Ten Years After the World Couldn’t Escape His Moves, the Baby Shark Star Is Going All In To Redefine His Legacy
You know you have to sing it now.
Ten years after the world couldn’t escape his moves, the kid who danced to Baby Shark is stepping into the spotlight on his own terms. According to UNILAD, Park Geon Roung, the now 17-year-old who became an accidental icon in the viral video, is releasing his debut single Wave on August 20. The track features Joohoney from the K-pop group Monsta X, and it’s the first time the world will hear Park’s own voice.
Baby Shark, created by South Korean company Pinkfong, became an inescapable phenomenon, blasting from tablets, phones, and grocery store speakers worldwide. It peaked at No. 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart, spawning a full franchise with a Nickelodeon TV series, mobile apps, books, and toys.
The video itself is the most-watched clip on YouTube, sitting at over 17 billion views – nearly double the next closest video, Cocomelon’s Wheels on the Bus. For context, Despacito by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi and rapper Daddy Yankee, is in third place with 9.1 billion views. That’s the kind of cultural dominance we’re talking about.
Park was just seven years old when he filmed the video
He danced alongside Elaine Kim Johnston while Korean-American singer Hope Segoine provided the vocals. His open-mouthed shark pose became the defining image of the clip, the one parents and kids alike could picture without even thinking. But now, a decade later, he’s ready to reintroduce himself as an artist. Wave is co-written by Park himself.
“I’ve always been grateful that people still remember a video I appeared in as a kid,” he said in a statement. “Ten years ago I was dancing next to Baby Shark… I wanted to share my own voice and a story I wrote myself.”
According to Forbes, the track drops at 12:00 PM KST on August 20 (which translates to 11:00 PM ET on August 19 for international listeners), and early teasers suggest it’s blending the nostalgic Baby Shark hook with a modern synth-pop beat. The 17-second teaser that hit social media this week ends with Park singing in both Korean and English, closing with the line, “I’m your boy.”
Joohoney’s involvement is a major flex for Park’s debut
The Monsta X rapper and producer has been a force in K-pop since 2015, writing and producing hits like Rush Hour, Love, and Do What I Want. He even dropped a solo EP last year, Insanity, which sampled a Muhammad Ali speech and featured Korean rap legend Tiger JK.
But here’s the fun part: Monsta X was one of the groups that performed the Baby Shark choreography on Korean TV during its viral peak. So in a way, Joohoney is looping back to the song that made Park famous, but this time, he’s helping launch the next chapter of Park’s career.
Pinkfong is framing this as more than just a nostalgia play. The company calls Wave its “first artist project,” a shift from treating Baby Shark as just an animated IP to building around a real human story. That’s a big deal for a brand that’s spent years dominating children’s entertainment without a face attached. Most kids’ franchises like Peppa Pig or Paw Patrol, don’t have a real-life star tied to them.
But Pinkfong is betting that Park’s journey from child dancer to solo artist is compelling enough to draw fans in. And if the reaction to last year’s 10th-anniversary clip is any indication, they might be right. That short Instagram video of Park all grown up racked up 24 million views and a million likes, proving that people are still curious about the boy behind the shark.
Park’s Instagram, where he’s amassed 154,000 followers, is full of dance covers of K-pop hits from groups like EXO, SEVENTEEN, and Stray Kids. He even put his own spin on Megan Thee Stallion’s Mamushi dance trend with a friend. It’s clear he’s been honing his skills and staying connected to the music scene.
The Baby Shark phenomenon had its controversies
In 2019, American children’s performer Jonathan Wright, known as Johnny Only, sued Pinkfong, claiming their version of Baby Shark copied his 2011 recording. Wright argued that his version contained original elements that Pinkfong had reproduced. The case dragged on for years, with the Seoul Central District Court initially rejecting his claim in 2021.
The court ruled that Wright’s version was itself based on a traditional children’s song and lacked sufficient originality for copyright protection. The decision was upheld on appeal in 2023, and South Korea’s Supreme Court finally put the matter to rest in 2025, ruling that Pinkfong’s version didn’t infringe on Wright’s copyright. It was a long legal battle, but in the end, the song’s place in pop culture remained untouched.
After Wave drops, Pinkfong plans to release WAVE: A Boy’s Record, a behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling Park’s journey from the original Baby Shark shoot to now. The company is positioning this as a way for Park to tell his own story, not just resurface as a familiar face. For Pinkfong, this is a chance to diversify beyond animated characters and see if the Baby Shark brand can evolve into something deeper.
(Featured images: Baby Shark – Pinkfong Kids’ Songs & Stories and Baby Shark Boy ‘WAVE’ MV Teaser 1 on YouTube)
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