and always plays with his friends
DJ PUMKIN
Hangeul: 펌킨
Real name: Kim Soohyuk (김수혁)
He was born July 29th 1982
He is DJ and producer
He is part of Back&Forth since 2011 along with others like DJ Wegun and Primary
He was in Amoeba Culture
He joined AOMG in 2014
He did an European tour in 2017 with Elo
DJ WEGUN
Hangeul: DJ 웨건
Ral name: Kim Myung Jun (김명준)
He was born September 24th 1986 in Seoul
He is 170cm
He is a DJ and producer
He joined Seoul Company in 2004 and released two EPs (’Wheel of Steel’ and ‘School of Dummies’)
In 2010, the company shut down due to lack of revenue
He is part of Back&Forth since 2011
He is part of FreshAvenue and Buckwilds
He joined AOMG, along with Ugly Duck, in 2014
He has collaborated with artists like Zico, Rhythm Powr, Crucial Star and The Quiett
HEP
He is AOMG’s graphic designer
He is part of AOM
He was born July, 17 1989
WOO WON JAE
His stage name is Munch (뭉크).
His real name is 우원재 (Woo WonJae).
He was born on 26th December 1996.
He is 1,69cm.
He participated in Show Me The Money 6. He was passed by Tiger JK and continued to impress the judges due to his lyrics and rap style.
He was in team Tiger JK & Bizzy in SMTM6.
He was third place in SMTM6.
He was eliminated before he could perform “We Are” with Loco and Gray. The song is available worldwide in many platforms such as iTunes and Spotify.
He is part of the street art crew Plutonic Seoul.
He attends Hongik University.
He met Loco and Gray (AOMG) at Hongik University and all three of them were part of a crew called “Brainswords”.
Gray used to tutor him and said he is a hardworking student who always finishes his homework.
He has a few tattoos: a skeleton on his hand, that same arm tattooed, and a branch on his neck. The neck tattoo was done by the same artist that tattooed Dean, C.Jamm and Zelo.
His trademark beanie style became a trend after he appeared in SMTM6.
His lyrics are about his life experiences and personal situation.
He is good friends with Olltii.
He was called a demon rapper during SMTM by the other contestants, and was compared to Ignito, the rapper he chose for the 1vs1 battle.
He started rapping 1 year prior to SMTM6.
He stated that he chose rap above other music styles because is the one that adapts the most to what he wants to tell.
He was portrayed as someone without a lot of expression during SMTM, but he himself said that he actually smiles quite often, although he also said that he is not very good at celebrating things.
2PM’s rumours regarding Jay (and others):
http://playlikearainbow.tumblr.com/post/11310876063/2pms-dirty-little-secrets-as-told-by-their-loyal
https://forums.soompi.com/en/topic/248306-shocking-translated-2pms-sasaeng-fan-accounts/
http://taecyonie.tumblr.com/post/68694062091/2pm-sasaeng-accounts-fake-exclusive-detective
https://baconbaekhonbaekhyun.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/sasaeng-fans-started-a-rumor-nichkhun-and-jaebeom-2pm-was-bullied-by-the-other-members/
http://kpopunited.blogspot.com.es/2010/03/2pm-ugly-truth.html
http://kpopselca.com/forum/k-pop/where-does-the-assumption-that-2pm-are-douchebags-come-from-t23546/page15.html
Jay talks about 2PM and JYP:
http://www.allkpop.com/article/2016/03/jay-park-answers-what-he-thinks-of-jy-park-and-whether-he-keeps-in-touch-with-2pm-members
http://www.allkpop.com/article/2011/05/jay-park-opens-up-about-his-current-relationship-with-2pm
http://www.allkpop.com/article/2017/02/jay-park-talks-about-trainees-getting-hit-when-they-made-mistakes-his-past-myspace-controversy
http://kpopkfans.blogspot.com.es/2016/03/jay-park-mentions-jyp-and-2pm-in-his.html
http://aminomail.com/page/k-pop/9443522/get-to-know-loco-aomg-artist
It took a while, but here you are!
PD: It feels so wrong having so much information about Jay and so littleabout the others… But I can’t do anything Y.Y I tried my best
Sources:
Wikidrama, Wikipedia, IG, SNL, Youtube, The Cut, Kpopstarz, Allkpop, Amino Apps, Kpopeurope, kprofiles.com,
http://fy-loco.tumblr.com/profile
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOMG
http://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/09/simon-d-admits-his-first-sexual-experience-was-with-a-girl-six-years-older
http://ssam-d.tumblr.com/facts
http://netizenbuzz.blogspot.com.es/2014/06/simon-d-apologizes-for-making-sexual.html
http://kprofiles.com/loco-profile-facts/
http://jayparkquotes.tumblr.com/archive
http://www.kpopeurope.eu/en-exclusive-interview-with-gray-part-1/?lang=en
Thx to @aomgworldwide and those lovely anons
Facts in italics are those I’m not sure about
In case something is incorrect or you have any more facts don’t doubt to tell me!
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