ABOUT

Singer-songwriter, dancer, producer, actress, writer, ambassador and businesswoman.

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NAYA

Naya Rosalie Valentini Kwon, better known by her stage name ᑎᗩYᗩ, is an American singer, dancer, songwriter, producer, actress and businesswoman with Italian and South Korean descent. She gained popularity by participating in the Broadway musical “13” as a teenager and by posting some covers of her favorite musicians on Soundcloud.

She made her debut at JYP Entertainment in 2014 with her first mini-album entitled “Yours Truly”. Her career took off in 2015 and especially in the next two years, when she returned to the United States and participated in the year-end special “Hairspray” on national television, followed by her leading role in her second Broadway musical “Welcome to Burlesque “.

In 2018, Naya returns to South Korea and announces her first visual album, divided into two parts: “Dangerous Woman”. The project was marked as her first era of extreme importance in her career, accompanied by releases of clothes and comic books.

In the year 2020, being her own entrepreneur, the artist breaks barriers after creating her company, Sirius Entertainment.

PERSONAL DATA

FAMILY & CHILDHOOD

Daughter of Moon Kwon (Moon Cosmetics CEO) and Alexander Valentini (manager / graphic designer), she has three biological brothers and a twin sister. Her parents adopted two children and are responsible for the twins of one of her uncles who died in a car accident.

She grew up close to her paternal grandparents on the family’s cotton and blueberry farm in Atlanta, Georgia. She also maintains a healthy relationship with her Korean godfather Park Jin-young (JY Park) – a fact revealed only in 2018. These last three people had a great influence on her entry into the art world, as she used to watch old musicals with the Valentini and learned several dance and vocalization techniques during childhood with Jinyoung.

She used to perform in school and neighborhood plays until she moved to Orange County with her family so her mother could focus on business. Despite being raised as a Christian, she currently follows Kabbalah’s teachings with her brothers Ethan and Alexa.

Naya was a student at the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA), part of the Musical Theater Conservatory. In 2011, she auditioned for JYP Entertainment and moved to Seoul later that year, having an early graduation.

In 2016, her grandfather Giuseppe Valentini died, losing a long battle with cancer and in 2020, her mother filed for divorce amid her husband’s betrayal scandal, who became involved with lady 14 years younger than him and ended up getting her pregnant. Naya and her brothers no longer have any kind of contact with their father by choice.

TRAINEE LIFE

J.Y. Park confirmed that he’d invited her several times for an audition, but that Naya had always refused. He didn’t know she was among those selected until he got a call from her mother. The two kept their godfather/goddaughter relationship a secret until 2018. Her training started in 2012, when she received vocalization, dance, acting, entertainment, musical instruments and languages classes such as Korean and Japanese.

In 2018, during her appearance on the Knowing Brothers program, she confessed that moving to Seoul was very difficult, as she was a person who grew up in a large family and who despite being the daughter of a Korean, had a hard time learning how to write.

Other artists at the company confirmed that she was a popular trainee for her singing and dancing skills, but Kwon always made it clear that she felt at a disadvantage because she didn’t have many Asian traits, had problems with culture and speech to debut in a hardcore industry.

At first, Naya was put on a group project called 6MIX with Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Sana, Jihyo (members of the girl group TWICE) and Cecilia Boey, later replaced by Chung Ha. In 2013, they removed her from this project so she could train as a soloist and make her debut in the next year. She did some photo shoots for magazines at that time and even released a cover of “Emotions” by Mariah Carey on her old Soundcloud account (nayarose17), which was promoted by the company in February 2014, a month before its debut .

RELATIONSHIPS

The singer’s mother confirmed on her blog “Aligned” that Naya had two relationships before moving to Korea, both in 2011 with Avan Cameron (a Canadian exchange student at OCSA) and Jordan Cooper (student at another conservatory).

In July 2018, the singer published a letter on her social networks, making public her relationship with Kim Yugyeom, a company colleague and member of the male group GOT7. In the following months, she was severely attacked because photos of her involvement with actor Nam Joohyuk were leaked by a hacker, involving her in a rumor of cheating, which was denied by JYP Entertainment, Naya herself, her boyfriend and even Joohyuk. Kwon and the actor dated between November 2017 and January 2018, before her relationship with Yugyeom.

