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GOT7
GOT7 performing Just Right at the 2015 Summer K-POP Festival. From left to right: JB, Jackson, Junior, Yugyeom, Mark, Youngjae, BamBam
Got7 (Korean: 갓세븐; romanized as Gatsebeun; stylized as GOT7) is a multi-nationalK-popboy group formed by JYP Entertainment in 2014. Got7 has seven members: leader JB, Mark, Junior, Jackson, Youngjae, BamBam and Yugyeom. The group is multinational with members hailing from South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United States.
Got7 released their debut EP, Got It?, on January 20, 2014. On October 22, 2014, they debuted in Japan with the release of their first Japanese single, "Around the World".
Two of the members, JB and Jr. (now Junior), originally debuted as the pop duo JJ Project in 2012 with 'Bounce', while Mark, Jackson, Bambam and Yugyeom made an appearance on the 4th episode of Mnet's reality-survival program Who is Next: WIN, which aired on September 6, 2013.[1]
2014: Debut with Got It?, Got Love and Identify[edit]
The group dropped their first EPGot It? on January 20, 2014. The album shot up to the number 1 spot on Billboard's World Albums chart[2] and was number 2 on Gaon Album Chart.[3] Got7 made their official music program debut on January 16, 2014 through Mnet's M! Countdown, performing their debut single "Girls Girls Girls."
Got7 signed under the Sony Music sub-label Epic Records to pursue activities in Japan, and performed on April 4 in Tokyo.[4][5]
Their 2nd mini album entitled "Got Love" was released on June 23 and on the same day, the music video to the title song "A", which was written and produced by J.Y. Park, was revealed.[6][7] In November 2014, the group released their first full-length album, Identify, as well as the music video for its title song, "Stop Stop It".[8]Identify topped Gaon's Weekly Album Sales Chart in its first week and "Stop Stop It" peaked at number 4 on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart.[9][10]
For their work in 2014, Got7 won Best New Artist Group at the Seoul Music Awards and received three nominations at the 29th Golden Disk Awards, winning the Newcomer Award and China Goodwill Star Award.[11]
2015: Love Train, Just Right, Laugh Laugh Laugh and Mad[edit]
On June 10, 2015 the group released their 2nd Japanese single Love Train. The single debuted at #4 on Oricon's singles charts and 1st on Japanese ringtone chart Recochoku.[12] Got7 also held 'Love Train' fan meetings at Tokyo and Osaka in Japan.[13]
The group released their 3rd mini album "Just Right" on July 13, 2015, as well as the music video for its title song "Just right".[14] The "Just Right" official music video on Youtube received more than a million views within 12 hours[15] and the song peaked at #3 on Billboard's World Digital Songs Chart, staying in the top 3 for two consecutive weeks.[16]
Got7 released their third Japanese single "Laugh Laugh Laugh" and its B-side "BE MY GIRL" on September 23.[17] It sold 14K copies on the first day of its release and debut at first place on the Oricon's singles chart.[18]
Got7 released their 4th EP, Mad, on September 29 along with the music video for the title song, If You Do. The day after the EP released it was ranked number 1 on iTunes charts in 6 countries.[19]
Mark (Hangul:마크) born Mark Yi-Eun Tuan (段宜恩) on September 4, 1993 in LA, is Got7's oldest member. He is an American citizen of Taiwanese descent and lived in Brazil and Paraguay when he was younger, before his family moved back to the USA. He was cast in the States in 2010 and came to train in Korea that same year.
JB (Hangul:제이비) born Im Jae-bum (Hangul: 임재범) on January 6, 1994, is the official leader of Got7. JB, along with fellow Got7 member Junior, successfully auditioned together for JYP Entertainment in 2009. Before debuting with Got7, JB and Junior also debuted together as the duo JJ Project.[23] JB was given the stage name "JB" due to him sharing the same name as Im Jae-bum, a famous senior singer.
Jackson (Hangul:잭슨) born Jackson Wang (王嘉爾) on March 28, 1994, is one of Got7's rappers. Jackson is a native of Hong Kong and is a former representative of the country's national fencing team. In 2011, he earned two gold medals at the Asian Junior Olympics in Thailand. He claimed that earning a gold medal was one of his parents' requirements for allowing him to train in Korea. Jackson speaks four languages proficiently, namely Cantonese, English, Mandarin, and Korean.
Junior (Hangul:주니어) born Park Jin-young (Hangul: 박진영) on September 22, 1994, successfully auditioned together for JYP Entertainment in 2009 along with Got7's group leader JB. He also previously debuted with JB as a member of JJ Project.[23] He was given the stage name Jr. as his real name, Park Jinyoung, is also the name of JYPE's founder and CEO. As of May 5, 2015, Jr. has officially changed his stage name to Junior.[24]
Youngjae (Hangul:영재) born Choi Young-jae (Hangul: 최영재) on September 17, 1996, is one of Got7's vocalists. In 2013, after passing an audition at his gifted music school in Mokpo, he entered the JYP training system. Youngjae was a trainee for just seven months.
BamBam (Hangul:뱀뱀) born Kunpimook Bhuwakul (Thai: กันต์พิมุกต์ ภูวกุล) on May 2, 1997, is one of Got7's rappers. Bambam is from Bangkok, Thailand and was cast at a young age and sent to train in Korea. His mother is a big fan of K-pop, and owns a Korean restaurant in Bangkok.
Yugyeom (Hangul:유겸) born Kim Yu-gyeom (Hangul: 김유겸) on November 17, 1997, is the youngest member of Got7. He enrolled in a dance school in the seventh grade and this led him to the opportunity to audition for JYP.