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49 ‘If I waS geTTIng paId haLf of whaT I geT paId now, and aS Long I couLd pay my RenT and eaT, Then I wouLd STILL do ThIS Job becauSe I enJoy IT ThaT much. god foRbId I acTuaLLy do STaRT geTTIng paId haLf The wage. ThaT wouLd be TeRRIbLe, buT I wouLd STILL do IT.’ Jake pains the pinnacle of my career. I’ve just started. ... If there’s a pyramid, I am right at the bottom and just moving up.” To move up that pyramid, he says, he believes in little goals rather than some big, singular goal for his music or entertainment career. Learning Korean is currently his biggest hurdle. He’s knee-deep in language classes when not on the “Jjang” set. In music, he just wants to keep meeting new audiences and writing things he’s satisfied with, whether or not he even records them. As long as he is on stage, in front of the camera or otherwise performing, he’ll be happy. “I never really had a main goal. My goal is just kind of to perform or entertain in a way that I (am) comfortable doing … be it acting or pre- senting or making music or free styling or just anything performing-wise, as long as it’s fun for me and it’s giving other people pleasure,” he says. “So, will I ever achieve everything I want to do? Probably not, but I’m gonna have a lot of fun trying, and I’m sure this is just the start.” So what’s his next goal? The higher-ups have mentioned that once he overcomes some “ifs and buts” — if he had more experience; but he doesn’t speak the language well — there are loads of opportunities awaiting him at CJ, where he has dug in his heels. Maybe he could host another show, this time for Korean audi- ences. Even his friend and music collaborator Pinnacle TheHustler says that with the look, the personality and the talent needed to suc- ceed here, “if it happens to anybody, it would be Jake.” Now it’s all up to him to move up, one step at a time. “I have the opportunity to work in Korean television. I work for the biggest private broad- casting system … one of the biggest in Asia. If that isn’t a foot in the door, then nothing is,” he says. “They like me — that’s been tried and tested because I still work there — and I like them. I love the environment and I’m very happy where I am. To represent CJ and to represent Korea is the next step, something that I have to take on with myself to make sure I — fuckin’ hell, I just gotta learn Korean.” Little goals.