Seven agencies come together for GOT7's new EP

K-pop

Published: 23 May. 2022, 17:24 Updated: 23 May. 2022, 18:25

Seven agencies come together for GOT7's new EP

Boy band GOT7 poses during a press conference for its new EP "GOT7" on May 23. [WARNER MUSIC KOREA]

Boy band GOT7 showed that it still stands proud and tall as a team during its comeback showcase in southern Seoul’s Gangnam on Monday.

The group of seven — Mark, Jay B, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam and Yugyeom — is back together with its new EP “GOT7.” The boy bad debuted in 2014 and released hit after hit including “A” (2014), “Just Right” (2015), “If You Do” (2015) and “Hard Carry” (2016).

But after releasing a digital single in February 2021, the band members’ contracts with JYP Entertainment ended and they went their separate ways.

They did however, emphasize that they were not disbanding and true to their word, after a year-and three-months, they're back.

“We feel very lucky that we’re able to make a comeback as a complete group of seven,” said Jay B. “We’d like to thank each member’s agency for cooperating and making this possible. We always said all seven of us would be back, but it’s like a dream that it has actually become a reality.”

“We’re so glad we can keep our promise and repay our fans, who have waited for us,” said Jinyoung.

“We wanted to keep our promise to fans,” BamBam said. “Unlike a lot of people’s misunderstanding, GOT7 did not disband, and we wanted to prove it. So we took a break in our individual activities and will focus on the team for now.”

GOT7 [WARNER MUSIC KOREA]

The band's comeback serves as an inspiration for K-pop groups to go on, even after members' contracts with their agencies end. Each of the GOT7 members now belongs to different management, but their new agencies have cooperated for the group’s comeback.

“Our agencies were all so dedicated to us being active as GOT7 again,” Jinyoung said. "Sometimes I felt like they were more dedicated than we were! It wasn’t easy. But technology is so convenient nowadays that we were able to do video call meetings online and work on our album despite social distancing and some members being abroad.”

The members participated in the production process, showing their eagerness to create their own music. The music and lyrics of the lead track “Nanana,” a bright and relaxed number, were written by Jay B.

“Overall, this album shows a much richer variety of sounds,” Jay B said. “We used to prefer a very powerful style of music, but now, we’re able to enjoy chill, fun songs [like ‘Nanana’] just as much.”

“To this day, it feels so natural to be a part of GOT7,” said Yugyeom. “We all started as members of GOT7, and we’ve known each other for over 10 years including our trainee days.”

“It [the hiatus] was a time to refresh and remind ourselves to never forget where we came from,” Jay B added.

GOT7 [WARNER MUSIC KOREA]

Since GOT7’s contract with JYP Entertainment has expired, obtaining the copyright for the group name was quite a journey, according to Jay B.

“Trademark rights are such a tricky matter,” he said. “But [JYP’s] CEO Jung Wook gladly agreed to hand over the GOT7 trademark to us. Then I contacted a lawyer, who told me that it’s extremely rare case for a trademark to be handed over this amicably. I’d like to thank CEO Jung and producer Park Jin-young again. I collected all the necessary documents and signatures from members, and I realized it’s not easy at all. It made me humble and grateful toward the agency and employees who usually do these things for us.”

“We may not be able to be as active as we were before, but we want to keep showing ourselves as a group in between our individual schedules,” he added.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]