Henry Lau, in 2020, revealed that he dated the Naya for six months between 2015 and 2016. The relationship had been the result of a collaboration between both for Naya’s album, “My Everything”. He also confirmed that he approached her first and the public reaction was controversial, since at that time Henry was 26 years old and Kwon had just turned 20 (Korean adulthood) and she was still fulfilling her “0 dating” contract norm.

With all the rumors surrounding her love life, in late 2020 she released a song with the title “thank u, next”, where she opens up about her past relationships and sends a thank you message to her current boyfriend. In the lyrics, she reveals her relationship with figure ice skater and Olympic medalist Yuzuru Hanyu, which lasted less than two months in 2015.

COLLABS

Some haters call her “the queen of featuring”, claiming she has no talent of her own and needs others in her tracks to be successful.

In 2014, her first partnerships involved Mark Tuan and Youngjae from the group GOT7, they just had made their debut in the same year as her. Later, on her special Christmas album, a partnership with Sunmi was revealed. The company used collaboration as a marketing strategy for all of its artists.

In her 2015 releases, we can find collaborations with rapper Loco and trainees from her company Bang Chan (now leader of Stray Kids), Young K (Day6), Henry Lau, Hwasa (Mamamoo), Amber (ex-f (x )) and DJs Cashmere Cat and Zedd.

Major Lazer, Park Jimin (15 &), Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Wonder, Meghan Trainor, Who Is Fancy, Calvin Harris, Young Thug, Pharrell Williams and G-Dragon were the big names in her collabos for the years 2016 and 2017.

New featurings were released in 2018 with Macy Gray, Jackson Wang and rapper Gray. Naya has a total of five collabs over the years with Jessi, one of her best friends. In November 2019, she launched a project in partnership with her boyfriend Yugyeom on Soundcloud, intitled XVII, since both share the same birthday.

In the following years, her most notable collaborations included David Guetta, Diplo, Bia, Migos, Park Jimin (ex-15 &), Chung Ha, Sunmi, Eric Nam, Moonbyul, JB and Jinyoung (JJ Project / GOT7) and Madonna.

PARTNERSHIPS

In addition to having her official store with merchandise for her fans, Naya formed a very firm and lasting alliance with her mother’s company, Moon Cosmetics in 2016, having launched fragrances and other beauty products under the label, helping to spread the brand in Asia.

Speaking of family business, she’s the ambassador for VALENTINI, her twin sister’s brand, stylist Alexa Valentini, who started to create Naya’s stage costumes in 2018.

She is also the spokesperson for major lines like Samsung, Reebok and Savage by Fenty.

SIRIUS ENTERTAINMENT

On December 16, 2019, Naya Kwon made a public announcement that she was leaving JYP Entertainment, but that she’s grateful for everything she’s achieved and learned there and with fellow members of JYP Nation. Rumors went around that she would never return to the entertainment industry.

Just over two months later, she announced that she would be opening her own agency, called Sirius Entertainment. On March 8, 2020, her sixth career anniversary, she confirmed that she would be participating in the new JTBC drama “Scream Queens”.

DISCOGRAPHY

YOURS TRULY
(2014) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
허니문 애비뉴 (Honeymoon Avenue) • Baby I • 문신 하트 (Tattooed Heart) • Lovin’ It • 공상 (Daydreamin’) • 피아노 (Piano)

BETTER LEFT UNSAID
(2014) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
The Way • 거기서 (Right There) • 결코 알 (You’ll Never Know) • Almost Is Never Enough • Better Left Unsaid • 핑크 샴페인 (Pink Champagne)

BEST MISTAKE
(2015) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
Problem • Best Mistake • Break Your Heart Right Back • 나에게 손 (Hands On Me) • 너 나 몰라 (You Don’t Know Me) • 캐딜락 노래 (Cadillac Song) • 단 하나의 (Only 1) • Too Close

