Got7’s Yugyeom is reported to be parting ways with the K-pop band’s management company and joining the Jay Park-headed hip-hop label AOMG.
South Korean media reported on Wednesday that Yugyeom, legally Kim Yug-yeom but known by his given name professionally, is signing with AOMG as the band’s contracts with JYP Entertainment have come to completion.
There has been talk for some time about the act’s future as they approach their seventh anniversary, and 2020 ended with the news that Jinyoung (Park Jin-young) would likely be joining BH Entertainment, an acting-focused agency.
Following the reports that both Jinyoung and Yugyeom were looking to sign with other agencies, JYP told Korean media that the company is discussing contract extensions with all the parties involved. Neither AOMG nor JYP responded to the Post’s requests for further comment following the reports that Yugyeom will be swapping the latter for the former.
South Korean law dictates that entertainment contracts have a seven-year term, and historically many K-pop groups have broken up or members have parted ways around their seventh anniversary. Got7 will celebrate their seventh anniversary since debuting in 2014 on January 16.
It is not known whether Got7 plan to remain together as a band regardless of whether the seven members renew their contracts with JYP Entertainment for Korean representation.
Beyond their work within Got7, several members already have notable solo careers, including Jinyoung as an actor, BamBam as a popular spokesman in Thailand, and Jackson Wang as a recording artist and television personality in China. Members of the group have spent much of their careers writing music both for the band and their personal projects.
AOMG is headed by Jay Park , who left JYP Entertainment and boy band 2PM in 2009. Park has since gone on to become one of most popular artists in South Korea as a soloist, and has launched not only AOMG but also the globally oriented label H1GHR Music. Park signed on to Jay-Z’s entertainment agency Roc Nation in 2017.
If Yugyeom is confirmed to be heading to AOMG, he will be the second high-profile artist to join from one of South Korea’s historically dominant “Big 3” K-pop firms. Solo artist Lee Hi joined its roster last year after parting ways with YG Entertainment. JYP, YG, and SM Entertainment produced many top acts between the 1990s and the present, and are still heavyweights in the South Korean entertainment scene.
Hashtags including #7OrNever and #7orNothing trended on social media platforms worldwide as the group’s fans, known as iGot7 or Ahgase, rallied in support of a future for Got7, regardless of whether the members renew with JYP Entertainment or not.
Got7 released their fourth studio album, “Breath of Love: Last Piece”, on November 30.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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