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Jae Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from EaJ)
Not to be confused with Jay Park.
In this Korean name, the family name is Park.
Jae Park
Park in March 2017
Born
Park Jae-hyung

(1992-09-15) September 15, 1992 (age 32)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Other nameseaJ
Education
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active2015–present
Labels
  • JYP
  • The Wizard Room
Formerly of
Korean name
Hangul
박제형
Hanja
朴再興
Revised RomanizationBak Jehyeong
McCune–ReischauerPak Chehyŏng

Park Jae-hyung (Korean: 박제형; born September 15, 1992), known professionally as eaJ (제이),[1] is an Argentine-born American singer, songwriter, and former member of the South Korean rock band Day6. He gained early recognition by competing in the first season of K-pop Star in 2012, where he finished in sixth place before signing with JYP Entertainment. Park debuted as the lead guitarist and vocalist of Day6 in September 2015 and was with the group until his departure in December 2021.

In addition to his work with Day6, Park pursued a solo career under the stage name eaJ, launching the eaJ Project in 2020, where he released several self-written tracks on YouTube and SoundCloud. He has collaborated with various artists, including Seori, Keshi, and DPR Live, and was the co-host of the award-winning How Did I Get Here? podcast. Park is also known for his work as an MC on After School Club and his appearances at Head in the Clouds festivals.

As a mental health advocate, Park has spoken openly about his struggles with panic disorder and created the From Friends project, which raised $100,000 for the Jed Foundation to provide free mental health resources. He continues his solo music career, releasing multiple EPs, including Laughing In Insomnia (2023) and Medicated Insomnia (2023).

Early life

[edit]

Jae Park was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Cerritos, California in early childhood.[2] He graduated from Cerritos High School and later studied political science at California State University, Long Beach. Throughout high school and university, he ran a YouTube channel, "YellowPostItMan", where he uploaded vocal-and-guitar song covers as a hobby.[3]

In 2012, Park took a leave from university to compete as a singer-guitarist in the inaugural season of K-pop Star. Though he was eliminated from the competition in sixth place,[4][unreliable source?] JYP Entertainment (JYPE) offered Park a contract at the end of the show to join the company as a trainee for an upcoming band. Park accepted the offer and moved to South Korea.[5]

Career

[edit]
Main article: Day6

Debut with Day6 and first solo activities (2015–2018)

[edit]

Park debuted on September 7, 2015, as a vocalist and electric guitarist of JYP's first rock band, Day6. The band debuted with their first extended play The Day, with the lead single "Congratulations".[6]

On June 28, 2016, Park became an MC of Arirang's After School Club, a televised music talk show, alongside Jimin Park, labelmate under JYP Entertainment, and Kevin Woo, formerly of U-KISS.[7] He officially graduated as an MC of ASC on July 17, 2018.[8]

In 2017, Park opened his YouTube channel with the name JaeSix and published his first video on September 6, 2017. Over the next year, he uploaded videos of behind-the-scenes vlogs with Day6, as well as videos of activities with his friends. His "season one finale" was posted on July 6, 2018. A singular video was posted as part of "season 1.5" on October 10, 2018, marking the final JaeSix upload.

Rebranding to begin solo music career (2020–2021)

[edit]

Under the name eaJ, Park began a personal music project in 2020, called the eaJ Project, releasing self-written solo tracks. The first song, titled "LA TRAINS", was released on January 16, 2020 on SoundCloud and YouTube.[9] With the start of his music project, he also made private all his previously published YouTube videos for JaeSix. His fourth song of the project, "Pinocchio", was later made private on his YouTube channel after the end of 2021. The fifth song, "Rose", was the only song to have a teaser clip posted before its release. He released eight songs through the eaJ Project, with the final song of the project, "Pacman", being released on July 5, 2020.

On February 5, 2020, Park started his first podcast "How Did I Get Here?", abbreviated as HDIGH, as Jae of Day6, with Dive Studios.[10][11] With episodes releasing every Tuesday, it quickly gained a sizeable audience. Fellow singer AleXa hosted takeover episodes starting from episode #21 until eaJ returned on September 9 in episode #28, and from then onwards, both co-hosted the podcast. HDIGH Podcast won "People's Choice" and "Entertainment" Category by Podcast Award in 2020 and Best Podcast 2020 by Apple Podcast.[12] After over a year of activity, episode #70, the last episode, was released on June 2, 2021.

On May 10, 2020, Park's activities with Day6 were placed on hold as the group took a hiatus to focus on their health, the day before their sixth extended play The Book of Us: The Demon, with the lead single "Zombie", was released on May 11, 2020. During 2020, Park began streaming on Twitch, becoming acquainted with OfflineTV and Friends. He created his own clothing line called "From Friends" with Represent.

