Jay B

Background

Lim Jae-Beom is a force to be reckoned with as far as entertainment is concerned in South Korea. Born on January 6, 1994, in Siheung, Gyeonggi province, Lim’s dreams of becoming a singer started developing at a young age. In his third year of middle school, he started b-boying with friends. His stage name then was Defsoul from Musiq Soulchild’s ‘Just Friends.’ The musical composition piqued his interest, as much as the hip-hop culture. After hearing D’Angelo sing, his mentality about singing and composing changed and he started composing his songs.

He majored in film at Konkuk University so it is no wonder that he was cast in “Dream High 2” as his first acting role in 2011, then debuted with his partner Jinyoung as JJ Project in 2012 with an album. In 2013, he was featured in yet another drama, “When a Man Falls In Love” right before JJ Project debuted as part of GOT7, a seven-member boy band. In 2015, he was the lead actor in “Dream Knight” with his fellow members of GOT7. He later formed yet another subunit of GOT7 with Yugyeom in 2019 and named themselves Jus2. They went on to release an EP, “Focus”, and also participated in “Collaboration”; an art collection project for carbonated mineral water with the brand “Perrier”.

In 2019, Jay B got involved in fashion after attending the event for Saint Laurent 20SS Men’s Collection as South Korea’s representative. Later the same year, he launched the ‘JB Collection,’ a summer-themed clothing line that he collaborated with Represent. In January 2021, after his contract with JYP Entertainment expired, he signed with H1ghr Music and became a solo artist. He then started using his now stage name, Jay B., and released his first single as a solo artist, ‘Switch it Up’ which featured Sokodomo. It catapulted him onto bigger charts such as ‘Gaon Download Chart’, and after the R&B rendition came out, it was on ‘Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales Chart and Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Digital Song Sales Chart’ as the first Korean soloist.

In August 2021, Lim’s first solo and awaited EP, “SOMO: Fume” was released both digitally and physically. It opened opportunities for interviews, fan meetings, and photoshoots with major magazines such as “Arena Homme”. He was also able to release merchandise that sold out in days.