Jay Park on Why He Was Determined to Finish His R&B Album and Producing New K-Pop Groups
Korean rapper and singer Jay Park is fresh off the release of his 20-track R&B album, The One You Wanted, something he’s been working on for years, when he jumps on a Zoom with The Hollywood Reporter.
The 37-year-old, a Seattle native, has had a lengthy career in Korean entertainment. Beginning his as a K-Pop idol, Park moved on to become a solo hip hop artist, he was the first Asian act signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label. He has since founded several entertainment companies, including More Vision, the music label he currently resides as CEO of.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
The One You Wanted, which features several collaborations including Ty Dolla $ign, K-Pop icon IU and Hwasa, has been years in the making for artist – he last released an R&B album in 2016 and has been working to finish his recent album since then. Park says people identify him as different things, whether it be rapper, CEO, entrepreneur, but he feels that fans most identify with the dance, R&B and pop side of him and his music.
“I’m not going to be able to do that much longer,” he says, joking that people roast those who were “sexy back in the day” but keep making the music. “I know that my time in this space is very limited. And so for me, it was very important for me to, as an artist, definitely to put out this project.”
Park says he recalls telling fans on social media year after year that he would release the project. “I would be in the studio, I would work on R&B songs, but then things just kept on coming up, whether it be me resigning from AOMG and H1ghr Music [the first two entertainment companies he founded] and starting More Vision, Won Soju, other projects,” he begins.
“A bunch of things kept on coming up, so I wasn’t able to finish the album, and I tried to really just set some time aside, I would fly Cha Cha (Malone) out and be like, ‘Yo, we got to finish the album.’ I think we did it two or three times and just wasn’t able to do it,” he says. “I was just too swamped with different things, too many things on my mind.”
Park says he blocked off a period of time this year to dedicate to the album. “I was just determined on finishing it. We finished it and it all just kind of came together very perfectly,” he says. “The seven years was very rough, and the last six months was good.”
The singer and rapper has kept himself busy in his role as CEO of More Vision. The label’s current roster includes Park, singer Chung Ha, dancer Honey J and her crew HolyBang and MVP (More Vision Project). Park, however, is already looking ahead, confirming that company is currently prospective K-Pop idols.
“We’re in the midst of continuously producing the idol group, and hopefully we’ll have them debut early 2026,” Park explains. “We have a guy group and a girl group, and they’re getting ready at the same time.”
The CEO says a good vocal tone is very important in artists he wants to sign to his label. “You could be the best singer in the world, but if you don’t have a pleasing tone, you’re not going to listen to the music,” he says. “You have a lot of people, they seem great, they sing great, and they do well on certain shows like The Voice or whatever, or YouTube auditions, but their music doesn’t pop off.”
Park explains this is his first time producing an idol group and that he heavily relied on his own instinct when making decisions. “Everything’s by instinct and I trust my instinct because that’s what’s got me this far,” he says. “I think I’m the only one that’s started as an idol, went solo, started a hip hop group, first Asian American to sign to Roc Nation. Now we’re coming back full circle and producing an idol group.”
He says he’s feeling good about the current trainees. “I am very confident in the group of kids that we have. They sing great, they sound better than me,” Park says. “I think they’ll definitely be my opportunity to take a step back and just be like, ‘Alright, take the torch.'”
As an advisor to younger artists, the rapper turned CEO says he takes a different approach than most. “I don’t try to teach, or I don’t try to give answers, but I just try to share my experience, and if that helps ’em in some type of way, that’s great,” he says.
“For me, knowledge and experience, it’s definitely an asset. It is something that is very valuable for me. I don’t try to use that as some type of leverage for people,” Park says.
He adds: “I want to see people happy. I don’t have to monetize everything.”
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