On September 16, 2020, Park announced his first collaboration, with Seori for "It just is", released on YouTube on September 22.[13] The song also featured Keshi contributing on production with guitar.[14] The video animation was done by the artist Deisa. On September 21, 2020, Park and 2PM's Nichkhun took on roles as members of crime-fighting boyband "4 2 Sing" in season three of Big Hero 6: The Series. Park played twins Kwang-Sun and Ye Joon, one half of the boy band "4 2 Sing".[15] On November 27, 2020, DPR Live featured Crush and Park on the single "Jam & Butterfly".[16] On December 3, 2020, Park and Keshi released their collaboration single titled "pillows" on YouTube.[17]

On April 19, 2021, after the group's hiatus for their health, Day6, including Park, released their seventh extended play The Book of Us: Negentropy, with the lead single "You Make Me". The group did no promotions for the album. This was the last Day6 release to feature Park. Park was featured on Seori's single "Dive with you",[18] released on August 22, 2021. Park performed at Head in the Clouds Festival 2021 on November 6 to 7, 2021 at the Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.[19]

Departure from Day6 and official solo debut (2021–present)

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On December 31, 2021, Park announced via Twitter that he will be taking a hiatus from his promotions after 6 years as a member of Day6.[20] The same day, JYP Entertainment announced that Park would be leaving the band and ending his exclusive contract with the company for personal reasons.[21][22]

On April 8, 2022, Park released a single titled "Car Crash" on music streaming platforms, starring gaming streamers Valkyrae and Kyedae from 100 Thieves in its music video directed by John Lee.[23][24] This release marked his official solo debut.

On April 11, 2022, Park released the music video for the song "Sincerely," on YouTube. "Sincerely," was later included on his second EP, smiling in insomnia, in April 2023.

On May 25, 2022, Park released his second "Mindset Collection" through the platform Dive Studios.[25]

Park performed at Head in the Clouds Festival 2022 on August 20 to 21, 2022 at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.[26][27]

On October 28, Park performed as a guest artist at the MAX - North America Tour 2022 show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California.[28]

For the first time in his solo career, Park performed as a headliner artist at Head in the Clouds Festival 2022, which took place at Community Park PIK2 in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 3 to 4, 2022.[29]

In December 2022, Park embarked on his first Asia Tour with 2 shows: one at Clapper Studio in Taipei, Taiwan on December 6, 2022 and another at Gateway Theatre in Singapore on December 8, 2022.[30] On December 8, 2022, Park released a single, "typical story", on streaming platforms. The song was later included on his debut EP, laughing in insomnia in February.

Park performed as a headliner artist at Head in the Clouds Festival 2022, which took place at SM Festival Grounds Parañaque City in Manila, Philippines on December 9 to 10, 2022.[31]

On February 3, 2023, Park released his first EP, laughing in insomnia, on streaming platforms, including the single "typical story", previously released in December. He also published a visualizer for the second track, "sober go away", on YouTube on the release day.

Shortly after, Park released his second EP, smiling in insomnia, on April 21, 2023.

Park's third EP, medicated insomnia, was released on June 30, 2023. It included the pre-release single, "in my civic", as well as releasing for the first time on streaming platforms three of the songs that had previously been released in 2020 as part of the eaJ Project: "la trains", "50 proof", and "pacman", with the titles of "la trains" and "pacman" being re-stylized in lowercase. It also included the song "Sincerely,", which he had previously released on YouTube a year ago in April 2022.

Park was featured on vaultboy's single "everything, everywhere", released on November 3, 2023.

On January 17, 2024, Park worked with Zaya Lyn to release a "ghibli inspired version" of his song "castle in the sky", originally released in February 2023 on his first EP laughing in insomnia. The single also included an instrumental version.

Park released the single "mad" on February 23, 2024. He released the single "friendly fire" on May 10 and released a visualizer for the song on May 24.

Park and Hindia collaborated for the single "right where you left me", released on July 5, 2024, with its accompanying visualizer.

Personal life

[edit]

On May 10, 2020, JYP Entertainment announced that Day6 would be taking a hiatus due to the mental health concerns of some members.[32] In an interview with Allure, Park revealed that he had a panic attack and was diagnosed with panic disorder in April 2020.[33] Almost a week after JYP's official announcement, Park shared on his personal Twitter account an update on his condition and began sharing his experiences with mental health.[34][unreliable source?]

