Jay Park stages explosive comeback
K-Pop star Park Jaebeom, more popularly known as Jay Park, has released a seven-track mini-album titled "Take a Deeper Look," which has taken Korea virtually by storm. According to SIDUS HQ, Park's Korean management company, response to the album and the carrier single, "Abandoned," has been remarkable. With the positive response to the seven tracks of "Take a Deeper Look," six of which were written by Park himself, "Take a Deeper Look" has proven that its singer still has a very solid, popular fan base in Korea. The album features several Korean and American musical acts, including Dok2, The Quiett, and Davichi's Kang Min Kyung.
The R&B, hiphop, and dance flavor of "Take a Deeper Look" has helped it sell very well, with 50,000 copies of a limited edition sold out within five days of its release, a noteworthy debut at #3 on Billboard's World Albums chart, and placing in the top five of iTunes USA's "Soul" category.
The limited edition of the album, which features a separate album case and a photo diary, is now entering a second run for an additional 20,000 copies. The former 2PM leader also edged out Korean girl group f(x) for the top spot on this week's Music Bank K-Chart for his live performance of the single "Abandoned."
The MV for "Abandoned" was produced by Hong Won Ki, known for his work with Super Junior and TVXQ, alongside choreographer Andrew Baterina, who worked with Park on his film, "Hype Nation."
Park's comeback has not been without controversy. Many will recall the firestorm that surrounded a scandal involving controversial comments he made back in 2009 regarding how he felt about Korea. This scandal along with other factors eventually led Park to leave JYP Entertainment idol group 2PM. Park bounced back from that to release "Take a Deeper Look" less than three years later, and many fans who stood by his side during that difficult transition phase are quick to defend him against detractors and situations that may otherwise hinder his fast track to success. Several fans, for instance, have protested his exclusion from the elite "Take 7" roster on popular SBS music program "Inkigayo." PD Kang Seung Young had to issue a statement explaining the absence of his name due to the overwhelming number of fans who bombarded the show's offices with calls and messages. Park was allegedly added to the list late, and, as a result, was accidentally left out.
With the runaway success surrounding "Take a Deeper Look," it is clear that Jay Park is ready to soar to even greater heights in the country that once spurned him.
