J.Y. Park

K-pop artist, producer, and record executive J.Y. Park—who is also known by the alias the Asiansoul and the initials JYP—was born Park Jin-young (Hangeul: 박진영) on 13 December 1971 in Seoul, South Korea. He stepped out as a musician with the South Korean boy group Park Jin Young and the NG (New Generation) (박진영과 신세대), with Kim Soo-chul as a producer and members Cho Hye-sung and Yoon Tae-jin, before launching his solo career in 1994 with the track "Don't Leave Me" (날 떠나지마) from his debut album Blue City. Three years later, he co-founded what is now one of South Korea's leading entertainment conglomerates, the world-dominating JYP Entertainment Corporation, with Bang Si-hyuk, who became the duel force behind the phenomenally successful five-member 2000s boy group Groove Over Dose (known by the acronym g.o.d). Propelled by his newfound status as a hit-maker, in 2004 J.Y. Park became the first Asian producer to plant himself firmly on US music industry soil, writing and producing songs for the likes of Will Smith, Cassie, Mase, and others. Five years later, he pulled off the ultimate feat when he became the first Korean songwriter, alongside RAINSTONE, to make it into the US Billboard Hot 100 with the Wonder Girls' hit "Nobody." He kept up the momentum on the 2011 collaborative single with Brown Eyed Girls' singer Ga-In, "Someone Else," which went to number two in South Korea, and the number three-charting single "You're the One" followed in April 2012. In 2015 he was named Best Male Artist and Best Producer at the Mnet Asian Music Awards. Over the next decade, he continued to rack up hit singles at a consistent rate, from 2016's "Who's Your Mama?"—which made it into the Digital Bonsang category at the 2016 Golden Disc Awards—and "Still Alive" and 2020's "When We Disco" with Sunmi to 2022's "Groove Back" featuring Gaeko.