On September 15, 2020, Park initiated From Friends, a project partnered with Represent, selling clothing and other merchandise.[35] The campaign raised $100,000 which was donated to the Jed Foundation, which helps provide free mental health resources to teenagers and young adults.[36]

Discography

[edit]
For Park's work with Day6, see Day6 discography.

Extended plays

[edit]
List of extended plays and showing selected details
Title Album details
Laughing In Insomnia
Track listing
  1. "Typical Story"
  2. "Sober Go Away"
  3. "Traveler"
  4. "Wallflower"
  5. "Castle in the Sky"
Smiling In Insomnia
  • Released: April 21, 2023
  • Label: eaJ's notepad
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
Track listing
  1. "Enemy"
  2. "Lennon
  3. "LA STARS"
  4. "Safe in the Rain"
  5. "No One's Fault"
Medicated Insomnia
  • Released: June 30, 2023
  • Label: eaJ's notepad
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
Track listing
  1. "LA Trains"
  2. "Sincerely,"
  3. "50 Proof"
  4. "Pacman"
  5. "In My Civic"
When the Rain Stopped Following Me
  • Released: September 20, 2024
  • Label: eaJ's notepad
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
Track listing
  1. "I Just Want My 20s Back"
  2. "Mad"
  3. "Friendly Fire"
  4. "Right Where You Left Me" (with Hindia)
  5. "Burn" (with salem ilese)
  6. "When the Rain Stops"

Singles

[edit]

As lead artist

[edit]
List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name
Title Year Album Notes
"Better Man" 2012 Non-album singles Released under the name "Jae Park" rather than "eaJ"
"Car Crash" 2022
"Typical Story" Laughing In Insomnia
"Visions"
(with Valorant and Safari Riot) 		2023 Non-album single
"Enemy" Smiling In Insomnia
"Lennon"
"LA STARS"
"Safe in the Rain"
"In My Civic" Medicated Insomnia
"castle in the sky (ghibli inspired version)"
(with Zaya Lyn) 		2024 Non-album single
"Mad" When the Rain Stopped Following Me
"Friendly Fire"
"Right Where You Left Me"
(with Hindia)
"Burn"
(with salem ilese)
[edit]
List of singles as featured artist, showing year released, selected chart positions and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
KOR
"Jam & Butterfly"
(DPR Live featuring Crush and eaJ) 		2020 — Non-album single
"Working for the Weekend" (Party Pupils Remix)
(Max featuring eaJ) 		2021 — Colour Vision (Deluxe)
"Dive with You"
(Seori featuring eaJ) 		—[A] Non-album singles
"Stab"
(Big Naughty featuring eaJ) 		—[B]
"everything, everywhere"
(vaultboy featuring eaJ) 		2023 — everything and nothing
"IMAGINE"
(slchld featuring eaJ) 		2024 — APOLOGY
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Notes

  1. ^ "Dive with You" did not enter the Gaon Digital Chart, but peaked at number 75 on the Gaon Download Chart.[37]
  2. ^ "Stab" did not enter the Gaon Digital Chart, but peaked at number 149 on the Gaon Download Chart.[38]

Filmography

[edit]
For Park's work with Day6, see Day6 § Filmography.

Television shows

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Year Title Role Note Ref
2011 K-pop Star Season 1 Contestant Placed in the top six [39]
2016 Cool Kiz on the Block Contestant Badminton episode 164–165
2016–2018 After School Club Host Episodes 218–324, graduated episode 325
2020 Big Hero 6: The Series Kwang-Sun and Ye Joon (voice) Episode: "Big Hero Battle" [15]

