[TRANS] 140707 Jay Park 10asia interview.

Q. It seems every time the music starts your body can't stay still, you said you started dancing from 5 years old, how did you get into b-boying?

Jay: ever since i was little, when there was dancing on tv i always danced along. I started b-boying formally when I was in high school. a high school hip-hop club, something like a circle in our country, that's where i started b-boying. I really immersed myself into dancing during that time. getting along with fellow bboys in the neighborhood and going to their practice rooms, I practiced at a place like YMCA too. back then I was really crazy about dancing. my head was full of thoughts about b-boying, always looking up new videos, skipping class and going dancing.

Q.I saw the video of you participating in R16 doing b-boying, how did you get to participate?

Jay: even before I debuted I always looked up R16 with a lot of interest. when the first r16 championship started in 2007, I was a trainee, I started watching from then on. because it's a festival where the best b-boys in the world are round up. These days I'm busy so I can't b-boy alot like before but back then I had alot of passion doing it.. after I debuted as a singer, it got revealed that I was a b-boy, so I was called in to become the ambassador for R16. I was really happy. since I can stand together with the b-boys I respected when I was younger.

Q. You also participated in R16 as a contestant.

Jay: It really was a surreal experience. The hyungs I watched in videos when I was young,we made a team together with hyungs like ‘b-boy ducky’ and participated . It was a great experience to work with bboys I looked up to when I was younger. Together we created choreo and practiced hard, we reached the semi-finals in korea.

Q. You must have been really happy.

Jay: That's right. To be honest I just like b-boying, I don't do b-boying as a job. but since I really like it I wanted to participate in an event like r16. my passion for b-boying hasn't stopped so i always try to do it when I have time on my hands. that's because I can't forget the inspiration I felt when I was crazy about dancing. For this year I'm having high hopes on and looking forward to see the Gamblerz crew. The Gamblerz crew has been showing world class b-boying for over 10 years. They were being on the low for a while, but they made a strong comeback so i'm having high expectations. Among the judges is the legendary b-boy storm from Germany whom I really respect. Though he has aged he still has all the genres perfectly mastered. And even though he's achieved legendary status he doesn't grow arrogant but stays humble and still has respect for his juniors and that's awesome.

Q. While b-boying what moves did you have trouble with?

Jay: When I first started I had trouble doing the "Freeze" and the "Airchair". One thing I regret is not focusing more on the power moves back then. I focused on the footwork alongside the freeze and practiced like that so I can't execute the power moves as good right now and that's a pity. On the stage the crowd likes it when you do stuff like powermoves.(Laughs)

Q. You were doing b-boying and then had to do the same work as 2pm, wasn't that awkward?

Jay: It's all dancing so I didn't feel awkward. Even if it's not b-boying I have a lot of interest in dance in itself. Because I'm a dancer. learning 2pm's dance wasn't difficult.

Q. Recently you're appearing on the program "Dancing9" as a master.Having been busy with dancing yourself, and having to judge someone else dancing must feel different.

Jay : At first it felt a bit awkward. Because I haven't been taught dancing formally. I just liked dancing with friends in high school. though I did receive training for a while when I was a trainee, I haven't been taught properly from the basics on. My dance concentrates on the feel and groove. Since dancing9 features alot of contemporary dance and ballet, I worried about how to judge that.

Q. There's a video of you dancing on Dancing9. The natural and free feel like street dance was good.

Jay: I danced for fun when we were taking a break. The standby time can be really long. so the masters decided since it's boring let's just dance ourselves, and I did it like that. I didn't know it was recording and even made jokes but it was edited and went out like that, but the editing was done nicely so.(Laugh)

Q. You mentioned recently that you couldn't dance as well as you could before?

Jay: Well, I got really busy after I started my own agency. Other singers receive songs from producers, and their agency decides on their concepts, but as for myself now from 1 to 10 everything is decided by me. I write the song, Decide on the music video concept, Come up with the choreography,also involved in designing the album jacket too so i'm really busy. But I still b-boy when I have time. Because it's fun.

Q. In October last year you started your own label AOMG. How do you feel running the label?

Jay: Why go to another agency and receive all these restraints when I'm the one making my own music? I started it in order to just enjoy making the music that I want to and also to give skilled artists a chance to shine. So I started it to form a crew with the people I like and run it like a family, and it really turned out like that. For now the stuff that is coming out has exceeded my past expectations. I didn't expect for artists in our agency like Loco and gray to do so well in such a short time.

Q. How did you decide on the current artists of AOMG?

Jay: Crush introduced me to Gray.. Gray hyung's music is good and he has a handsome face but he wasn't in an agency so I thought "why doesn't he have an agency? Let's see if we can work together", So I planned Gray as the first artist of AOMG. Also my friend who I've been b-boying with since young Cha-Cha, Jeongoon who composed taeyangs I need a girl, and also composed my song "Star". We got together like that and made a start. After that VV:D's Loco and Elo also joined by Gray's introduction. they're all in the same crew and friends. They're all very talented and if we can get acquainted and make music together it would be great so I recruited all of them. After they joined I also brought them along on my tours. Because their face needs to get out there and they need to stack experience performing on stage. I also needed a DJ for my tours so I worked together with DJ Pumkin and we matched really well so I brought him in too. As for Simon D, he ended his contract with his former agency so I made him a proposal. After thinking about it a bit, he saw our agency atmosphere and instantly gave the OK.

Q. Being active as a singer and also being a CEO, isn't it difficult?

Jay: It's not. Because our artists can all make their own music. I don't really have to interfere much. They're all talented so they'll do well, My job is to package it and release what they do. So in other words I do the production. But for example for Gray and Loco, since they're lacking stage experience compared to me, I do give them advice. Aside from that I shot a lot for Magazines and jacket photo's so I give them advice on how to pose.

Q. You debuted with an idol group, but it feels like you have completely transitioned to Hip-Hop.

Jay: To be honest I was all about hip-hop from the start. I listened to hip-hop since I was young. Watched, listened and grew up with hip-hop. Being a part of an Idol group was like wearing clothes that didn't match for me . Of course back then it was a chance given to me so I did my best for it. People who have met me recently say they have a hard time imagining I was in an Idol group once, saying it doesn't feel like the same person. I also feel the same. I feel happy that they're saying I look more natural and free now.

Q. Recently people have been saying Idol-fans are transitioning to hip-hop thanks to Jay Park.

Jay: That's what I really want. It's no fun if you hear the same thing in music every time. always receiving songs from the same producer and composers and doing the same concepts gets stale. So I hope that fans can support artists that come out with their own individual color and hope to see more of that. musicians like Zion.T, Crush, Loco, Gray that I like.

Q. When can we expect your new album?

Jay:It was supposed to be released in July but it was pushed back, I think it will release before the summer ends. Recently I'm absent minded because of being busy preparing for the album, I just came back from shooting an M/V in the states, Now I'm doing the mixing and mastering and working on the choreography.

Article: http://tenasia.hankyung.com/archives/279230

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