With his debut full-length solo album, ‘Jack in the Box,’ j-Hope bookends humanities’ fervours – from hope to angst, in the garb of a neat, comforting, gingerly personal rebellion.

Global success

Records and numbers are not everything but it is something, and in certain cases, it tells a story. Before we discuss the nuances of the album, the numbers already narrate a success story.

The 28-year-old BTS rapper released the album and its second title track ‘Arson’ on July 15 at 1 pm KST. ‘MORE,’ the first title track, was released as a pre-release single two weeks ago. Soon after, both ‘Arson’ and ‘Jack In The Box’ rocketed to the top of iTunes rankings across the world.

As of 7 am KST on July 16, ‘Arson’ had already topped the iTunes Top Songs charts in at least 62 countries, while ‘Jack In The Box’ had topped the iTunes Top Albums charts in at least 49 countries. j-Hope has also become the first Korean soloist to join Spotify’s Global Top Ten. BTS is the only other Korean act to achieve the feat.

Also read: BTS’ J-Hope drops teaser of solo debut album ‘Jack In The Box’, sends fans into meltdown

The end of Hope

“It was Hope that was kept in the innermost nook of the box. It trailed behind the miasma of darkness, assuaging the ill effects on humankind. Hope gave people the will to keep on living amidst the pain and strife.”

The opening track of the album is a female voice narrating the legend of Pandora’s Box; it’s a story that j-hope, born Jeong Hoseok, has long been drawn to and a major source of his stage name.

J-hope has more than lived up to his name as a member of BTS for nearly a decade. He’s personified it — perhaps epitomised it — by becoming known as the beam of sunshine in the global, record-breaking company. 

His energy onstage is incredible; anyone who has been fortunate enough to watch BTS in concert will undoubtedly be stunned by the apparently infinite stream of passion and perfection he wields as the group’s dance leader.

“My name is my life,” begins j-Hope’s 2018 mixtape, ‘Hope World,’ a seven-track blend of bright sounds and optimism. 

BTS’s label, BIG HIT MUSIC, even just published behind-the-scenes footage of the group prepping for their appearance at the 2022 Grammy Awards. Several members became ill with COVID throughout the rehearsal process, including j-Hope, and when he returns to the practise area, there is noticeable comfort 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.”

Also read: BTS going on ‘temporary hiatus’ to pursue solo careers, bid tearful farewell to ARMY

 However, with the comforting knowledge of repetition and similarity comes expectation, and j-Hope has made it obvious that he has been longing for the past ten years to find a different lens which he can use to break those very expectations down and explore his artistic identity. With the first full-length solo album from any of BTS’s members, we’re adequately notified that we have long past moved beyond Hope World.

A well-edited book

The streaming press release for ‘Jack in the Box’ came with a note from the musician urging the listener to play the album in order. j-Hope says he wanted it to “flow like a well-written book,” and he achieves it with manufactured ease.

We are taken along on the mythical journey of the Hero, at a pace as smooth as Hoseok’s dance floor moves. It starts from the predictable theme of hope being questioned, moves through rising unrest, teased with a dash of dreams before it ends with a riotous declaration of destruction.

The album begins with definite restlessness in tracks like ‘Pandora’s Box,’ followed by a sense of confrontation in ‘MORE’ and ‘STOP.’

The record then shifts to joy and radiance in the latter half – the split highlighted by the interlude Music Box: Reflection.’ From ‘What if…,’ an exciting tune that samples Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya,’ to mid-tempo standout ‘Safety Zone,’ before a touch of ‘Hope World’ recognition comes in the positive ‘Future,’ there’s an amazing three-track run.

‘Jack in the Box’ really does seem like a full-length effort, with 10 full tracks to explore, and it’s evident that j-hope put considerable attention into organising and structuring the record. Interestingly, the majority of the tracks are under three minutes long, with ‘MORE’ being the longest at three and a half minutes. It is also completely his own work, with no features or collaborations.

