“It was Hope who was kept in the most intimate corner of the box. He followed behind the miasma of darkness, alleviating the harmful effects on humanity. Hope gave people the will to continue living in the midst of pain and fight “.
The introduction to j-hope’s solo debut album, Jack in the Box, is a female voice that tells the myth of the Pandora’s Box; is a story that j-hope, who was born Jeong Hoseok, has gravitated to for a long time, and a partial source of his stage name.
For almost a decade as part of BTS, j-hope has been more than up to the name. He has embodied it, even summed it up, developing a reputation as the sunbeam in the world record-breaking group. His energy on stage is amazing; anyone lucky enough to have seen BTS in concert inevitably marches in amazement at the seemingly endless well of passion and precision he possesses as the group’s dance leader.
“My name is my life,” is the opening line of 2018’s j-hope mixtape, Hope World, a seven-song collection imbued with neon of bright rhythms and optimism. Even recently, BTS label BIG HIT MUSIC shared images behind the group’s scenes in preparation for their performance at the 2022 Grammy Awards. Several members fell ill with COVID during the rehearsal process, including they j-hope, and when he finally returns to the practice room, there is visible relief among his members. “Now that Hobi is here, everything is falling into place,” Jimin says. “Don’t be sick, for my sake; my life is harder without you.”
With familiarity, expectations often arise, but after ten years, j-hope has made it clear that it has longed for a different lens through which to explore its creative identity. It arrived today, July 15, in the form of Jack in the Box, the first full-length solo album by any of the BTS members, and we are definitely no longer on Hope World.