Jay Park returns to R&B roots with new album 'The One You Wanted'

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Jay Park returns to R&B roots with new album 'The One You Wanted'

Published: 09 Oct. 2024, 16:30 Updated: 09 Oct. 2024, 17:48

YOON SO-YEON
yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr

Singer Jay Park explains his new songs from ″The One You Wanted″ album to reporters at a press conference held in southern Seoul on Oct. 8. [MORE VISION]

“I think people are going to think that this album won’t have a big impact. But that’s what I’m going for — a timeless classic that’s listened to five, 10 years from now.”

Jay Park, also known in Korea as Park Jae-beom, gave himself this harsh yet ambitious assessment of his new album, “The One You Wanted,” during a press conference held Tuesday in southern Seoul.

“The One You Wanted” is Park’s first full-length album in five years, since “The Road Less Traveled (2019), and his first R&B album in eight years since “Everything You Wanted” (2016).

The album is filled with a whopping 20 R&B songs, nine of which are new, and 11 singles that were released in the past — such as his collaboration with singer IU, “Ganadara” (2022), and with Natty of girl group Kiss of Life, “Taxi Blurr.”

“The songs may not seem impactful enough, but I think I made these songs so that they can be listened to 10 years later and still never go out of style,” he said. “Singers inevitably get sensitive about going out of style or following the trend. But I take pride in my music. I’m confident. The very fact that I’m releasing songs that I worked on six or seven years ago shows that I can take that risk.”

Singer Jay Park at a press conference on Oct. 8 in southern Seoul [MORE VISION]

Park wrote the music and lyrics for all the album's songs except “Recall.” The aim was to make the songs “the most Jay Park” and make people immediately realize at first listen, “This is definitely Jay Park,” the singer said.

Park has released hundreds of songs in various genres ever since beginning his solo career in 2010 with “Count On Me,” but his biggest hits were R&B tracks, such as “All I Wanna Do” (2016) and “Ganadara” (2022) or hip-hop tracks that flaunted his sexier, sensual side, such as “Mommae” (2015).

The cover image for Jay Park's new album, ″The One You Wanted″ [MORE VISION]

Fully aware of the public’s wants, the singer came back with an R&B album that’s literally aimed at being “The One You Wanted” for the audience.

“I’ve written around 400 songs during my music career,” he said. “And I know that a lot of the songs that people consider as the most iconic for me are from the ‘Everything You Wanted’ album in 2016. So, I’ve always planned on releasing an R&B album, but I really didn’t get the time to do so because I had so much on my hands. But I put everything together I’ve worked on over the past seven years and put out this music.”

Park walked the reporters through all 20 songs during Tuesday’s conference, 19 of which he wrote and composed himself with the exception of “Recall.” The track was created by R&B artist Thama and Way Ched, and given to Park.

“I’m the only person who can make these kinds of songs,” he said. “I know that I’m the only artist who has this kind of experience and can make this style of music. I hope that people listen to it a lot, but even if they don’t, I know that people will always hear my music and think, ‘Isn’t this Jay Park?’ because I’m just irreplaceable.”

“The One You Wanted” contains three lead tracks, each featuring another artist: “Mayday” with U.S. rapper Ty Dolla $ign, “Gimme A Minute” with singer Chungha, who joined Park’s self-established agency More Vision in October last year, and “Piece of Heaven” featuring Isol, a trainee at More Vision who is getting prepared to make her debut as a member of the agency’s first K-pop girl group.

Images from the music video of Jay Park's new track, ″Gimme A Minute″ featuring singer Chungha [MORE VISION]

“This song is quite special to me,” Park said, referring to the last lead track “Piece of Heaven.”

“I wrote this song while we were all going through tough times during the Covid-19 pandemic, so it’s got this holy vibe telling everyone to not lose hope,” he said. “The reason I featured Isol was because she is so sincere. She desperately wants to be an artist and I can really feel it. She seemed the right fit for the song and she was ready. It’s also a sneak peek into what a Jay Park-made idol group would be like.”

Having founded his new agency More Vision in March 2022, Park stated last month during a television talk show that he was getting ready to roll out a K-pop girl group and boy band within the next two years.

Singer Jay Park explains his new songs from ″The One You Wanted″ album to reporters at a press conference held in southern Seoul on Oct. 8. [MORE VISION]

The news came only as a mild shock, as Park has been known to take part in a wide array of activities over his 16-year career.

Park debuted in 2008 as the leader of boy band 2PM under JYP Entertainment but left the band the following year, beginning his solo career in 2010.

In 2013, he founded his first hip-hop label, and then founded a second hip-hop label, H1gher Music, in 2017. He joined Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in the same year while also taking part in multiple TV shows as a host or judge. This included seven seasons of Mnet’s “Show Me The Money” (2012-2022) hip-hop audition series, Chinese audition programs “The Next 2023” (2023) and “Street Dance of China 6” (2023) and JTBC’s idol revival show “Peak Time” (2023).

Singer Jay Park explains his new songs from ″The One You Wanted″ album to reporters at a press conference held in southern Seoul on Oct. 8. [MORE VISION]

He even founded a beverage manufacturer named Wonspirits in 2021 and rolled out the soju brand Won Soju in February 2022.

“I think it’s been both my strength and weakness — that I just try everything and start from zero,” he said. “I’m so used to trying new things, but I think it’s come to this point that having too many challenges has become a problem for me. There’s only so much I can do with my time, so I think it’s time for me to stop making new investments or sacrifices and just focus on what I have.”

“The One You Wanted” was released on Tuesday at a 6 p.m. A pop-up store exhibiting photos, merchandise and more will take place from Wednesday until Sunday in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul. Visitors can enter on a first-come, first-served basis.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]