Jay Chang makes official debut with ‘LATE NIGHT’, talks Boys Planet success, future of his music

Jay Chang has finally made his long-awaited K-Pop debut in Korea with his album, "LATE NIGHT".

Growing up in New Jersey, Jay was surrounded by music.

His dad was a musician in the 1980s, and he grew up watching videos of his dad performing on late-night shows, which inspired the music video concept for 'Rockstar' and the album title, 'LATE NIGHT'.

He was no stranger to fans before this year as he had done many fan meets over the years through his company FM Entertainment, and had a growing online presence.

He got his first break in the Korean entertainment industry when he joined the survival program, Under 19, a show that put 57 contestants together in the hopes of debuting in a K-Pop group.

He ranked 18th and did not make the final group. 

"After Under 19, there was a large period where I didn’t really see myself coming back to music," he says.

Luckily, he decided to take another chance when he and his team heard about the auditions for a new survival program that aired earlier this year, called Boys Planet.

Speaking of the moment he found out he would be on Boys Plant, Jay says, "More than being excited, I was determined to be able to improve myself once again through a survival show."

While on the show, Jay quickly became known as one of the best vocalists on Boys Planet.

Unfortunately, while he did make it to the final episode, he did not make the final lineup for the group, ZEROBASEONE.

However, while he did not make the group, the show’s success and his popularity would finally pay off for him this fall, when he made his solo debut in October.

"When I first heard that I was going to finally debut, I would say I definitely felt very excited, but also relieved, to finally be able to put out my own music."

He has a hand in all the tracks on his album but says ‘Sunlight’ has the most meaning to him, since it is his own composition. 

"The reason why it means so much to me is because even though the song is very bright and happy, it was when I was living in Korea by myself for the first time, and I was feeling very homesick and missing all my friends and family," he explains. 

The song meant so much to him that he also made it his fandom’s name.

He says it conveys to fans that they are the lightness to his darkness, and because of them, he feels nothing but warmth. 

On top of his solo debut, he is also preparing to debut in a new K-Pop group later this month featuring other Boys Planet contestants, called ONE PACT. 

Their official debut is scheduled for November 30.

"I do just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that not only loves listening to my voice, but just believes in me. There’s plenty of times where I don’t believe in myself, so having all of you guys there doing it for me is really reassuring," he says in a message to new, and old fans.