Jay Park

Background

Jae-beom Park, more commonly known as Jay Park, is a Korean-American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, dancer, and singer-songwriter. As a child, Park showed great interest in hip hop and breakdancing. He attended Edmonds Woodway and has stated he listened to a lot of hip hop and rap music in his early years, spending time writing and rapping songs during high school.

In 2003, Park became a member of the b-boy crew Art of Movement and often skipped class to participate in b-boy competitions. He eventually tried out for a local advertising agency where he joined the Korean boy group 2PM as the lead. Park initially rose to fame with his role as 2PM’s lead singer and this led him to return to Korea in June 2010 for the filming of “Hype Nation,” a 2014 drama film. In July 2010, he signed with SidusHQ, one of the largest entertainment industries in South Korea, to start his solo career as a singer and rapper.

Park completed his university education at Dankook University. During this time, he was also selected by JYP Entertainment to receive training for the K-pop scene, mastering aspects such as dancing, rapping, singing, and Korean. His first E.P., “Count on Me” was at the top of the charts in Korea at its release, following his mini-album “Take a Deeper Look,” which charted at number three on the Billboard World Albums chart.