John Paul "JP" Lam (born April 20, 1984 in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

) is an American singer and songwriter. He is notable for his collaborations with R&B singer

Misia Misaki Itō, commonly known as and stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended ...

, which have found widespread popularity in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and Japan. In 2012, he released his debut solo single which serves as the opening theme song to the anime ''

Shirokuma Cafe is a Japanese manga series by Aloha Higa. It revolves around the everyday lives of a group of animals mingling with humans at a café run by a polar bear. An anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot aired in Japan between April 2012 and March 201 ...

''.

Early life

JP was born in

. He attended the Punahou School, graduating in 2002, and then attended

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

on a vocal performance scholarship where he majored in

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

Career

After graduating from Pepperdine, JP worked as a back-up vocalist for

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

along with ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' winner

Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks-Thomas (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. Her self-titled debu ...

. In 2007,

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...

used his composition "Yeo Haeng Gi", which was included on one of the

SM Town SM Town (stylized as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment. SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Live '08 Asia tour ...

albums, and then moved to

to continue his career in music. In 2009, JP moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan and began collaborating with R&B singer

. The first song he wrote for her was "Work It Out", which was included on her 2009 album ''

Just Ballade ''Just Ballade'' (stylized as ''JUST BALLADE'') is the ninth studio album by Japanese singer Misia. It was released on December 16, 2009 by Ariola Japan, marking Misia's first album release under the label. The album yielded seven singles, " Yes Fo ...

''. JP also wrote her song "Ultra X'mas", which was included as a B-side on Misia's winter single " Hoshi no Yō ni...". In 2010, Misia and JP collaborated again on the song " Maware Maware", her contribution to the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

album '' Listen Up!'', where he and Japanese DJ

Muro Muro, a word meaning wall in the Spanish, Portuguese Italian, Esperanto and Ido languages, may refer to: Places France * Muro, Haute-Corse, a commune in the ''département'' of Haute-Corse Italy * Muro Leccese, a municipality of the Province ...

are credited under their collective name "M2J". JP also collaborated with Misia on her 2011 album ''

Soul Quest ''Soul Quest'' (stylized as ''SOUL QUEST'') is the tenth studio album by Japanese singer Misia. It was released on July 27, 2011, through Ariola Japan. The album yielded three official singles, the digital exclusives " Edge of This World" and " Lif ...

'', writing and performing on several tracks, as well as supporting her on her tour for the album. In 2012, JP had his solo debut on the

Avex Group is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

record label with the song "Boku ni Invitation" which serves as the opening theme song for the ''

'' anime series.

Discography

Singles

* – June 20, 2012

Compositions

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...

;''2007 SM Town Winter'' – 2007 *"Yeo Haeng Gi (TRAVELLING)" ;'' Tone'' – 2011 *"Thank you my girl"

Misia Misaki Itō, commonly known as and stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended ...

;''

'' – 2009 *"Work It Out" ;" Hoshi no Yō ni..." - 2009 *"Ultra X'mas" ;'' Listen Up!'' – 2010 *" Maware Maware" ;" Kioku" – 2011 *"Kono Mama de Tonight" ;''

'' – 2011 *"Ame no Sonata" *"Subarashii Mono Sagashi ni Ikou" *"Kimi ni wa Uso o Tsukenai" *"Manatsu no Chameleon"

Supernova

;''Hop Step Jumping!'' – 2010 *"Million Dollar Baby

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
1984 births American expatriates in Japan Avex Group artists American hip hop singers Japanese-language singers Living people Musicians from Honolulu Punahou School alumni Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists 21st-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Hawaii