JUST LIKE most of the Korean Pop fans out there, I stumbled across the all boy group GOT7 by accident. In my YouTube recommendation was their honestly catchy, bubbly and feel good video of the song “Just Right”. After watching that, I am hooked!
After listening to more songs of the group, I became invested in knowing them further. I mean, JYP Entertainment, the group’s label had practically created a powerhouse group! The members representing various countries such as South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the US! No wonder they have amassed such global fans.
But apart from their great performances live, good music and well, utterly stunning visage and style, what do each GOT7 individual member – JB, Mark, Junior, Jackson, Youngjae, Bambam, and Yugyeom – have that sets them apart from other boy groups? Let’s find out!
JB
Lim Jae Beom, or JB was born on January 6, 1994 in Siheung, South Korea. His original dream was to be a dancer, but was changed one fateful day when he was scouted. It was his father who pushed him to do the audition, despite his hesitations.
His undeniable talent in dancing and perhaps his stage presence had pushed him to winning the first place. As he trained with the label, loving other parts of performing grew on him. He not only prioritized working on his dancing skills, he also worked hard to improved his singing.
Mark
Mark Tuan, or commonly referred to as Mark, was born in Los Angeles, California on September 4, 1993. He truly had an international experience growing up – spending some time in Paraguay and Brazil. He started his passion in music when he was just a boy – taking up violin and piano lessons when he was in grade school and guitar lessons when he was in high school.
While he was in high school in California, he was spotted by a JYP Entertainment scout, who encouraged him to join the auditions. Although originally he didn’t want to pursue this path, upon the encouragement of his parents and friends, he did the audition and passed. That same year, he moved to South Korea to train in various fields – singing, dancing, acrobatics and even martial arts.
Jackson
Jackson was born Wang Ka Yee on March 28, 1994 in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. Working on the entertainment industry was a far cry from Jackson’s early beginning – which is fencing.
In 2010, he ranked among the top at the Summer Youth Olympics held in Singapore. He was also the first place at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships the following year. He only moved to Seoul in 2011 to build a name for himself in the industry. He trained for 2 years before their debut. He is also good friends with BTS leader RM!
Jinyoung (debuted as Jr.)
Park Jinyoung was born in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, South Korea on September 22, 1994. He already wanted to become an entertainer appearing on television since he was a small kid. Given his father’s support, he trained vigorously in dancing until he became confident to audition at JYP. In 2009, he ranked first place in an open audition with the label, and the rest was history. He had to pick a different name during their debut to the shared name with JYP’s founder Park Jin-young.
He appeared in several television series such as Dream High 2 (2012), When A Man Falls In Love (2013), This is My Love (2015), Legend of the Blue Sea (2016), He Is Psychometric (2019) and When My Love Blooms (2020).
Youngjae
Choi Young-jae was born on September 17, 1996 in Mokpo, South Korea. Unlike many kids his age, he knew he wanted to become a singer, and already enjoys singing with his older brother. He trained professionally at a practical music academy in his hometown and won the music festival that was held the same year.
His claim to fame was passing the closed audition held by JYP Entertainment in 2013. His years of practice definitely paid off when, only after a month of training, he was already included in the lineup for a boy fand that the label is building. After another 7 months of training, he was debuted as the main vocalist of the group, Got7.
Bambam
Kunpimook Bhuwakul or Bamban was born on May 2, 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand. It was due to his mother that he got interested in Korean culture. His mom, a huge fan of the legendary Rain, brings the young Bambam to his concerts. This inspired him to dream of becoming one. He began his journey when he was just 10 years old – learning how to sing and dance. He in fact was part of a dance crew with Blackpink’s Lisa.
He was only 13 years old when he passed the global audition that JYP Entertainment held in Thailand. For that, he moved to South Korea to begin his training days. He trained for about four years before debuting as a member of Got7 in 2014.
Yugyeom
Kim Yu Gyeom was born on November 17, 1997 in Seoul, South Korea. He spent some of his childhood years in Saudi Arabia, where his father was working. He already loves dancing, apart from playing the piano, since he was a child.
With this musical talent in the making, his mother didn’t want him to become an idol. After some convincing, he became a JYP trainee in 2010. Although he is the youngest member of the group, people often mistook him as the oldest, due to his tall frame and mature appearance.
The group recently released their latest album Breath of Love: Last Piece which contains 10 songs with two title tracks – “Breath” and “Last Piece”. This is a collaborative album since it features songs songs composed by all the members. Got to go, listening to their music right now!
