Celebrating Jay Park

photography by GGEZ Media
words by Jina Kim

As an keen listener and fan of Jay Park prior to my interview, I was so excited to learn more about him outside of being an artist. And as I researched his career, I began to gain an even greater deal of respect for him as a person. Park’s sense of Korean pride and knowledge of his home country, was the inspiration behind him championing the cause for Won Soju and sharing Korea’s rich heritage with the world. For all who don’t know, Won Soju is a traditional soju made from 100% domestic rice.

Meeting Jay Park was more than just meeting an artist I’ve idolized and sang along to for years in my car. His grit, determination and perseverance served as a reminder to me that I can do anything I put my mind to. We are limitless if we continue to possess the drive. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Jay Park showed me that and I’m forever grateful for the experience.

Jay, if you could choose anyone in the world, who would you take a shot with and why?

Jay Park: Oh, my lord. God. I’d take a shot with God. I’d ask him.. like, yo what’s the meaning of life?

What’s your ultimate comfort food when drinking?

I like to eat fruits, like Korean pear, I like to eat like grapes, bananas, strawberries, blueberries. Because drinking isn’t healthy, so I try to balance it out. I’m getting older; I need to perform. I need to take off my shirt, so I try to pair it with some fruits.

As far as starting this brand, like Won Soju there’s different processes, marketing, design.. what was your favorite part about the process?

Even tasting. I think for me… just everything. Building the brand from the ground up. It’s not that somebody else started the brand and I just came in as a partner. We really built it from the ground up. We found partners, we found investors, we found different distilleries, and then it was a 4 year process, so coming up with a name, coming up with a logo, confirming just the branding and marketing and which direction we want to go. Everything was fun and even launching it now in the US, it’s been really fun.