Old Hopes die hard

Even songs with darker musical scapes are frequently undermined by a positive message in the lyrics, in typical j-hope style. One of the greatest pleasures of a BTS album is the plethora of listening experiences it provides: A first listen can be totally focused on a project’s sound and intensity, with a second listen committed to the lyrical trip. ‘STOP,’ with its grungy, minimalist aesthetic, for example, is built on the premise that “there are no bad people in the world.”

Also read: What is BTS and YouTube’s new challenge ahead of ‘Proof’ release

“Yeah, let’s go back to the basic and take another look at them,” the rapper says over a ripping beat. “The environment, education, system that they’ve been living in / How is it different from mine?” “We were born through the law of cause and effect / Despite that, our will can change anything / We’re the makers / Because a small start is a big leap / Because there are no bad people in the world,” he says with an unshaken sense of assurance.

The final choice

BTS fans won’t be shocked that much of the album is characterized by raw beats and production elements that feel drawn from the ’90s, a decade with sounds and visuals that j-Hope unabashedly adores. While ‘Jack in the Box’ is still a significant change for him, he’s cultivated his producer’s touch in the studio as much as his rhythm as one of BTS’ rappers over the last nine years, to the extent where everything on the project screams perfect.

His predilection for using a choir (see his 2016 solo song ‘MAMA’ or 2020’s ‘Outro: Ego’) shines through on ‘Future,’ and ‘Equal Sign’ is characterised in the album notes as “a 1990s old-school hip-hop track,” similar to Hope World’s ‘Base Line’ or BE’s ‘Dis-Ease.’

The music industry was recently jolted — possibly a bit theatrically — by a statement on June 13th announcing that the members of BTS will be taking time to pursue independent paths, starting with this album from j-Hope. The members have now reiterated that they are not broken up and would not even consider this time period to be a hiatus.

Even so, there is some weight on j-Hope as the first member to showcase his solo project. ‘Jack in the Box’ represents a significant creative risk for j-Hope, defying expectations and undermining any anticipation of a return to the rainbow-hued world constructed in ‘Hope World.’

Also read: What BTS said at White House press briefing before Joe Biden meet

Closer track and focal point of the album ‘Arson’ is a real burner that lives up to its name. j -Hope is painfully truthful in this video, making it difficult not to contemplate his thoughts of being imprisoned and trapped stated in the film revealing his solo goals. “Couldn’t help but go into overdrive/ Motivation behind my thoughtless ambition/ When I sweat, I shower in petrol/ To set a fire on my feet, on my legs,” he raps.

The demands placed on K-pop singers, in general, are enormous; the expectations placed on anyone in BTS are virtually inconceivable. The group’s reluctance to play by the rules, challenging the unwritten and voiced preconceptions about how Korean pop musicians should appear, act, and communicate, is one of the reasons so many people have flocked to them throughout their careers.

Not many artists would share their stories with fans so candidly — “My dreams, done/ Success, done/ My part of the job, done,” he admits on ‘Arson’ — however, in the same song, j-Hope also underlines that the purple bubble of BTS and ARMY is still his destination. “With my fans, with my label, with my fellas/ We burn bright together/ Rational accomplices… One second ahead, so fuck off.”

New Hope

The world is admittedly dark, yet making such an assessment does not have to be solely gloomy. Some music, such as BTS’s ‘Dynamite,’ is delightfully escapist, offering much-needed bursts of joy amid difficult circumstances. Other music simply tries to communicate the truth.

j-Hope granted himself this time and comfort to embrace the darkness, but still the thread weaving through ‘Jack in the Box’ is emphatic: Hope is the final option inside the box, the only thing that resists the desire to escape.

But the old “all-cheery” j-Hope may never come to the phone again. Why? Because:

This j-Hope asks, “What if I have no hope?”

This j-Hope recognises the fire he set is “too big to put out.”

This j-Hope IS the ‘Jack in the Box’ that announces to the world the dawn of a new Hobi-era.

With the group on hiatus, and his promise to surprise fans at the upcoming Lollapalooza music festival, j-Hope has drawn the spotlight on himself and his upcoming solo work.