K-pop singer Jay Chang on his biggest, busiest year yet
In an interview, the American singer talks 'Boys Planet', new EP 'Neighborhood' and debuting in two K-pop groups
(Photo credit: FM Entertainment)
Jay Chang is one of the busiest men in K-pop.
In 2023, many got to know him as a contestant on the Mnet survival reality series Boys Planet, where he placed 10th overall. While Chang did not end up making the K-pop boy group that would later become ZEROBASEONE, other doors have since opened up to him as an artist.
In fact, Chang now does it all as a member of two K-pop groups and as a soloist.
With his fellow Boys Planet contestants, Chang is part of the performance group ONE PACT. In 2024, Chang was also one of the winners of the Mnet reality competition series Build Up : Vocal Boy Group Survivor, where he now performs as part of the vocal group B.D.U.
Now in the early months of 2025, Chang is hitting the road across North America as a soloist to promote his second EP Neighborhood (which dropped on November 24, 2024). The tour will see him hit Canadian cities including Toronto and Montreal at the end of January.
While being part of so many projects can be tiring, Chang says he sees it as an opportunity to show the world all his strengths.
“Having the privilege to not only experience all three but put three types of sounds out there into the world is so gratifying for me,” he said over Zoom in an exclusive Canadian interview with bunni pop.
Below, he chats about writing his EP Neighborhood, his experiences competing on Boys Planet and his early beginnings falling in love with music.
Congrats on the release of your EP Neighborhood! What’s it like to have that project out there?
It’s really cool. I would say this album is probably the most personal for me, and definitely an honour being able to participate in the heavy majority of the creative process on this album. And I'm really excited to have everyone and listening to it.
What was the story you wanted to tell through this project?
Through Neighborhood, I definitely wanted to convey a message of nostalgia, that feeling of wanting to go back to freer times. For me personally, recently it has been a bit stressful, a lot of adult problems. Just having a moment to kind of remember what it was like being a kid and not having to worry about things like stress or modern day problems. I wanted to convey that feeling.
You talked about being really involved in the writing process of this album. What was it like being super hands-on with that?
It was definitely something that I'm really proud and really happy to do. Whether being an idol or a singer, I'm an artist first. Being able to write the majority of the album is definitely huge for me. One of the songs on the album is one of the first songs that I've ever written, so getting to put that on the album as well is definitely a pride point for me.
You play with a lot of genres. I can hear a little bit of jazz, R&B, some songs sound like Bruno Mars. Who did you seek inspiration from when putting this project together?
The title track is definitely Bruno Mars influence, Anderson .Paak, that whole soul R&B area. Then there was Lionel Richie. Being able to draw from different artists I listened to growing up and those I listen to now is definitely what shapes me as an artist. Just being able to produce that kind of sound is something that really motivates me.
“Four Seasons” is the my first ever song that I've ever written, and it's been in the dungeon for five years now.
When did you first write that song?
It was 2019. It was around when I was struggling a lot. I was having a lot of thoughts like maybe being a singer isn't for me. I kind of wanted it to be a hope song. Like, “You can do it. Keep trying.” And on the other end, it's like a solemn goodbye for if I really did give up being a singer, which I did for a couple of years. Gladly, I didn't really give up all the way because here we are today.
So much has changed for you since then. When you listen to “Four Seasons” or sing those lyrics, what goes through your mind?
It’s such a sentimental song for me. I perform it very rarely, but when I do, it’s always in front of all the fans that have supported me for so long. I’m pretty sure you can look up plenty of the videos of me performing it online and almost every single video, I am tearing up at the end or having a hard time singing it. Now, being able to perform it [on tour] in front of so many people that support and love me is a huge privilege.
“LaSalle Ave” also pays homage to your New Jersey roots. Can you tell me the story behind that track?
The writing of “LaSalle Ave”, I drew a lot of inspiration from a lot of songs that I listened to growing up. Thanks to my dad, who had me around a lot of different musical genres. I even reference one of my favourite songs growing up in the post-hook, which is “Easy” by Lionel Richie. Getting to put a piece of my own childhood in the song is really cool for me. “LaSalle Ave” is the street name of my house growing up.
(Photo credit: FM Entertainment)
Can you take me back to your early beginnings in music? Did you always want to get into K-pop?
My father was the rhythm guitarist and singer for a rock band in the ‘80s and ‘90s. And growing up, pretty much all my musical talent is from him. From three years old, I played the drums until I was 16. And after that, around 2016 I would say, is when I first heard K-pop for the first time and got so inspired. That's when I started wanting to sing professionally.
BTS were the kings of the time at that point. I remember being really curious as to what K-pop was. Hearing this genre that I have never really heard before piqued my interest. I looked up K-pop on YouTube—just those four letters—and the first music video that came up was “Fire” by BTS. I watched that and I was so blown away that I wanted to be on stage just like that.
