Scuba diving deep in the Indian Ocean off Bali, there is a deafening silence. It is an intense stillness found only beneath the surface, surrounded by colorful fish and swaying marine life. In the depths, away from the world’s noise, there is room to breathe. This is one side of JAY B.
The other is a cacophony of screams reverberating throughout a concert venue, with the hot stage lights bearing down on him as thousands of fans call his name. It’s the exhilaration from the chaos, but also the pure love he feels when his fans dance and sing along to his music that brings him inner fulfillment.
Both are JAY B.
One is the K-pop star known worldwide as the leader of GOT7. The other is Def, the name he uses to explore his more personal, introspective side as a songwriter and producer. They may seem like contrasting identities, but for JAY B, they are two sides of the same coin.
Last month, JAY B stood on the Empire State Building’s 103rd-floor outdoor catwalk, with the Big Apple skyline before him. He took a deep breath and said that he couldn’t help but think about all the films that had shaped his imagination. Now he stood there, the wind whipping through his hair, and said it felt surreal, almost cinematic.
“I was thinking about the movies I had seen,” JAY B told amNewYork.
“Standing up there, feeling the wind hit me, was exactly like those moments in a drama or a film. Suddenly, the wind was blowing, and it felt like I was in a movie. It was amazing. I will always remember that moment.”
For an artist whose career has taken him around the world, the experience reminded him of the freedom music has given him to create, to travel, and to meet the fans who have followed his journey.
At his 2026 TAPE: ROOTS stop at the Palladium Times Square on Sept. 23, JAY B’s introspective nature was matched by his quick wit and playful humor, especially with his fans. The crowd pleaded with him to stay in New York longer, even offering to cover the cost of an extended stay.
“Oh, I have my own money,” he quipped, and the crowd laughed.
The joke was characteristically JAY B, but his affection for his fans was sincere.
“I want to make my fans happy and keep these memories alive,” he said. “When I come back, we can enjoy these moments again. It’s about creating good memories. That’s my goal and my purpose. I always want to connect with my fans, whether it’s greeting each other, making eye contact or dancing together.”
amNewYork learned that JAY B had a magical introduction to New York City more than a decade ago. He first visited the city with his GOT7 bandmates in July 2016, when the group performed at the PlayStation Theater during the Independence Day holiday weekend. Among his fondest memories is watching the Fourth of July fireworks with the members.
“When I first came here, I watched the fireworks with the other members. The view was beautiful, and I still remember it,” he recalled.
Ten years later, he as grown not just into a talented young man, but someone who has found and cultivated his voice through songwriting. Having stepped into the role of GOT7’s leader at a young age, he spent much of his early adulthood balancing the responsibility of guiding a group with the demands of developing his own artistic identity.
As a soloist, he has found more room to explore contemporary R&B, alternative R&B, and neo-soul, embracing music that matches his personal taste.
“Before, I didn’t feel like JAY B as a solo artist and JAY B in GOT7 could coexist,” he explained. “But nowadays, I feel like they can. My musical taste is toward deeper sounds, vintage vibes and an original feeling. Before, our musical tastes seemed so different that I kept those sides separate. Now, they’re blending together.”
He explained that the distinction comes down to who he has in mind when he writes.
“When I make music for the group, I think about GOT7. I think about the members’ vocal tones and their individual habits. But when I make music for myself, I focus on my own voice and style. That’s the difference, but the two aren’t completely separate.”
One unfinished song, “Thoughts of You,” still lingers in his mind. Even when he briefly sang a snippet during his conversation with amNewYork, he wasn’t convinced it was ready to be released.
“I’ve made a lot of music, but that song has stayed with me for a long time. I made it years ago, and it’s still stuck in my mind. I even deleted it, but I still think about it.”
In the past, JAY B said he actively searched for inspiration in different things. Now, he is more interested in living his life and capturing moments as they happen.
“Creativity suddenly comes to me when I’m walking, running or boxing. Usually, when I’m moving my body and sweating, an idea will hit me, [almost like an] adrenaline rush,” he said.
“Most of my inspiration comes when I’m moving or doing something physical, like camping or walking. I try to embrace whatever thoughts come to me in the moment and find interesting ways to express them.”
This is where Def shines through in his songwriting. Before joining the military, JAY B says he might have approached situations a little cavalierly, but as he’s grown older, he’s taken more care in embracing his feelings and responsibilities.
Before, he explained, he might have agreed to do something simply because someone had asked him. Now, he thinks more carefully about what he commits to and takes greater responsibility for how he approaches it.
That willingness to look inward is also what separates Def from JAY B.
When he introduced the world to Def, he opened another door into his creative identity, one that let him share a level of vulnerability that might otherwise have stayed private.
“Both sides exist within me. Def is more personal and deeper, a way to express my own stories, emotions and thoughts. JAY B is more commercial. With that side, I think about what people might like and enjoy,” he explained. “They’re two different ways of expressing my emotions.”
Despite their differences, neither identity exists independently of the other.
“I always start with my emotions, but there are two ways of expressing them. JAY B’s music is more fictional, but it still starts with my own feelings.”
He shared that knowing he created something that helped someone else navigate their feelings gives him a sense of purpose.
“That’s my purpose. That’s why I make music,” he said. “I feel really happy when fans find comfort in my music. I try to comfort them and reach them through my music and lyrics. Whenever fans tell me my music has brought them comfort, it makes me happy.”
And while the veteran star thrives on stage, connecting his music with an audience. There are times that he needs to recharge.
For JAY B, this means returning to nature to heal.
“I like reading books, but proper rest for me is being in nature,” he said.
He says scuba diving, especially, offers a level of solitude hard to find amid the hustle and bustle of city life, even in Seoul. But the ocean offers a quiet comfort hard to find elsewhere.
“When I dive into the sea, the silence is very healing for me. Watching the fish and all the living things underwater brings me peace and calmness,” he said.
He finds the same comfort in simpler scenes, too, like watching leaves fall.
Perhaps that is the thread connecting both sides of JAY B: the artist who stands beneath blinding stage lights and the man who seeks silence beneath the ocean’s surface. One thrives in the roar of a crowd; the other finds clarity in stillness. One writes with an audience in mind; the other reaches inward to uncover what he might not otherwise say aloud.
Yet both begin with the same person.
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