MY EVERYTHING
(2015) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
Love Me Harder • Be My Baby • 마지막 한번 (One Last Time) • Break Free • Bang Bang • 왜 그래 (Why Try) • 너의 마음을 조금이라도 (Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart) • 나의 모든것 (My Everything)

DANGEROUS WOMAN — EPISODE ONE
(2018) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
Moonlight • 위험한 여자 (Dangerous Woman) • 그것을 줬다 (Jason’s Song) • Greedy • 외로워지다 (Leave Me Lonely) • Step On Up • 상관 없어 (I Don’t Care)

DANGEROUS WOMAN — EPISODE TWO
(2018) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
괜찮아 (Be Alright) • 잘 알았어 (Knew Better)/Forever Boy • Into You • Let Me Love You • Side To Side • Everyday • 나쁜 결정 (Bad Decisions) • 때때로 (Sometimes) • Touch It • Thinking ‘Bout You

SWEETENER
(2020) | SIRIUS ENTERTAINMENT
raindrops (an angel cried) • blazed • the light is coming • R.E.M • God is a woman • sweetener • successful • everytime • breathin • no tears left to cry • borderline • better off • goodnight n go • kim yugyeom • get well soon

THANK U, NEXT
(2021) | SIRIUS ENTERTAINMENT
imagine • needy • NASA • bloodline • fake smile • bad idea • make up • ghostin • in my head • 7 rings • thank u, next • break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored

SPECIAL DISCOGRAPHY

♥ UP
(2014) | SONY MUSIC JAPAN
Put Your Hearts Up • Boyfriend Material • Honeymoon Avenue • Baby I • Right There • Tattoed Heart • Lovin’ It • Piano • Daydreamin’ • The Way • You’ll Never Know • Almost Is Never Enough • Better Left Unsaid • Pink Champagne

CHRISTMAS KISSES
(2014) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
Last Christmas • Love Is Everything • Snow In Seoul • Santa Baby • Santa Tell Me

ME & YOU
(2015) | SONY MUSIC JAPAN
Intro • Problem • One Last Time • Why Try • Break Free • Best Mistake • Be My Baby • Break Your Heart Right Back • Love Me Harder • Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart • Hands On Me • My Everything • Bang Bang • Only 1 • You Don’t Know Me • Cadillac Song • Too Close •

CHRISTMAS & CHILL
(2015) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
Intro (Christmas & Chill) • 이번 크리스마스 (This Christmas) • December • 크리스마스 만이 아니다 (Not Just On Christmas) • 참된 사랑 (True Love) • 겨울의 것 (Winter Things)

DANGEROUS WOMAN — JAPANESE EDITION
(2019) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
Moonlight • Dangerous Woman • Be Alright • Into You • Side To Side • Let Me Love You • Greedy • Leave Me Lonely • Everyday • Sometimes • I Don’t Care • Bad Decisions • Touch It • Knew Better/Forever Boy • Jason’s Song • Step On Up • Thinking ‘Bout You

XVII
(2019) | SOUNDCLOUD
dance to this • don’t be gone too long • cold

SINGLES

BABY I
(2014) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

THE WAY FEAT. MARK TUAN
(2014) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

PUT YOUR HEARTS UP
(2014) | SONY MUSIC JAPAN

SANTA TELL ME
(2014) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

PROBLEM FEAT. JESSI
(2015) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

BREAK FREE
(2015) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

LOVE ME HARDER FEAT. HENRY LAU
(2015) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

FOCUS
(2016) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT
Intro (Just For Myself) • Focus

ADORE
(2017) | SOUNDCLOUD

QUIT
(2017) | SOUNDCLOUD

DANGEROUS WOMAN
(2018) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

INTO YOU
(2018) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

KNEW BETTER PT. 2
(2019) | SOUNDCLOUD

TOURS

THE LISTENING SESSIONS
(2014) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

THE HONEYMOON WORLD TOUR
(2016) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

THE HONEYMOON JAPANESE TOUR
(2016) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

THE DANGEROUS WOMAN WORLD TOUR
(2019) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

THE SWEETENER SESSIONS
(2020) | JYP ENTERTAINMENT

THANK U, NEXT WORLD TOUR
(2021) |SIRIUS ENTERTAINMENT