From GOT7 to his solo career: the success story of Bambam!

From GOT7 to a solo career: the success story of Bambam!

Author: Helen Bosch / Mar 31, 2023

When we talk about Bambam, we first think of a talented solo artist and then of the boy group GOT7 , through which he became famous. The Thai rapper and singer has many loyal fans not only in Korea, but also in his home country of Thailand and internationally.

He currently has 17.5 million followers on Instagram (March 2023)! They follow both his music and his numerous appearances on entertainment shows.

If you want to learn more about Bambam’s achievements and milestones, you’ve come to the right place! We'll take you through his career today!

Pre-Debut
GOT7
Solo activities (2015 - 2020)
Solo debut (2021)

Pre-Debut

We know him as Bambam but his real name is Kunpimook Bhuwakul. He was born on May 2, 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand and grew up with his mother and three siblings. His father died when he was just 3 years old. The nickname Bambam is inspired by a cartoon character named Bamm-Bamm Rubble from the series “The Flintstones”.

His love for K-pop was sparked when he attended a Rain concert with his mother. Inspired by Rain, Bambam began taking dance lessons at the age of 10. He was even a member of a dance crew called “We Zaa Cool.” There he met Lisa from Blackpink, who was also part of the crew!

Neither of them would have thought back then that they would one day be superstars in Korea! This time together is also the reason why Bambam still sometimes calls her “Noona”, even though she is only a month older. (“Noona” is a Korean term that boys use for their older sisters or older girls.) Lisa was much taller than Bambam back then. Today he is bigger, but to him she is still his “Noona”.

Bambam successfully participated in dance competitions and even won a Rain Cover Dance Competition in Thailand in 2007! At the age of 13, he attended a JYP audition in Thailand, was accepted as a trainee and moved to Korea. There, in addition to singing and dancing, he also learned Korean. In an interview in 2017, the singer shared that he was often insecure and wondered if he was doing the right thing. His friends at home were preparing for studies while he was training from morning to night. But he continued to work hard for his dream and was rewarded for it:

On January 20, 2014, Bambam debuted in the seven-member boy band GOT7!

At the time he was 16 years old and the second youngest in the group. Bambam’s band members come from Korea, China and Taiwan. So he was far from the only foreign K-pop idol, but one of the first Thai idols. Before him, only Nichkhun from 2PM had made a name for himself. 2PM debuted in 2008.

But Bambam was quickly joined by other Thai idols in the K-pop scene. In 2015, the girl group CLC entered the scene, whose members included the Thai Sorn. In 2016, Lisa ( Blackpink ) and Ten ( NCT ) made their debut, followed by Minnie ( (G)I-dle ) in 2018. Nevertheless, there are still only a few well-known Thai K-pop idols.

If you want to know more about GOT7's history, you can read more here! Below, we will focus on Bambam's solo activities and achievements as a solo artist.

Solo activities

Bambam began expanding his personal spectrum early on and gaining experience in different areas. This applies to his work as a musician, but also to other activities such as moderation or acting.

2015: Presentation, entertainment shows and more!

In 2015, a year after his debut, he started writing his own raps and has since regularly contributed to the lyrics of GOT7 songs. He also hosted the music show “M Countdown” from March 2015 to March 2016 together with his bandmate Jinyoung, SHINee’s Key and C.N.BLUE’s Lee Jungshin. But that wasn’t all. In 2015 he also got the chance to perform independently of GOT7. He was a permanent crew member in the entertainment show “My Young Tutor” and released 12 episodes under the title “BamMin TV” together with Park Jimin from the duo 15& (also from JYP Entertainment). The episodes were all different, for example in the first one Bambam taught Jimin a bit of Thai.

2016: Acting and other appearances in entertainment shows

After GOT7 filmed a short fantasy series called "Dream Knight" in 2015, Bambam tried his hand at acting again in 2016. He appeared in a Thai short film called "Sanctuary" and had a guest appearance in the K-drama "Jealousy Incarnate." But those were also his last experiences as an actor.

