Choi Young-jae (최영재), professionally known by the mononym Youngjae, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. He is the main vocalist of the Korean boy group GOT7.
Biography
Choi started dreaming of becoming a singer in his childhood, when he sang with his older brother. When the latter enlisted in the military, he joined a practical music academy in his hometown, Mokpo, to learn more professionally, working part-time to earn the necessary money. In 2011, he won the Vocal Excellence Award at Mokpo Youth Music Festival. In 2013, JYP Entertainment held a closed audition in the academy and he became a trainee.
Career
2013–2020: Debut and solo activities
After one month of training in Seoul, Choi was added to the project group to form JYP Entertainment's new boy band. After a total of 7 months of training, 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?. In early times after the debut, Choi mentioned his dream was to become a music therapist.
He has been writing songs and lyrics under the name Ars since 2016, starting with "Rewind" in GOT7's extended play Flight Log: Departure.
Choi had a collaboration with Sanjoy and Elliott Yamin in 2017 on the song "Victim of Love", while he recorded "I'm All Ears" with Park Ji-min for the Life Insurance Social Philanthropy Foundation's youth suicide prevention campaign in 2018. The song was released on 15 October alongside its music video.
In the spring of 2019, he joined Jus2 in their 'Focus' Premiere Showcase in Asia, acting as the MC for Tokyo (10–11 April) and Osaka (17–18 April) stops.
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. Together with Day6's Young K, he became the new DJ of MBC Radio's Idol Radio starting from 18 May 2020. The first season of the show ended on 25 September.
On 25 May 2020, in collaboration with Howlpot, a pet product design brand, he launched Ars X Coco, a clothing store for people and dogs, which ran for two weeks until 8 June . The proceeds, amounting to 15 million won, were donated to Korea Animal Rights Advocates's The Bom Center, a non-profit care center for rescued animals.[1] Choi featured in the September issue of Star1 Magazine for his first solo interview and photoshoot the same year, and competed in the Idol Star Dog Championships, a dog agility competition, which aired as a Chuseok special on MBC on 2 October.
On August 21 2020, it was revealed that Youngjae became an organ donor.[2] On December 11, he released a campaign song that he had co-written for the organ donation campaign 희망의씨앗 (Seeds of Hope), called "Everything For You". The song debuted at #15 on Genie's Top 200 Chart.[3]
On 25 September 2020, he was cast in Netflix's new sitcom So Not Worth It, which tells the stories of a group of multicultural students living in a college dorm.[4] The series became available on 18 June 2021, and he sang the homonymous OST for it. With his portrayal of Sam, the son of the CEO of a food chain based in Australia, he drew attention, and was praised for his acting, communication skills, vocalization and pronunciation, which, along with Choi's facial expressions, realistically expressed the character's emotions.
2021–present: Departure from JYPE, Midnight Sun and solo debut
Following the expiration of his contract with JYP Entertainment, he signed an exclusive contract with Sublime Artist Agency on 20 January 2021.
On 9 March 2021, it was announced that Choi had joined the cast of Midnight Sun, a musical adaptation of Japanese movie A Song to the Sun, in the leading role of Ha-ram. Midnight Sun was performed from 1 May until 25 July at the Kwanglim Arts Center. He starred in 22 out of 95 shows. Two of the songs, "Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down" and "Good-bye Days", were also released as singles by each main actor: Choi's version of "Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down" was released on 9 April as part 1 of the musical's soundtrack, while his collaboration with Lovelyz' Kei on "Good-bye Days", on 7 June. On 1 April, it was confirmed that Choi was selected as campaign artist for Levi's Red alongside Lim Na-young. On 20 April, he took part in Levi's 501® Day Music Concert, where he performed self-written song "Lonely", Sole's "Ride" and Christopher's "Bad". On 7 May, he released the soundtrack "Pop Star" for the web series So I Married the Anti-fan.
On 5 October, he made his solo debut with his first extended play, Colors from Ars, and its title track "Vibin". Six days later, he released a fall-winter clothes collection in collaboration with Korean casual brand Plac. He then performed at K-pop cheering concert, We All Are One 2021 to overcome COVID-19 on 31 October. In November, he was confirmed to play his first lead role in the upcoming Cine de Rama rom-com web series Love & Wish, which is based on the webtoon of the same name; he will play Kim Seung-hyu, while Choi Ye-bin will star as the female lead. Between December 24 and 25, Love & Wish was released through domestic and overseas OTT platforms along with the original soundtrack, for which Choi sang "Day by Day". On 15 December, he released the digital single "Walk With Me".
