Jay Park

Jay Park (Korean name: Park Jae-beom ; born April 25, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and entrepreneur based in South Korea.

He is a member of the Seattle-based B-Boy crew Art of Movement (AOM), and founder and former CEO of the independent hip hop record labels AOMG and H1ghr Music, as well as the founder of the record label More Vision.

In 2003, Park became one of the first members of the Seattle-based B-Boy crew Art of Movement (AOM).

Often skipping classes to participate in B-Boy competitions, Park would have continuous clashes with his mother regarding his lack of interest in academics and potential higher education.

In 2004, Park's mother, seeing how her son spent more time breakdancing than studying, suggested he try out for a locally advertised talent audition, which was organized by South Korean conglomerate JYP Entertainment.

With his family financially struggling at the time, Park auditioned for the program, believing it to be a contest where the winner would receive a monetary prize reward.

Unbeknownst to Park, the success of his audition would eventually lead to him being officially contacted and selected by JYP Entertainment to be part of a Korean boy band as an idol.

In January 2005, Park was brought to South Korea to receive training in dancing, rapping, singing, and the Korean language under the strict supervision of JYPE.

Park eventually completed his university education at Dankook University.

Park first appeared through Mnet's Hot Blood Men, a documentary-style reality program that showed the future members of One Day, split as idol groups 2AM and 2PM, in training.

Park, finishing at the top spot with the most fan votes, became the leader of 2PM.

On September 4, 2008, 2PM debuted with the song "10 Out of 10" (Korean: 10점 만점에 10점; Revised Romanization: Ship Jeom Manjeome Ship Jeom) on the music program M! Countdown after the release of their first mini-album, Hottest Time of the Day, a few days prior.

Aside from 2PM's music activities, Park created the song "Jeong" (Korean: 정) with Yeeun of the Wonder Girls for the original soundtrack of the television drama Conspiracy in the Court, and featured on V.O.S's "To Luv...".

He also participated in special stage performances, such as Navi's "Heart Damage" (Revised Romanization: Maeumi Dachyeoseo) on May 3, 2009, and K.Will's "One Drop per Second" (Korean: 1초에 한방울; Revised Romanization: Il Choe Hanbangul) on June 20, 2009.

In addition to Idol Show and Wild Bunny with fellow 2PM members, he also became a regular cast member in several variety programs, including Star King and Introducing a Star's Friend.

In August 2009, he and Kara band member, Nicole Jung, became the new hosts for a cultural variety show called Nodaji.

On September 4, 2009, unfavorable comments towards Korea were found on Park's personal Myspace account from 2005.

The comments, written in English to a friend, were translated by Korean media, quickly spreading across hundreds of news articles.

Park expressed deep remorse and shame over his forgotten words and issued an official apology, explained the unhappiness that he experienced during his early days as a trainee in an unfamiliar country where he lacked family, the ability to easily communicate, and an understanding of the culture.

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 group.

The following day, Park announced on his official fancafe that he would be leaving the group to calm the situation and return to his hometown, Seattle, Washington.

He also apologized to the other 2PM members, and promised that he would "come back a better person".

Park Jin-young then confirmed that 2PM would continue as a six-member group.

Additionally, due to the sensitive topic of Park's departure, all 2PM members were withdrawn from their regular appearances on variety shows, and the final episode of their reality show, Wild Bunny, was postponed indefinitely.

Park's vocals would not be removed from the older songs he promoted with 2PM, but he would be absent from the newer tracks, and the remaining six members of 2PM re-filmed their music video for "Heartbeat" without Park on October 31, 2009.

2PM's first official album was titled 1:59PM, to symbolize Park's absence, according to the six remaining members.

Through their acceptance speeches at end-of-year award shows for "Again & Again", the members thanked Park 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.

Soon after Park returned to the United States, the South Korean public changed their perspective on the matter when they realized that his Myspace messages had been severely mistranslated and taken out of context, in addition to strong fan support for Park's return.

Park was seen at B-Boy battles with fellow Art of Movement members during his time in Seattle.

However, on February 25, with Park'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.

Park returned to South Korea in June 2010 for the filming of Hype Nation, and in July, Park signed a contract with SidusHQ, one of the largest entertainment agencies in South Korea.

Rebranding and re-debuting as both a solo singer and a rapper, Park's musical identity would lend to him partaking in the underground hip hop culture in South Korea, a rarity for both active and former K-Pop idols.

Known for his charismatic performances and stage presence, Park has been described as a "born entertainer" by Korean pop singer Patti Kim, and The New York Times quoted the president of digital music distributor DFSB Kollective illustrating Park as "not just an artist, but also his own PR agent, fan club president, and TV network."

An influential figure in the Korean hip hop scene, Park has been described as the "scene stalwart" of Korean R&B, and has been credited as one of the main figures responsible for the increased commercial acceptance and mainstream popularization of K-hip hop in South Korea.

Born in Edmonds, Washington, in the Seattle metropolitan area, Park showed great interest in hip hop music and breakdancing at a young age.

Park attended Edmonds-Woodway, where he spent most of his break and lunch times practicing dance with friends.

Park started listening to hip hop and rap music in his early teens, and spent time learning and writing raps himself during high school.

JYP would make reference to this unknown event several times in 2010, but would never elaborate on any details.

This termination had been agreed by all six members of 2PM and led to fan boycotts on 2PM-endorsed products.