Even After Ten Years Pass: JYP’s Musical Memoirs

MiaLerda on Monday, February 23, 2009 1:10PM

Can you believe it has already been over ten years since artist Park Jin-Young first graced the stage? Even so, he is still as energetic and youthful as he was back when he first debuted, and he has spun a web of hits for fifteen years (and counting); that’s just a fact. JYP’s musical history is a realization of the true growth of a singer, as well as an illustration of phenomenal success: all of his albums reached No.1.

The pop album that started all this commotion was Blue City. Released in 1994, this first volume gave us the classic pop song “Don’t Leave Me.” The album exemplifies the pureness only pop can exude, like the innocent track “Behind You.” Make no mistakes about it, Blue City is the album that started the inferno of Park Jin Young hits.

JYP’s second installment, entitled Songs, gave way to a hotter and more confidant Park. Songs like “Elevator,” “Proposal Song” and “Forever Us Two/Together” shined like blazing stars and quickly became fan favorites upon the album’s release. Moreover, Songs proved that Park’s talent was not grounded in just singing, for the album gave way to stellar choreographed performances. This is the album that heralded the artist to come.

In an ambitious turn, Park then released an album entirely in English. The album, It’s Time, dove into pure R&B sounds with a hint of pop. Nestled within the album were versions of the Grover Washington song “Just the Two of Us” and the duet “Baby Come to Me” by Patti Austin & James Ingram. It is a true representation of how the master was ready to take on the western music industry even before any other Korean artist thought to try.

Park’s third album, entitled Summer Jingle Bell, went straight to No.1 on the charts (but of course). “She Was Pretty” was its runaway hit, and Park still showcases this song in his present day performances. As a musician who is known for always incorporating different genres into his repertoire, Park added jazz and R&B influences with the use of horns and other brass instruments. This trend is visible in his subsequent albums: “Honey,” of JYP’s Even if 10 Years Pass By, is inspired by hints of both James Brown and the big band era. He continued with the jazz influence on his fifth album (”Kiss Me“) and on his sixth album (”Swing Baby“).

Game, JYP’s sixth solo release, was a seventeen-track powerhouse furnished with old classics and new songs. By this time, JYP was widely regarded as a top songwriter and composer. He could’ve released just about anything, but he is not known as a man who rests on his laurels: two cd’s worth of content span Game. Tunes like “I Already Have a Girl,” “Swing Baby” and “MMM mmm MMM” are some of the heaviest hitters of this album.

His most recent album, Back to the Stage, immediately crushed chart competition, including his darling proteges. “Kiss,” “The House You Live In” and “Breaking Up in Broad Daylight” (feat. the Wonder Girls’ Sun Ye) easily took the lead: these three hit singles are more than enough evidence that JYP is still the one true force to be reckoned with in the industry. My favorite from this album is “Blues of a Clown” because it still has that JYP jam I love so much.

With all that said, all of his albums are stellar in my book. Ten Years… Twenty… Thirty… JYP and his trademark falsetto had better be around for a long time. For all of you who are new to his body of work, here are some samples to get you started, and for all of you existing JYP lovers, enjoy this retrospective: