In the 1990s, K-pop was still in its infancy. As it was attempting to gain a foothold in its home country and continent, there was still an effort to introduce American audiences to the genre. Here, we’ll speak about one of the trailblazers and icons of the scene known by many names, be it the Asiansoul, JYP, J.Y. Park, or Park Jin-young.
JYP started his musical journey in 1992 with the group Park Jinyoung and the New Generation, but eventually found great success as a solo artist with his 1994 debut album “Blue City” with the lead single “Don’t Leave Me”. Eventually, in 1997 he created his own company, the powerhouse that is now known as JYP Entertainment. Through this company, he has signed and formed some of the biggest idols and groups in the industry, such as Rain, The Wonder Girls, 2PM, TWICE, and Stray Kids just to name a few. In addition to signing these acts, he also has a creative hand in some of them. This includes writing many hits, such as TWICE’s What is Love?, 2PM’s Again and Again, and Nobody by Wonder Girls. He even performed 50 of his #1 hits in a live concert.
JYP has always been open about his American musical influences. Living in the States for a few years in his youth, he has expressed his love for Motown and growing up (so much so that many of the music rooms in the JYPE building are named after prominent American music icons such as Michael Jackson and Prince) and the huge amount of inspiration he has gathered from legends of that era, such as Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.
Western Reach
In terms of his work in the States, JYP has been working with Western artists since the 90s. One such example was writing and featuring in “Forever With You” with American RnB group Portrait in 1996. He has also taken a heavy hand in pushing his signed artists, most notably Wonder Girls and Rain, to promote in the United States while most other groups and soloists solely focused on promoting in Korea and Japan (more on them later😉). His work in the US would net him recognition from music publications here as well, such as Billboard. He would also go on to collaborate with notable American celebrities, such as Conan O’Brien and Steven Yeun for 2012’s “Fire”, and Nick Cannon for 2012’s Wonder Girls film (again, we will go into more detail at a later part).
Even today, JYP looks to make an impact on the American music scene. He has partnered with Republic Records to create an American girl group, currently titled A2K, and held auditions last September in major cities across the US. In addition, all of the groups under JYP Entertainment are also now partnered with Republic, giving them a huge boost in American sales and recognition. This boost has helped his groups reach top spots in the billboard charts over the past couple of years, with Stray Kids’ last 3 projects all debuting at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. His influence in growing K-pop in the West can still be felt decades later due to his work in pushing boundaries that others didn’t until he, or his groups, tried first.
Many of the groups and artists under his label have also made strides in the US throughout the years, one of whom is coming up next…
Notable Tracks
- Fever (2019)
- Don’t Leave Me (날 떠나지마) (1994)
- Who’s Your Mama (2015)
