Jay Park pulls out all the stops with R&B, 'Billie Jean' and flying bras

Jay Park has come a long way since debuting as a member of K-pop boy band 2PM in 2008, reinventing himself as a versatile soloist, producer and chief of his own labels, formerly AOMG, H1ghr Music and now More Vision.

His latest concert, “Serenades & Body Rolls: Replay,” played like a one-stop retrospective of that journey — from the early influence of Michael Jackson to the many friends and colleagues he gained along the way — as it all came together in a tightly packed show featuring star-studded guests including Dynamic Duo, Lee Young-ji and artists from AOMG.

Park held the two-night concert over the weekend at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in southeastern Seoul, which marked the Seoul encore of his ongoing “Serenades & Body Rolls” world tour that kicked off in the city in May of last year. He has since performed in 12 cities across Asia and Oceania before returning to his home base.

The first half of Saturday’s show highlighted Park’s identity as an R&B singer rather than the suave, sexy hip-hop persona for which he is more widely known.

The concert began with Park’s soulful humming filling the arena as he showcased his vocal ability with his 2024 track “Ohx3,” further amplified by a powerful live band. He followed it with “Remedy,” performing the 2025 track live for the first time. Although the song is built on sleek, futuristic synth-pop, his vocals and performance remained heavily reminiscent of male R&B performers of the 2000s, particularly Usher.

Demonstrating both his powerful, stable vocals coupled with smooth dance moves from the outset, Park greeted fans while catching his breath. He joked that he may have pushed himself a little too hard for the grand entrance — which he nonetheless pulled off seemingly effortlessly.

“I’m going to have fun tonight, so you should too,” he said. “Don’t care about what others think today.”

Despite saying he was running out of breath, Park maintained vocal stability through the lighter, pop-leaning set that followed, including “Drive” (2016) and his remix of J. Tajor’s 2022 single “Like I Do.”

He then sang into a microphone on a stand for a funky performance of “Ganadara” (2022), followed by “Yacht” (2017), letting the band fade away at the end as his a cappella humming echoed through the arena.

“Songs like ‘Mommae’ [2015] are the most popular among my songs, but there are those who also like my singing,” he said after performing the emotional ballads “Yesterday” (2023) and “Stay With Me” (2016).

Park then recalled Psy, the superstar behind “Gangnam Style” (2012), telling him that he should perform more Korean ballads at his concerts. Taking that advice, he delivered a stripped-down rendition of “Soju Hanjan,” the 2002 Korean ballad classic by Lim Chang-jung.

The first major shift in the mood arrived with an appearance by veteran hip-hop duo Dynamic Duo, who, according to member Gaeko, had “gladly come to help Jay out.”

The duo drove up the pace with a medley of hits from “AEAO” (2014) and “Smoke” (2023) to “Guilty” (2009) and “Friday Night” (2011).

Park returned for the segment starting with “All I Wanna Do” (2016). Later, he unveiled a new song, “Namja,” an Afrobeats-driven track built around the addictive hook “I wanna be your namja,” meaning “man” in Korean.

One of the night’s highlights was Park’s tribute to Michael Jackson. Wearing white gloves, a hat and a sparkling black jacket, he performed “Billie Jean” (1983), faithfully recreating everything from the pop legend’s distinctive, hiccup-like vocalizations and mannerisms to his signature moonwalk.

“There are many figures who enabled me and inspired me to pursue music,” Park said. “Every pop artist has their own legend who inspired them.”

The night’s second guest, rapper and TV personality Lee Young-ji, then joined Park onstage for their 2021 duet, “Day & Night.” Lee won season 11 of “Show Me the Money” in 2022, during which Park served as her mentor.

“The first and last concert that I ever bought a ticket for was Jay Park’s,” she said, citing him as one of her favorite artists growing up. “Starting from a fan in the crowd, I am so honored to perform here as a guest.”

Following Lee’s guest appearance, the concert took a decisive turn toward Park's hip-hop persona, starting with “DNA” (2021), followed by “Blue Check” (2022) and another new track, “Rock Solid.”

Then came a montage of old footage of Park and rappers from AOMG, a hip-hop label he founded in 2013 but left in 2021, drawing deafening cheers from the fans.

Some of Korea’s biggest rappers, such as Simon Dominic, Loco, Grey and Woo then joined Park on stage in a hit medley that included “We Are” (2017).

The tight-knit crew that has once all been tied together by AOMG still boasted strong onstage chemistry, performing an energetic set full of smiles and casual banter.

“It was such a special performance, wasn’t it?” Park asked after the crew left the stage. “We're still brothers and family, so please show them a lot of support.”

Then of course the show peaked toward the highlight, starting with “Ain’t No Party Like an AOMG Party” (2016), followed by “McNasty” (2024) and then “Mommae,” blended with “Keep It Sexy (Mommae 2)” (2025), where fans, in the old tradition of Jay Park concert, threw brassieres of all shapes and colors onto the stage.

Nearly two decades into his career, the Washington-born rapper and singer has carved out a place of his own as one of the pioneering figures in the industry, and the concert has been a testament to that journey and the community he has built along the way.

Park will now continue his “Serenades & Body Rolls” tour in North and South America as well as Europe.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]