7 Little-Known GOT7 Facts That Will Surprise Almost Anyone (Including Fans)
Whether you think you know everything there is to know about GOT7, or you’re a baby Ahgase making your first foray into the fandom, these fascinating and unexpected facts about the group are sure to blow your mind.
1. They inspired two popular Twitter features
Jack Dorsey, the creator and CEO of Twitter, is known to be one of GOT7’s most famous fans. Since meeting them as part of a Twitter Blue Room interview back in 2019, Jack has given the group shoutouts and even attended one of their concerts. However, what many people don’t know is that during that Blue Room session, GOT7’s BamBam and Youngjae came up with two Twitter features that made it into the app.
First, BamBam offhandedly suggested that Jack incorporate a real dark mode into the app. While Twitter technically added a dark mode feature in 2016, many users complained that its navy-blue shades just weren’t dark enough. Lo and behold, just days after BamBam’s suggestion, Twitter announced a new dark mode called “Lights out” with real black tones.
On top of that, Youngjae made a suggestion of his own. The star came up with a unique idea to facilitate better communication with fans—creating “rooms” on Twitter that limited people could join and use to chat together. This year, Twitter announced “Spaces”: a new feature that allows users to create chat rooms. While it’s not confirmed whether Jack got the idea from Youngjae, it’s certainly remarkably similar to his suggestion.
i just think everyone should know that choi youngjae's master idea was spacespic.twitter.com/4alYkyMQ4d
— layla 🔗 (@hwalilac) March 11, 2021
2. They altered their concept after multiple injuries
When GOT7 was first gearing up for debut in 2014, JYP Entertainment described them as a hip-hop group that would incorporate martial arts tricking (a combination of martial arts and acrobatics) into its choreography. However, while all the members were trained in tricking before debut, most of them reportedly had to stop due to injuries.
Ultimately, when GOT7 release their debut song “Girls Girls Girls”, the martial arts tricking had been primarily delegated to Mark and Jackson.
Then, over their rookie years, the GOT7 members sadly suffered several more injuries. In 2015, Jinyoung, Jackson, and Jay B (formerly known as JB) all suffered injuries while recording for broadcasts. The next year, Jay B was unable to participate in the group’s concert due to a herniated spinal disc. Then, in 2017, Youngjae was hospitalized due to a back injury and Jackson was the victim of a car accident.
So, these days, tricking features a lot less prominently in GOT7’s concept. That said, they still have some of the most impressive dance performances out there.
3. Mark came up with the fandom name
Shortly after they debuted, GOT7 announced that their official fandom name would be iGOT7, representing how fans have gotten both seven members and the lucky number seven. However, these days, the majority know GOT7 fans under the name Ahgase. But where did it come from?
Amazingly, Mark was actually the one who came up with the idea of Ahgase. In Korean, iGOT7 is pronounced “ah-ee gaht se-beun“—the first syllables of each word being “ah”, “ga”, and “se”. One day, Mark shortened iGOT7 to Ahgase for ease, but then he realized ahgase is also the Korean word for “baby bird”. From that moment, the fandom nickname caught on like wildfire.
4. MONSTA X’s Shownu was almost a member
It’s almost impossible to imagine GOT7 as anything other than the seven members fans have come to love, but the current lineup wasn’t always the intended one. Before participating in the survival show NO.MERCY and becoming a treasured member of MONSTA X, Shownu was a trainee under JYP Entertainment and was originally set to debut with Jinyoung and Jay B.
After both groups debuted and met up again, Jinyoung admitted he cried when Shownu left the company due to training absences. While fans don’t doubt that Shownu is exactly where he’s supposed to be, he also would’ve made a pretty cool GOT7 member.
5. BamBam owns over 50 Korean restaurants
Alongside being one of the most popular stars in South Korea and his home country of Thailand, BamBam is also an incredibly successful businessman. Back in a 2018 episode of Knowing Bros, BamBam revealed he and his mother own a Korean restaurant chain in Thailand with a staggering fifty locations.
Today, it’s believed he could own as many as 80 restaurants as well as his B’Chill café in Bangkok.
6. Mark has Irish ancestry
As part of GOT7’s foreign line, Mark has a colorful global background. He was born to Taiwanese parents in Los Angeles, California. As a child, he also lived in Paraguay and Brazil. And, of course, he moved to South Korea at the age of 17 to train with the rest of GOT7. However, one part of his background that many people don’t know is that Mark actually has some Irish heritage. In one live broadcast, he divulged that his mother told him he has Irish ancestors from generations back which is why he has a reddish tinge to his hair.
7. Jay B once lost his memory
Alongside all the injuries GOT7 sustained after debuting, Jay B also suffered a pretty serious injury when he was in high school. During an episode of Knowing Bros, Jay B recalled a time he was practicing b-boying, a form of dance involving trick moves. However, one move went wrong, leading Jay B to land on his head rather than his hand.
He passed out for 10 minutes, and when he came round, he couldn’t remember how he injured himself. Scarily, he soon learned his memory loss went even further than that when he got home and couldn’t remember the PIN number to enter his house. When he returned to school, he couldn’t even recognize his friends or remember their names.
Thankfully, it didn’t last forever. After a while, he remembered one of his friend’s names and his memory started to come flooding back. Later, Jay B revealed that if he ever lost all his memories of GOT7 except one, he’d want to remember the early trainee days they spent together and find them again.