PLEA is a pop-duo formed in 2023 comprised of members JAYJAY and Clovd. They create music that fits comfortably into your playlist, easy to listen at anytime and anywhere. They have been active for two years now but not only are they artists, they are also seasoned, active music producers.
JAYJAY has been a long time producer for Cube Entertainment and a member of the producing group MosPick. He produced for various iconic K-pop groups, including IZ*ONE, TWICE, Stray Kids, NMIXX, and NCT. Clovd has produced for Apink, Loossemble, and Kiss of Life, but his career originally started as an artist, debuting as a member of the K-pop boy band ToppDogg in 2013.
On August 10 PLEA released their 4th single "Eo Beo Beo", a song about feeling shy in front of a love interest to the point of stuttering.
"Eo Beo Beo" Music Video
PLEA joined Otakon 2024 to share their music, their vision, and their approach to the music-making process. There, Glow was able to speak with the duo behind some of K-pop’s biggest hits.
A translator was present during this conversation.
GLOW: Just to start off, have you guys been to DC before? Did you guys get a chance to walk around, see everything? How did you like it?
JAYJAY: I've been here last year, but this time, we didn't have any time to go sightseeing or to look around. And it’s too hot out here!
CLOVD: It’s my first time in DC and I haven’t been able to go around much. I want to go around a lot and look around today and tomorrow. So, I’m really excited for it.
GLOW: Tell me a little bit about how you guys became a duo. What’s the story behind that?
CLOVD: Before we decided to be a duo, I was in a K-pop idol group called ToppDogg. I worked with Topp Dogg for about 4 years. After going to the army and back, I started my solo career but COVID struck and all of my overseas tours got canceled. So during that time, I thought it would be fun to write other people’s songs. And while doing that, I met JAYJAY. At the time, JAYJAY was a very well-known, famous K-pop producer. And after talking with him, I found out that JAYJAY kind of wanted to make his own music. We found out that the things we wanted to do were pretty similar and the story we wanted to tell was also similar. So we decided “let’s do PLEA.” The reason we wanted to do PLEA was because--while doing K-pop for all that time and making songs for K-pop idols--we were focused on dance performances of those songs. Rather than that, we wanted to do something that would tell the story that we wanted to tell. So when we make PLEA songs, we like to draw the story in a fun way, make the tracks with simple instruments. For example, our song “Stock Market,” we wrote it when we noticed that the Tesla stocks were declining. With the heart that we wanted the stocks to go up, we wrote the song. So in the lyrics there’s a line that’s like “go up, go up, go up” and whenever we sing that, the instrumental notes go up as well. So the things we couldn’t do whenever we made songs for other labels, we’d put in our songs.
GLOW: So how did you guys decide on the name PLEA?
JAYJAY: It’s actually playlist--if you shorten it, it’s PL-LI. So that’s why we are PLEA.
GLOW: As all close friends do, you both probably have a few disagreements sometimes--whether big or small. How do you find common ground between your differences?
JAYJAY: Actually we don’t have much disagreements.
CLOVD: Whenever we make K-pop productions, we aren’t part of the same team. When I did K-pop productions, it’s with a different team and we fight a lot but when I make music with JayJay for PLEA, we don’t fight. Whenever we make songs for PLEA, there’s nothing strict about it.
JAYJAY: The reason why we made this group is to do what we want to do. So I just let him do what he wants to do and he lets me do what I want to do.
CLOVD: Because we’ve already made a lot of music separately…
JAYJAY: We already know what’s good for us, since we’re K-pop producers--that’s why we don’t fight.
GLOW: So you guys already know what to expect from each other because you’ve been in the industry for so long. So now it’s like second nature to you both.
JAYJAY and CLOVD: yes!
GLOW: I have listened to your music--
JAYJAY: OMG really? Thank you *laughs*
GLOW: Of course! I like the easy-going nature of your music. It’s very chill and calming to listen to. Is that the message or feeling you want to convey to those who listen to your music?
JAYJAY: Yes! Like, when you listen to K-pop music it can be pretty complex so we want people to get rest when they listen to our music. That’s one thing we really want to do, give them calmness, a chill vibe.
GLOW: Both of you are top class producers, as we’ve talked about. You both have produced music for big idols such as TWICE, Stray Kids, Apink and Kiss of Life. What is one of your favorite songs you’ve produced?
JAYJAY: My favorite song that I’ve produced---every one is my favorite of course but I’m going to choose La Vie En Rose. Because that song made me kind of famous.
CLOVD: That’s why I’m so envious of him *laughs* In my case, I love all of them. But from the more recent releases, personally…wow this is so hard.
JAYJAY: *laughs* I’m curious too! I’m curious what your favorite is.
GLOW: It’s hard to choose, isn't it?
JAYJAY: Yeah, it's like our babies!
CLOVD: I have one! It’s not a super famous song but it’s an OST from a K-drama. It’s Lucky Charm, sung by BoyNextDoor. That song is actually a song I wrote 10 years earlier, when I was in ToppDogg.
JAYJAY: Woahhhh
CLOVD: He wanted to use it in their group so that’s why he wrote it but they didn’t end up using the song. So 10 years passed, I thought it would fit the younger groups better. Watching them sing that song made me happy and I thought “oh wow, it’s been a while” so that song is really special to me.
GLOW: It was great meeting you both and thank you so much for making time to speak with me.
CLOVD and JAYJAY: Thank you, thank you!
PLEA SOCIALS
@pleapleaplea02 on YouTube
@plea_playlist on Instagram