You then auditioned to be a trainee. Were there challenges of adapting to a new country and culture in Korea?
When I was in my first K-pop company, I was the only foreign person in the entire company, and the only one that spoke English. I trained with seven other guys who are all Korean. All the staff were Korean. Nobody knew English. So I think my biggest challenge at the time was not only learning the culture, but also learning the language to the point where I could communicate with my coworkers and the people above me.
There was a lot of frustration, like the first couple of years because of that. But thankfully, I had the the will to learn and keep trying to talk, no matter how embarrassing it might have been.
In the last two years, a lot of people got to know you as a contestant on Boys Planet. How would you say these experiences really helped with your growth?
Boys Planet was probably the most difficult time, like stamina-wise and mentally. However, it was definitely the catalyst for speeding up how I am as a performer. Because being on that show, I opened my eyes to so many different styles of performing, singing, just like being on stage and being a professional artist. Getting to see all of this stuff firsthand, which is not something that a lot of trainees can really say. I'm very thankful for having that experience, and it's definitely shaped the artist that I am now.
You actually gave up singing sometime during the COVID-19 pandemic. So how did the opportunity of being on Boys Planet come up for you?
When the auditions opened, I kind of wanted to give it a try. I really didn’t expect anything. There was a period of time when we actually thought I had been completely, just ignored on the show altogether because there was already a bunch of articles coming out about this many trainees from this many companies who are going to participate on the show. But, I think, a week or two later, when I was back in America, I got a message from our CEO saying the Boys Planet writer wants to have a Zoom meeting with me.
For me, it was 5:00 A.M because I was in America, which is 6:00 pm in Korea, and they made me dance and sing a bunch of songs. I sang, “Lay Me Down” by Sam Smith. I sang a Crush song. And they were like, “Oh man, that's awesome. We'll get back to you.”
A couple days later, we got a message saying, “Wait a minute. We didn't know it was that deep in the middle of the night for you, and you sang pretty good. So you're going to be on the show.” And I was like, “Okay, that's awesome!”
All I wanted to do was just do my best and see how far I can go. And I went a lot further than I thought. I have a lot of fond memories and I'm really glad that I got the chance to do it.
Something that strikes me about the show is the sense of brotherhood all the contestants on Boys Planet have with each other. What would you say is something viewers don’t get to see on the show that happens behind-the-scenes?
The only thing that really gets cut out is the boring stuff, like how many hours we really put into just practicing all day, every day. We are in a place for two weeks without phones or any sort of communication with the outside world at all. It’s just us in the practice room all day, every day. The only time we're not practicing is when it's meal time.
One thing that I will say that a lot of survival shows don't get right that Boys Planet did get very right is the sense of brotherhood that we all had with each other. There was a lot of different people that didn't interact on the show that were constantly hanging out with each other behind the cameras.
I could really tell you were all in the trenches together, despite the situation sometimes leading to arguments and fights.
When you're close like that and you have that big of a bond, it's not going to go without tension or friction, but it all comes back together at the end anyway. There was a lot of lasting relationships that that were forged through the show.
You are not only active as a soloist. You and some of your Boys Planet contestants are now part of a K-pop group called One Pact. You’re also in another group called B.D.U—which was formed on another Mnet reality competition series called Build Up. How would you describe the experience of being in a group versus as a soloist?
I think I'm in a very, very privileged position where I not only get to be an individual artist, but also be a part of a collective when it comes to One Pact and being in a group with my friends. We are a performance group where it’s all about the bigger picture, being on stage and showing a good performance that people would love to see.
Being a part of B.D.U. is great for me as a singer because I get to be on stage with a bunch of different talented vocalists and sing songs in styles that I wouldn't normally sing in a performance group like One Pact or just on my own as a soloist. And then being a soloist is a lot of fun just as an artist, because I get to show the world who I am just as a musician, and who I've always been for the past 23 years.
What do you on your downtime despite being so busy?
I play a lot of League (laughs). Or I’m watching a lot of basketball media.
What are you future goals for yourself?
Just keep growing as an artist, be a person and a musician that I'm proud of, put out only high quality, good music and make my dad proud. [He] is the reason why I'm doing music in the first place.
You are going to be touring around North America as part of your fan meeting. Is there a message you have for your Canadian fans who are waiting to come meet you?
It's an absolute honour and privilege for me to say that I have a fanbase that's from so many places around the world. And even though it will be a very difficult task to get to meet everyone, I really can't wait to go to places, somewhere hopefully near you and perform for you. I love you and thank you so much. I'll see you eventually. Don't you worry!
Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Jay Chang will be hosting a fansign in Toronto on January 30 and Montreal on January 31.
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