Since then, he has focused more on entertainment shows. In 2016 he was seen with Jackson on the show “Real Men” and hosted “Battle Like” with Mark, a program in which idols play games and answer questions together with their fans. To this day, Bambam can be seen regularly in shows like “Master in the House” or, most recently, “Business Genius Baeksajang”!

In 2017, the rapper ventured into several new projects!

For example, on April 7th he released a single called “Make It Right”. It served as a promotional song for Yamaha Thailand. He collaborated with several other Thai artists for the single. It was Bambam's first musical release independent of GOT7 and one of the first promotional deals in Thailand.

Six months later, “7 for 7”, GOT7’s seventh mini album, was released. This time Bambam was not only involved in the lyrics, but for the first time also in the music for one of the songs - “Remember You”! He also produced the lyric video for “You Are,” another song from the album.

By this point, Bambam had already revealed many talents: hosting, writing lyrics, composing music and editing videos. But that wasn't all! Before 2017 ended, he surprised his fans once again:

On December 5th, he presented his own clothing line called “doubleB” in collaboration with the luxury brand “Represent”. The limited collection was only available for two weeks. Over 13,700 items of clothing were sold in a short period of time! Proceeds were donated to “Water.org,” a nonprofit organization that produces clean drinking water.

2018 - 2020

In April 2018, fans had to worry about whether Bambam would join the military or not. Of course, since Bambam is from Thailand, he doesn't have to serve in the South Korean military like most other male K-pop idols. But there is also compulsory military service in Thailand. All 20-year-old men must serve up to 2 years. However, compulsory military service in Thailand differs from that in South Korea. In Korea, every man without exception has to serve unless he is unable to do so for health reasons. In Thailand, however, only a certain number of men per region have to join the military. Since enough volunteers had volunteered in Bambam's region, he was released from duty.

So in the following years he continued to work diligently on his many talents. Bambam continued to be regularly involved in the lyrics and music of GOT7 songs. In 2018, he released a new self-produced video titled “My Year 2018” on GOT7's official YouTube channel. With the video he thanked the fans for their support. This was followed in 2019 by another video called “Feel It, See It” and even our own fan meeting tour in Thailand!

In fact, Bambam was considered one of the biggest stars in Thailand in 2020! From 2018 to 2020, he worked with some of Thailand's largest companies, promoting many different products such as smartphones, clothing, food, motorcycles and more. Its success was evident, among other things, in the fact that “bambam” or the Korean spelling “뱀뱀” were among the 10 most used Twitter hashtags in Thailand.

In November 2020, his first soundtrack “I’m Not a Con-Heartist” was released for a Thai film called “The Con-Heartist”. In the same month, GOT7 released the last album under JYP Entertainment. Subsequently, all seven members of GOT7 separated from their long-standing label. On March 5, 2021, it was announced that Bambam had signed an exclusive contract with “Abyss Company”. The label is home to Sunmi, Melomance and Sandara Park, among others!

7 years after his debut in GOT7, Bambam finally released his first solo album!

The mini album “Ribbon” including the title song of the same name was released on June 15, 2021. As before, Bambam wrote most of his lyrics himself and worked on the music.

The album was a successful start to his solo career, peaking at number two on the Korean Gaon Weekly Album Chart. In Thailand, the title song won an award because it was downloaded more often than any other song in the first 10 days of July!

Of course it wasn't just one album. Two more albums have been released to date: the second mini album “B” (January 2022) and just a few days ago the first studio album “Sour & Sweet”.

In between, the star presented two digital singles, held a fan meeting tour in Bangkok, moderated a fan meeting for his bandmate Mark in Thailand and even released a second fashion collection in 2021! This time he was supported by the fashion brand CHARM'S and, as in 2017, the proceeds were donated. In this case, to children from low-income families. The collection was actually only supposed to be sold from September 7th, 2021 to September 30th. Due to high demand, Bambam and CHARM'S extended the sales period until October 10th.

As you can see, Bambam is one of the most popular solo artists in South Korea and Thailand for a reason. He has proven time and time again that he is a man of many talents. Fans also appreciate him for his friendly personality and positive attitude.

Quellen: GOT7 Youtube, GOT7 Instagram, Bambam Twitter, Bambam Instagram, abysscompany, Interview, SCMP

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