DAY6’s Jae Is Still Doing Everything On His Own Without JYP Entertainment’s Help
Including his time as a trainee, DAY6‘s Jae has been signed to JYP Entertainment for nine years. However, despite his long-term commitment to the company, he revealed in a recent Twitter Spaces session that he still doesn’t receive any help from the company for his activities.
This week, Jae joined fans on Twitter Spaces, a new feature on the platform that allows users to host audio discussions. While he wasn’t able to allow fans to join in the chat, he had plenty to discuss in the nine-minute session—including how he handles everything alone without help.
Jae spent much of the session talking to fans about Head in the Clouds (also known as HITC), an upcoming Los Angeles music and arts festival where he’s set to perform under his solo stage name, eaJ. The DAY6 star revealed he’s been “really busy” in the lead-up to the November festival, including writing new solo music that he hopes to play at the event.
It was at that point that Jae went into detail regarding everything he has to do to prepare for Head in the Clouds. Alongside deciding his setlist, he explained that he also needs to prepare a live band for his accompaniment and hire staff for the event, including a lighting technician, teleprompter operator, and a general technician.
I’m getting my setlist together. I have to go hire people, get a band, gotta get people to LED, I gotta get someone to flip my prompter, I gotta get a technician.
— Jae
Typically, these tasks are handled by an idol’s agency. Jae, however, explained that he has to handle everything he needs for his activities himself. He admitted to fans listening on Twitter Spaces, “I literally never have had anyone help me with anything.”
I know I say it all the time but I do this all myself, man. I literally never have had anyone help me with anything, doing stuff on my own.
— Jae
Notably, this isn’t the first time Jae has opened up about unfair treatment from JYP Entertainment. Back in June last year, he called out the company by retweeting a post from DAY6’s official account to ask why the admin doesn’t repost his activities.
Why don’t you repost my dive stuff? https://t.co/OFdcFjhXuM
— eaJ (@eaJPark) June 29, 2020
In further tweets, Jae went on to open up about how JYP Entertainment shut down his YouTube channel, jaesix, after he begged for permission to do it and handled all the work alone.
유툽도 저는 온간욕 다 먹어가면서 눈치보면서, 빌면서 겨우 허락받고, 혼자서 다하고, 결국 “회사사람을이 좋게보지않다”라는 의견으로jaesix 접게됐는데 왜 다른 맴버는 매니저분들이 스캐줄표도 만들어주고 회사가 콘태츠 비용도 도와주고 회사직원분들의 도음을 받으면서 좋게 좋게 할수있는거죠?
— eaJ (@eaJPark) June 30, 2020
On YouTube too, it was all me, doing the work alone for jaesix. The company said things about it, and I had to beg for permission to do it. Even after all of that, they said ‘people within the company don’t approve of it’ and so I had to stop it.
Why do the other members get their content expenses covered, management for their schedules, and help from the staff?
— Jae
That said, despite lacking support from JYP Entertainment when it comes to his solo activities, Jae confessed that he’s still subject to the company’s stringent rules. When one fan suggested that he move from Twitter Spaces to Instagram‘s live broadcast feature, Jae explained, “I have to tell the company when I’m doing IG lives now; it’s too late to tell somebody.”
Ultimately, although it can’t be easy doing everything alone, it seems that Head in the Clouds holds a lot of potential for Jae. He went on to reveal that he’s “super nervous” about the event because it will mark a “pivotal moment” for both his career and his fans. He also told fans that the performance will be the first time he can shed his “façade” and simply be Jae, the “human being.”
That’s the first time that I get to actually be Jae and not be some façade or some fake image of a perfect human being. I can finally be who I am as an individual human being. It’s not even the individual part. It’s just me being a human being.
— Jae
