Why Jay Park was driven to complete his R&B album and discover new K-Pop stars

Jay Park, a Korean rapper and singer, joins The Hollywood Reporter on Zoom after releasing his 20-track R&B album, The One You Wanted, which he has been working on for years.

Jay Park.

More Vision

The 37-year-old Seattle native has extensive experience in Korean entertainment. Park began his career as a K-Pop idol before transitioning to a solo hip hop musician. He was the first Asian talent to sign to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label. He has since launched other entertainment organizations, including More Vision, a music company where he currently serves as CEO.

The One You Wanted, which features collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign, K-Pop icon IU, and Hwasa, has been years in the making for the singer, who last released an R&B album in 2016 and has been working on finishing his most recent album since then. People identify Park as a variety of things, including rapper, CEO, and entrepreneur, but he believes that they identify more with his dance, R&B, and pop songs.

"I'm not going to be able to do that much longer," he admits, joking that people mock individuals who were "sexy back in the day" yet are still doing music. "I understand that my time in this space is short. As an artist, it was really vital for me to release this project."

Park says he told supporters on social media year after year that he would release the project. "I would be in the studio, I would work on R&B songs, but then things just kept on coming up, whether it be me resigning from AOMG and H1ghr Music [the first two entertainment companies he founded] and starting More Vision, Won Soju, other projects," he begins.

"A lot of stuff kept coming up, so I couldn't finish the album, and I tried to just set some time apart; I would fly Cha Cha (Malone) out and say, 'Yo, we got to finish the record.' "I think we tried it two or three times and just couldn't do it," he recalls. "I was just too swamped with different things, too many things on my mind."

Park said he set aside time this year to focus on the album. "I was just determined to finish it. "We finished it, and everything just came together so perfectly," he explains. "The seven years was very rough, and the last six months was good."

The singer-rapper has kept himself busy as CEO of More Vision. The label's current roster includes Park, singer Chung Ha, dancer Honey J and her HolyBang troupe, and MVP (More Vision Project). Park, on the other hand, is already looking ahead, stating that the company is presently seeking for potential K-Pop idols.

"We're in the midst of continuously producing the idol group, and hopefully we'll have them debut early 2026," Park explains. "We have a guy group and a girl group, and they're getting ready at the same time."

The CEO believes a good vocal tone is essential in performers he wants to sign to his business. "You could be the best singer in the world, but if you don't have a pleasing tone, you're not going to listen to the music," he jokes. "You have a lot of people, they seem great, they sing great, and they do well on certain shows like The Voice or whatever, or YouTube auditions, but their music doesn't pop off."

Park explains that this is his first experience producing an idol group and that he relied mainly on his instincts to make decisions. "Everything's by instinct and I trust my instinct because that's what's got me this far," according to him. "I suppose I'm the only one that started as an idol, went solo, formed a hip hop group, and was the first Asian American to sign with Roc Nation. Now we're coming full circle and becoming an idol group."

He says he's optimistic about the present trainees. "I am very confident in the group of children we have." "They sing great and sound better than me," Park says. "I think they'll definitely be my opportunity to take a step back and just be like, 'Alright, take the torch.'"

The rapper-turned-CEO says he takes a unique approach to advising new artists. "I don't try to teach, or I don't try to give answers, but I just try to share my experience, and if that helps 'em in some type of way, that's great," he jokes.

"For me, knowledge and experience are undoubtedly a benefit. It is something that is quite valuable to me. Park says, "I don't try to use that as leverage for people."

He continues: "I want to see people happy. I don't need to monetize anything."