Choi Young-jae

Choi Young-jae (Korean: 최영재; born September 17, 1996[2]), professionally known by the mononym Youngjae, is a South Korean singer, dancer and songwriter. He is the main vocal of the Korean boy band Got7.

For Yoo Young-jae, see Yoo Young-jae.
This is a Korean name; the family name is Choi.
Choi Young-jae
최영재
Choi Young-jae in 2018
Born
Choi Young-jae

(1996-09-17) September 17, 1996
Mokpo, South Korea
Alma materDaekyeung University
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Musical career
Also known asArs[1]
GenresK-pop
Instruments
  • Vocals
Years active2014–present
Labels
Associated acts
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationChoe Yeongjae
McCune–ReischauerCh'oe Yŏngchae

Career

Youngjae started dreaming of becoming a singer in his childhood, when he sang with his older brother.[3] When the latter enlisted in the military, Youngjae joined a practical music academy in his hometown, Mokpo, to learn more professionally.[3] In 2011, he won the Vocal Excellence Award at Mokpo Youth Music Festival.[2] In 2013, JYP Entertainment held a closed audition in the academy and he became a trainee.[3][4] After one month of training in Seoul, he was chosen as part of JYPE new boy group.[4][5] After a total of 7 months of training,[3][4] he subsequently debuted as the main vocalist of the seven member boy group, Got7, with the single "Girls Girls Girls", released on 16 January 2014, from the group's first EP Got It?.[6] In early times after the debut, Youngjae mentioned his dream was to become a music therapist.[7]

He has been writing songs and lyrics under the name Ars since 2016, starting with "Rewind" in Got7's extended play Flight Log: Departure.[lower-alpha 1]

Youngjae had a collaboration with Sanjoy and Elliott Yamin in 2017 on the song "Victim of Love",[8][9] while he recorded "I'm All Ears" with Park Ji-min for the Life Insurance Social Responsibility Foundation's youth suicide prevention campaign in 2018. The song was released on October 15 alongside its music video.[10]

In 2018 and 2020, he sang "At the Usual Time" (그 시간에) and "Fall In Love" (빠져드나봐) for the original soundtracks of TV dramas Wok of Love and When My Love Blooms.[11][12] Together with Day6's Young K, he became the new DJ of MBC Radio Idol Radio starting from May 18, 2020.[13]

On May 25, 2020, he launched Ars X Coco, a clothing store for people and dogs, which will run for two weeks until June 8. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to abandoned dog shelters and volunteer organizations.[14][15]

Personal life

Choi graduated from Seoul's Korean Arts High School in February 2015 and got accepted into Seokyeong University's Department of Theater and Film;[16] the following year he moved to the Daekyeung University's Modeling Department for schedule conflicts.

Discography
Main article: Got7 discography
Title Year Album
"My Day" (내 하루) 2016 Non-commercial singles
"Trauma"
"Call Button" (통화버튼) (feat. J.praize) 2017
"I Want to Fall Asleep" (잠들고 싶어) (feat. Noday)

Collaborations
Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album
KOR
"I'm All Ears" (다둘어줄게)
(with Park Ji-min)		 2018 — — Ready to Listen Part 2
Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album
KOR
"One Dream One Korea"
(Various artists)		 2015 — — Non-album singles
"Victim of Love"
(Sanjoy feat. Ars, Stephen Rezza, Elliott Yamin)		 2017 — —

Soundtrack appearances
Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album
KOR
"At the Usual Time" (그 시간에)[11] 2018 — — Wok of Love OST Part. 2
"Fall In Love" (빠져드나봐)
with Choi Jung-yoon[12]		 2020 — — When My Love Blooms OST Part. 2
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Filmography
For Choi Young-jae's filmography with Got7, see Got7 videography.

