JAKOPS knows a lot about identity.
The 39-year-old CEO and Executive Producer of XGALX, the company behind global sensations XG, is of mixed Japanese and Korean descent and born in the United States but raised in Japan. He joined the South Korean boy band DMTN in 2010 and later became a producer, establishing his own entertainment company, JAKOPS, which later launched XGALX. He understands that business and music trends are constantly shifting, and that everyone – especially his artists – has their own evolving journey as individuals and as a group.
“XGALX is more than just a production company that trains groups and pushes artists in the world,” JAKOPS (real name SIMON JUNHO PARK) says through a translator. “It goes much further beyond the commercial success of individual artists. There has to be a long-term plan for how that fits into their identities and their journey.”
JAKOPS doesn’t believe in being bound by any existing form or system. It’s why XGALX values individuality and unique worldviews, breaking through various traditional norms, fixed ideas, and barriers. It’s also another reason XG looks and feels so different than other musical acts. The septet – comprised of members Jurin, Chisa, Hinata, Harvey, Juria, Maya, and Cocona – all each has their own style and freedom to express themselves. It’s why their new album is called THE CORE, with its meaning (核) representing their “core” or “nucleus” (internal) beliefs, essence, values, and identities, especially in their music.
“This journey that we’ve gone on with X-Pop is really a declaration of what that means,” he explains. “It’s going to have a huge diversity of genres, and show a new side to XG that people haven’t seen before. But what’s most important is what’s at the core – the message and frequency that we have and sending that out into the universe. It’s a very diverse set of pop music that I think will be very relatable and resonate universally with the audience.”
JAKOPS is confident in XG and their new album, declaring that it will “in a major way, mark some change” and they won’t have any regrets. He says, “I think what we’ve put together and assembled here feels really complete in the way that nothing was left on the table.”
The group has always made significant and historic changes in the music industry. Even before the album’s release, XG’s youngest member, Cocona, came out as AFAB transmasculine non-binary last month, becoming the first artist in the Asian pop industry to do so. JAKOPS openly expressed his support for them on social media.
He shares that he’s known Cocona since their trainee days, when they were in grade school. He’s watched them grow up and figure out who they are. He’s proud of them, revealing, “We all, as a group, share that love of watching everyone grow up. Now that they’re 20 years old, there’s this huge journey where they’re searching for their own identities in their own right. In Cocona’s case, they found it. For me, it’s really just about blessing and supporting that decision as best as possible, because XG is not just about the artist. It’s about this respect and ability for all of our members to love themselves in their truest form. After all this journey they experienced, the fact that we’re able to share this with the world is a very happy moment. It’s really about the lives that we live, and the lives that the members, team, and everyone are going to live.”
The company showcased this support by changing the meaning of XG – from Xtraordinary Girls to Xtraordinary Genes. XGALX explains that “the word ‘Genes’ represents the power and creativity that reside within our core, as well as our spirit of continuously creating new culture without being bound by conventional norms.”
JAKOPS says everything that has happened – dominating the international charts, selling out their first World Tour across Asia, North America, and Europe in 2024, collaborating with Riot Games, performing at last year’s Coachella Music Festival, Cocona’s coming out, their new full-length album, their upcoming second World Tour, and more plans set to release – sets the stage for XG’s new chapter.
“In the beginning, when I started this project eight years ago, we had set certain goals and benchmarks we wanted to achieve,” he says. “It’s been four years now since XG’s debut, and we’re hitting a lot of goals as intended, including Coachella and Tokyo Dome, one of the biggest and most iconic venues.”
He’s excited for the group’s plans for this year, calling it a “big year for XG.” He acknowledges that the members have grown and matured greatly since their debut, and have received the global recognition that they’ve worked so hard to obtain.
“My job now is also to align and find the vision for where we go next and build that together,” he says. “Audiences are beginning to understand what we’re about and what our culture is. The era has shifted, and I’m very happy about that. Ever since our company and XG’s debut, we have been doing things a little differently, especially with our structure and how we built the company. We were able to overcome many challenges and show who we are. So I’m very thankful for the entire team and very happy about how far we’ve come.”
He’s now focused on a new challenge, with plans to move to the U.S. to work on music that resonates with Western audiences worldwide. As the birthplace of pop music, the U.S. has become the “gold standard” in regards to management, A&R capabilities, management skills and systems, and promotions.
“I really want to lean into that and learn from that,” he explains. “Then take X-pop, which we’ve made, and integrate this attitude, culture, and these vibes that we’ve created, and focus more on those sets of values, and take that to challenge the New American market. As a company, we’re going to evolve a lot. It’s time for a new chapter and challenge going forward, including XG and their next evolution, and how we approach and look at North America.”
As XG grows and the company expands, JAKOPS reveals what he considers one of the most important elements that make XG and XGALX what they are: trust and loyalty.
“[The trust and loyalty] that we have among each other forms this kind of energy, and it’s the core source of what XG’s strength and power is,” JAKOPS explains. “We have seven members, and each has their own identity, but there’s a mutual respect when we form together as a unit. There’s this absolute trust. Without it, we wouldn’t have the power to do what we do or the culture that we built. It really comes down to this absolute trust that we have in each other, and it forms this very core energy that gives us strength.”