Podcasts

[edit]
Year Title Role Note Ref
2020–2021 How Did I Get Here? (HDIGH) Co-host [11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "day6jae :: 네이버 인물검색". people.search.naver.com (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  2. ^ Eric Nam (26 August 2019). "Ep. #20 | Catching Up: Jae of Day6". Kpop Daebak w/ Eric Nam (Podcast). DIVE Studios. Event occurs at 04:49. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  3. ^ Eric Nam (26 August 2019). "Ep. #20 | Catching Up: Jae of Day6". Kpop Daebak w/ Eric Nam (Podcast). DIVE Studios. Event occurs at 05:30. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  4. ^ jbarky (2012-04-02). "Park Jae Hyung Dropped from April 1 Show of SBS K-Pop Star'". Soompi. Archived from the original on 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  5. ^ Eric Nam (26 August 2019). "Ep. #20 | Catching Up: Jae of Day6". Kpop Daebak w/ Eric Nam (Podcast). DIVE Studios. Event occurs at 16:25. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  6. ^ "JYP's Boy Band DAY6 Debuts With "The Day" Mini Album and "Congratulations" MV". Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  7. ^ Kim, Eun-ha (2016-06-22). 데이식스 멤버 제이, 아리랑TV 'After School Club' MC 합류. Aju News. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  8. ^ "[After School Club] Jae (제형)'s GRADUATION! _ Full Episode - Ep.325". ARIRANG K-POP. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  9. ^ Deen, Sarah (January 17, 2020). "Day6 member Jae changes name to eaJ as he flies solo for LA TRAINS track". Metro. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  10. ^ "K-Pop Podcasts to Check Out During Coronavirus Lockdown". Billboard. March 24, 2020. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "How Did I Get Here". Archived from the original on 2021-04-04. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  12. ^ "Podcast Awards - The People's Choice". www.podcastawards.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-04. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  13. ^ Jae Park [@eajpark] (September 16, 2020). "Soooo first collab! @seori_official" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-10-26 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Jae Park [@eajpark] (September 16, 2020). "Exactly what it says @keshimusic LOL" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-10-26 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ a b "Watch K-Pop Stars Jae Park and Nichkhun Guest Star and Sing in Disney's Big Hero 6". E! Online. October 11, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  16. ^ 디피알 라이브, 오늘 신곡 'Jam & Butterfly' 발매…크러쉬, 제이 피처링. SBS Biz (in Korean). 2020-11-27. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  17. ^ Jae Park [@eajpark] (November 27, 2020). "12.04 eaJ x keshi Pillows 12pm KST" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-10-26 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Seori [@seori_official] (August 22, 2021). "[#Notice]" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-10-26 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "Head In The Clouds Festival - Los Angeles, CA". hitcfestival.com. Archived from the original on 2022-08-23. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  20. ^ eaJ [@eajpark] (December 31, 2021). "message letter screenshot" (Tweet). Retrieved 2024-07-29 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Lee, Seung-hoon (2022-01-01). 데이식스 제이, 팀 활동 잠정 중단.."JYP 논의 후 쉬어가야 될 것 같다고 판단"[전문]. OSEN [ko] (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  22. ^ Lee, Tae-soo (2022-01-01). 밴드 데이식스 제이 탈퇴…JYP "개인적인 사정". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2022-01-01. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  23. ^ "Archived copy". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ^ "[INTERVIEW] eaJ Talks About "Car Crash," Gratitude for His Fans, and More!". Genius. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  25. ^ "Mindset_Dive Twitter status". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  26. ^ "88rising Twitter status: Head in The Clouds Festival 2022". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  27. ^ Mims, Taylor (2022-05-23). "Jackson Wang, NIKI and Rich Brian to Headline 2022 Head in the Clouds Festival". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  28. ^ "MAXMusic Twitter status". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-08-23. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  29. ^ Castillo, Madeline (2022-09-19). "Head in the Clouds Jakarta unveils full lineup: NIKI, Jackson Wang, Joji, eaJ, and more". Bandwagon Asia. Archived from the original on 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  30. ^ "eaJ Asia Tour". Live Nation Asia. Archived from the original on 2022-11-05. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  31. ^ CNN Philippines Staff (2022-10-03). "88rising unveils lineup for Head in the Clouds Manila 2022". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-11-04. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  32. ^ Lee, Gyu-lee (2020-05-11). "DAY6 to go on hiatus due to health issue". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  33. ^ Abelman, Devon (15 January 2021). "A Severe Panic Attack Changed Jae of DAY6's Approach to Mental Health". Allure. Archived from the original on 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  34. ^ Lim, J. (May 16, 2020). "DAY6's Jae Shares Welcome Update And Expresses Deep Love And Gratitude To Fans". Soompi. Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  35. ^ Represent [@Represent] (August 20, 2020). "It's official #fromfriendswithjae @jae_day6 @day6official #jae #jaeday6 #day6 #jyp #kpop https://t.co/oBc7Ksrp7d" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2021 – via Twitter.
  36. ^ Represent [@Represent] (December 4, 2020). "Our fav, Jae Park, donated $100,000 to The Jed Foundation to help protect emotional health and prevent suicide among teens and young adults. Grateful for good ones like you, Jae!! A massive thank you to everyone who supported "From Friends" and made this donation possible ❤️ https://t.co/gbiXFy1FPi" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021 – via Twitter.
  37. ^ 2021년 35주차 Download Chart. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  38. ^ 2021년 47주차 Download Chart [Week 47 of 2021 Download Chart]. Gaon Chart. November 14–20, 2021. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  39. ^ "K-PopStar". Daum. July 24, 2012. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
[edit]
  • Media related to Jae Park at Wikimedia Commons
  • Jae on JYP Publishing
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