On 21 June 2022, he released his second extended play, SUGAR, which debuted at #5 on the Circle Chart. Between 23 July and 7 August, Choi held the SUGAR mini concert tour in Manila, Singapore and Bangkok. On 6 August 2022, he was awarded the Best Asia Artist and Actor Award at Ganesha Awards, as well as being appointed Ambassador of Cultural Friendship and Tourism Promotion to ASEAN. On 18 August, he collaborated with F.HERO and THE TOYS on the single "IRREPLACEABLE". On 24 August,
Discography
Extended plays
- Colors from Ars (2021)
Singles
- "My Day" (내 하루) (2016)
- "Trauma" (2016)
- "Call Button" (통화버튼) (feat. J.praize) (2017)
- "I Want to Fall Asleep" (잠들고 싶어) (feat. Noday) (2017)
- "Everything For You" (2020)
- "Vibin" from Colors from Ars (2021)
- "Walk With Me" (같이 걸어가줘요) (2021)
Collaborations
- "I'm All Ears" (다둘어줄게) (with Park Ji-min) from Ready to Listen Pt. 2 (2018)
As featured artist
- "One Dream One Korea" (Various artists) (2015)
- "Victim of Love" (Sanjoy feat. Ars, Stephen Rezza, Elliott Yamin) (2017)
- "Hurry" (우린 서둘러) (Lovey feat. Youngjae) from :) (2021)
Soundtrack appearances
- "At the Usual Time" (그 시간에) from Wok of Love OST (2018)
- "Fall In Love" (빠져드나봐) (with Choi Jung-yoon) from When My Love Blooms OST (2020)
- "Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down" (태양이 지면 널 만나러 갈게) from Midnight Sun OST (2021)
- "Pop Star"from So I Married the Anti-fan OST (2021)
- "Good-bye Days" (with Lovelyz' Kei) from Midnight Sun OST (2021)
- "So Not Worth It" (내일 지구가 망해버렸으면 좋겠어) from So Not Worth It OST (2021)
- "You and I" (그대와) (with Laboum's Soyeon) from My Roommate Is a Gumiho OST (2021)
- "Day by Day" from Love & Wish OST (2021)
Filmography
Dramas
| Year | Title | Channel | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dream Knight | Youku Tudou | Himself | Online drama by JYPE and Youku Tudou |
| 2021 | ONAIR - Secret Contract | V LIVE | Sitcom, cameo (Episode 5) | |
| So Not Worth It | Netflix | Sam | Sitcom | |
| Love & Wish | Daum Kakao TV | Kim Seung-hyu | Web series |
Variety Shows
| Year | Title | Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | King of Mask Singer | MBC | Contestant as Game Machine (Episodes 93-94) |
| 2018 | Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend | KBS | Episode 340, singing Kim Yeon-ja's "Mercury Lamp" |
| 2019 | GOT7's Real Thai | TrueID | With GOT7's Mark, Jinyoung, and BamBam |
| GOT7 Golden Key | U+Idol Live | YouTube series, with GOT7's Mark | |
| 2021 | Coco is Genius | YouTube | Host |
| Idol Live Agent | YouTube | Host |
Radio presenting
| Year | Title | Channel | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | FM Starry Night | MBC Radio | Guest | July 7 |
| Kiss the Radio | KBS Cool FM | Special host | with GOT7's Jay B (15 October) | |
| 2016 | with GOT7's Jinyoung (3 June) | |||
| 2017 | with GOT7's Jinyoung (23–26 October) | |||
| 2018 | with Got7's Jinyoung (15 January) and Yugyeom (5–6 March) | |||
| 2020 | Idol Radio | MBC Radio | Special host | with Got7's Jay B (episodes 572 and 574, aired on 27 and 28 April) and Day6's Young K (6, 9–10 May) |
| Host | with Day6's Young K from 18 May to 25 September (episodes 594-714) | |||
| 2021 | Kim Shin-young's Hope Song at Noon | MBC Radio | Special host | with Got7's BamBam (6 July) |
| 2022 | Dream Radio | MBC FM4U | Special host | from 17 January to 6 February |
| 2022–present | Got7 Youngjae's Best Friend | MBC FM4U | Host | started 28 March |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Production | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Midnight Sun | Shinswave | Jung Ha-ram | Lead role |
Video Gallery
References
 | |
|---|---|
| Jay B • Mark • Jackson • Jinyoung • Youngjae • BamBam • Yugyeom | |
| Mini albums | |
| Albums | |
| Repackage albums | MAD: Winter Edition • Present: YOU&ME Edition |
| Digital singles | Home Run • One and Only You • Breath • ENCORE |
| Singles | |
| Albums | |
| Mini albums | Hey Yah • Turn Up • THE New Era • • Love Loop |
| World tours | 1st World Tour 'Fly' (2016) • World Tour 'EYES ON YOU' (2018) • World Tour 'KEEP SPINNING' (2019) |
| Japanese tours | 1st Showcase "IMPACT IN JAPAN" (2014) • 1st Japan Tour "AROUND THE WORLD" (2014) • Japan Tour "MORIAGATTEYO" (2016) • Japan Showcase Tour "MEET ME" (2017) • Japan Arena Special "MY SWAGGER" (2017) • Japan Tour "TURN UP" (2017) • Japan Connecting Hall Tour "THE NEW ERA" (2018) • Japan Arena Special "ROAD 2 U" (2018-2019) • Japan Tour "OUR LOOP" (2019) |
| Thailand tours | Thailand Tour "NESTIVAL" (2017) • Thailand Tour "NESTIVAL" (2018) • Fanfest "SEVEN SECRETS" (2019) |
| Tours/fanmeets | Asia Tour Showcase (2015) • 1st Fanmeeting Tour (2015) • Flight Log: Turbulence Fanmeet Tour (2016-2017) • Global Fanmeeting (2017) |
| Anniversary fanmeetings | 365+ 1st Fanmeeting • Amazing Got7 World 2nd Fanmeeting • We Under The Moonlight 3rd Fanmeeting • IGOT7 Research 4th Fanmeeting • Dreaming of Soccer King (Fly GOT7) 5th Fanmeeting (2019) • The Winter We Loved 6th Fanmeeting (2020) |
| Other | GOT7 2022 FANCON: HOMECOMING with I GOT 7 (2022) |