Psy, the man who brought the world the viral hit Gangnam Style, and J.Y. Park, who is behind popular acts including Twice and Got7, are teaming up to make some K-pop magic.
Psy’s P Nation label and Park’s JYP Entertainment announced yesterday that they are joining forces to launch a boy band.
A new “worldwide boy group project” will be formed through Loud, a television audition show set to air on South Korean channel SBS, with Park (born Park Jin-young) and Psy (Park Jae-sang) guiding the K-pop hopefuls split into two groups.
According to SBS’s website, applicants from around the world may apply by submitting videos displaying their various talents. Only those born in or after 2000 are eligible to compete. No date has yet been revealed for the show’s premiere, but the successful competitors are set to make their debut in 2021.
The announcement was preceded by a short teaser video uploaded to JYP Entertainment’s YouTube channel on November 1 titled Boys be Loud.
Both Park and Psy have appeared as judges on South Korean talent shows in the past. Psy judged Superstar K4 in 2012, while Park judged multiple seasons of K-Pop Star .
This is the first boy band project that Psy has been involved with since founding P Nation in 2019, although popular artists such as HyunA and Jessi are currently signed with the label. Park, through JYP, has been behind many K-pop boy bands, including 2PM, Got7 , Day6 and Stray Kids.
PHOTO: JYP Entertainment
Park and JYP have been known to co-manage groups with other South Korean entertainment companies in the past. Most notably, the vocal pop quartet 2AM was co-managed by JYP and Big Hit Entertainment for several years of its tenure from 2008-2014. Big Hit is now best known as the home of BTS .
This article was first published in South China Morning Post.