Lim Jae-beom (Korean: 임재범; born January 6, 1994), known professionally as Jay B (제이비; stylized in all caps), and formerly JB, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actor. Jay B is the leader of South Korean boy band Got7, a member of boy band duo JJ Project and sub-unit Jus2, as well as part of R&B soul crew Offshore as Def.. He made his small-screen debut through the drama series Dream High 2 in 2012.
Lim Jae-beom was born in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, and grew up in Goyang. When he was seven, after watching g.o.d. perform, he developed the dream of becoming a singer. He started b-boying in his third year of middle school after failing a school test, dancing with friends at Ilsan, Paju, Boramae and Jeongbalsan station, and taking part in competitions. As a b-boy, he used the stage name Defsoul, taking Musiq Soulchild's "Just Friends" music video as inspiration. In 2009 he was scouted by JYP Entertainment at a b-boy competition: he was not interested in attending the audition, but his father pushed him to do so. He subsequently passed the open audition, winning first place with Jinyoung over 10,000 applicants. He became interested in musical composition and hip hop culture as a b-boy, but at the beginning of his idol training, he thought that learning to sing was meaningless, and concentrated only on dancing; however, after listening to D'Angelo, he started singing and composing his first songs.
2011–2014: Debut and career beginnings
In 2011, Jay B was cast in the role of Jang Woo-jae in the television drama Dream High 2, which began airing on January 30, 2012, on KBS for 16 episodes. In order not to be confused with singer Yim Jae-beom, he adopted the stage name of JB. In May 2012, he and fellow trainee Jinyoung debuted as the duo JJ Project with the single album Bounce. Their official music video for the title track "Bounce" was released on May 19.
On March 11, 2013, it was announced that he would be appearing as Seo Mi-joon on MBC's new drama When a Man Falls in Love. On January 16, 2014, the two members of JJ Project debuted as part of a seven-member boy band called Got7.
2015–2020: Solo activities and first photo exhibition
In 2015, he played the lead role in Dream Knight, a web drama, as a superhero version of himself, alongside his fellow Got7 members, featuring actress Song Ha-yoon as the female lead role.
In 2016, with the extended play Flight Log: Departure, his self-written songs started being included in Got7's album under the pseudonym Defsoul or Def.
In 2018, together with group mate Yugyeom, he participated in the art collaboration project Collaboran for carbonated mineral water brand Perrier with American multimedia artist Ben Jones. The creation process was later revealed through a reality show in May.
On March 5, 2019, he and Yugyeom debuted as Jus2, a sub-unit of Got7, with their EP Focus and its lead single "Focus on Me". In December 2019, he launched the JB Collection, a summer-themed clothing line in collaboration with Represent, which went on sale for two weeks and sold 35,940 items.
He also released two compilation extended plays with the Offshore crew, Scene #1 on June 24, 2019, and Scene #2 on March 26, 2020. As Def., he held his first photo exhibition named Alone from October 6 to 12, 2020, in Seoul.
2021: Departure from JYP Entertainment and SOMO:Fume
On January 19, 2021, following the expiration of his contract, he left JYP Entertainment. With the release of Got7's single "Encore" on February 20, he started using the new stage name Jay B.
On May 11, 2021, he signed an exclusive contract with H1ghr Music, debuting as a solo artist three days later by releasing the single "Switch It Up" featuring rapper Sokodomo, which entered at number 12 on the Gaon Download Chart. The R&B track was self-written and self-composed by Jay B with Jay Park and Cha Cha Malone, who also produced it, and talks about love, while the title conveys that his life is going to change. On May 25, 2021, Jay B became the first Korean soloist to enter the Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales Chart, debuting at number six. He also became the third Korean soloist to chart on Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Digital Song Sales Chart with "Switch It Up" entering at number 18.
On July 30, 2021, he became the first cover star for the launching of TMRW Magazine Korea. The 100-page magazine had been curated with Jay B himself and featured an exclusive interview, photoshoot and his own film photographies. In August, he appeared on MBC's singing competition show King of Mask Singer as "Toad's House" on episode 319. On August 26, 2021, his first EP, SOMO:Fume and the music video of the title track "B.T.W (Feat. Jay Park)" were released both digitally and physically. As part of the album promotions, Jay B held his first solo global fan meeting, "SOMO:Fume, Style of My Own:Fume", on September 25 through online platform Bbangya TV, while the official merchandise launched to commemorate the release of the EP, which went on sale for one week from September 2, was sold out in five days. An offline pop-up store selling additional items was subsequently opened in Seoul for two weeks from October 1, 2021.
In September, he participated in "Feel the Rhythm of Korea 2", a promotional campaign sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, for which he sang "I'm Surfin", a re-interpretation of traditional song "Niliria" (늴리리야; Nuilliri-ya), which was released on September 3 along a music video. On September 27, Jay B launched his second clothing line with Represent, "Live Without Regrets", under his moniker Def. On October 18, he collaborated with Italian singer-songwriter and producer Fudasca on the single "Is It A Dream?", while in November, he starred in the new Adidas Originals winter campaign, "Open Spirit", along with Blackpink.
2022–2025: Other music releases and world tours
On January 26, 2022, Jay B released his first physical extended play as Def., Love., which was listed among the best albums and EPs of the first half of the year by Bandwagon, and named one of the best Korean hip hop and R&B albums of 2022 according to Rolling Stone India.