Dramas
YearTitleRoleNetworkNote
2015 Dream Knight Youngjae Youku Tudou Korean-Chinese Online Drama by JYPE and Youku Tudou

Variety shows
Year Title TV Network Note Ref.
2017 King of Mask Singer MBC Episodes 93-94 (aired on January 8 and 15), as Game Machine
2018 Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend KBS Episode aired on February 3, singing Kim Yeon-ja's "Mercury Lamp" [17][18][19]
2019 Got7 Golden Key Star K YouTube series, with Got7's Mark [20]

Radio presenting
Year Title Channel Notes
2015 FM Starry Night MBC Standard FM Guest (July 7)
Kiss The Radio KBS Cool FM Special host with Got7's JB (October 15)
2016 Special host with Got7's Jinyoung (June 3)
2017 Special host with Got7's Jinyoung (October 23-26)
2018 Special host with Got7's Jinyoung (January 15) and Yugyeom (March 5-6)
2020 Idol Radio MBC Radio Special host with Got7's JB (April 26, 28) and Day6's Young K (May 6, 9-10)
Host with Day6's Young K from May 18

Music videos
Year Title Artist Director Notes
2018 "At the Usual Time" (그 시간에) Choi Young-jae
"Nobody Knows" (혼자) Got7 Naive Creative Production Solo song from Got7's album Present: You
"I'm All Ears" (다둘어줄게) Choi Young-jae and Park Ji-min
2020 "Fall In Love" (빠져드나봐) Choi Young-jae and Choi Jung-yoon

Notes
  1. As to his songs not released as Got7, he uploads them onto SoundCloud as "Ars".

References
  1. "JYP Creators list". JYP Entertainment. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  2. "갓세븐 '우리만의 길 있어 엑소 부럽지 않아'(인터뷰)". Metro Seoul (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-02-03.
  3. "GOT7、芸能人への憧れから母親の影響まで…僕たちが歌手になった理由 - INTERVIEW - 韓流・韓国芸能ニュースはKstyle". Kstyle (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-02-03.
  4. "Oh! My Got7 : GRAZIA INTERVIEW". m.post.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2019-01-13.
  5. "[쿠키 人터뷰] 갓세븐, 행운을 거머쥔 7명의 소년들①". news.kukinews.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  6. "[Video] GOT7's 'Girls Girls Girls' MV Breaks through 10 Million Views on YouTube | Mwave". www.mwave.me. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  7. "GOT7 Interview 'You Shouldn't Compare Us To 2PM'". KpopStarz. July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  8. Herman, Tamar. "Boy Band GOT7 Talk Making Their Own Way Amid Growing Stateside Interest In K-Pop". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  9. "Sanjoy, Elliott Yamin, dan Youngjae 'GOT7' Rilis Single Kolaborasi "Victim Of Love"". Creative Disc (in Indonesian). 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  10. Herman, Tamar (2018-10-15). "GOT7's Youngjae & Jimin Park Release 'I'm All Ears' as Part of Youth Suicide Prevention Campaign". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  11. "기름진 멜로 OST Part.2". www.melon.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  12. ""갓세븐 의리" 영재, '화양연화' OST 부른다..진영 지원 사격". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  13. "2020 MBC 라디오 봄 개편". www.gukjenews.com (in Korean). 2020-05-09. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  14. "갓세븐 영재, 반려견 코코와 함께 한 의류 쇼핑몰 Ars X COCO 런칭". Munhwa News (in Korean). 2020-05-25. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  15. "갓세븐 영재, 반려견 코코와 함께 한 의류 쇼핑몰 Ars X COCO 런칭". news.zum.com (in Korean). 2020-05-25. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  16. Kim, Mi-hwa (2015-02-10). "'졸업' 영재 "박진영, 졸업식 선물 사준다고..페도라 원해"- 스타뉴스". Star News (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  17. "[단독] 갓세븐 영재, '불후의 명곡' 단독 출격…데뷔 4년만" (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  18. "'불후' 갓세븐 영재 "오늘 무대 프로듀서는 박진영 아닌 어머니"" (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  19. "[별별TV]'불후' 갓세븐 영재, 감미로운 '수은등'..민우혁에 敗" (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  20. "[GOT7 Golden Key] global version coming soon". STAR K. 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  • Ars on JYP Publishing
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