How Jay Park broke from K-pop to US hip-hop – from boy group 2PM to MBN rap battle Signhere

Jay Park bridges worlds – a common household name among K-pop fans and hip-hop lovers alike. From the leader of former K-pop boy group 2PM, to solo artist, he has produced numerous catchy tracks, set up his own label, made bold statements and, of course, broken boundaries as an Asian-American in the music industry.

On April 25, Park will turn 33, and to mark the milestone here are some interesting facts which you should definitely know about the artist.

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He loves Mexican food

Park isn’t shy about his love for Mexican food, telling an episode of TV show Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant that his closest friends back in his hometown, Seattle, run a Mexican restaurant. He loves the food so much that he heads over about two or three times a week just to satisfy his cravings whenever he’s back home.

He opened up the hip-hop scene in Korea

Aside from being a solo artist, Park is also a producer, entrepreneur and even the CEO of his own successful label, AOMG.

AOMG took off in 2013 and since then Park has built up the Korean hip-hop scene through various partnerships, especially one with Korea’s major entertainment giant, CJ E&M, in 2016.

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He also appeared on Mnet rap competition show Show Me the Money, as a judge in seasons four and six, and even created Signhere on MBN 2019 – making AOMG the first hip-hop label to have its own audition programme.

Some of the well-known artists under the label include Loco and Gray, and AOMG recently debuted new signing DeVita.

Working with renowned dance teams

Being an accomplished dancer himself, Park has worked with pro teams from Korea’s famous studios including 1Million Dance Studio, Prepix and the now-disbanded Purplow.

Some of the collaborations include his hit songs All I Wanna Do and Me Like Yuh.

These dance teams are known for their choreography and works with various popular K-pop idols such as Twice and Itzy.

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Numerous tattoos

For Park, tattoos are a way of expressing himself and he admits he’s lost count of the number on his body.

Some of his more prominent inkings include the sleeve tattoo on his left arm, the lion on his chest and also the lettering on his knuckles.

One tattoo that has a special meaning to Park reads “Always be proper”, serving as a reminder to always act right and behave properly.

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Constant communication with fans

It is never easy for any artist to communicate with their fans, but Park knows how to do it right.

Most of time he begins a conversation on his Twitter account with the hashtag #askJAYPARK. Soon enough, fans send him curious questions or just bombard the hashtag with their love for him.

He answers them sincerely and has touched many fans through his humble words – and also showed off his witty sense of humour.

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