Jo Kwon of K-pop boy group 2AM shared how much he struggled while training to become a K-pop star for eight years.
On July 13 episode of SBS Plus' television show 'Do You Eat?', Jo Kwon was invited to join the talk.
During the talk, Jo Kwon said, "I started training at my previous management agency JYP Entertainment when I was in elementary school. I spent eight years of my life as a K-pop trainee there."
He continued, "It was really stressful; I had a lot of pressure every day. There was a monthly test, and many trainees failed the test and were sent home. I was scared that I might be the next one to go home."
He went on, "I wanted to make debut as fast as I could, because I wanted to financially help my parents. They were heavily in debt at that time. I wasn't making debut even after years though. I felt very pressured."
Then, Jo Kwon said he saw his trainee-mate Seonye succeeding as girl group Wonder Girls.
Jo Kwon said, "I felt like I was in more rush, seeing Seon-ye's success. I couldn't give up on it as well, since I didn't want eight years of my hard work to go down the drain."
He carried on, "For those eight years, the head producer J.Y. Park never gave me feedback. I wanted him to tell me I'm good if I'm good or I'm bad if I'm bad. The level of my stress was unbelievable. I would hit myself on the piano sometimes too."
He added, "I thought I was going to make debut as a member of 2PM, because JYP Entertainment took me as a trainee after watching me dance. But J.Y. Park said there was this deep sadness in my voice, so he made me the vocal of 2AM."
Jo Kwon made debut as the leader of 2AM with a hit track 'This Song' in July 2008.
(Credit= 'kwon_jo' Instagram, SBS Plus Do You Eat?)