BTS: J-HOPE blows its 27 candles
On this day of February 18th, 2021, J-HOPE, whose real name is JUNG HOSEOK, celebrates his twenty-seventh year of life on earth, a great day for the rapper and dancer of BTS!
“I’m your Hope, Your my Hope, I’m J-Hope !”
This is the slogan of J-HOPE, rapper, author, composer and dancer of the group BTS. This slogan and this role he has taken on is directly linked to the meaning of his stage name. J-HOPE comes from his desire to represent hope to fans, as well as to be “BTS’s hope” to the advancement of the group’s professional careers or members’ personal lives. HOSEOK likes therefore, to laugh and smile the members and the ARMYs (fandom of BTS) in order to raise their morale when needed. The meaning of J-HOPE also finds its source from a reference to the myth of Pandora’s box. Indeed, when the box was opened, which had the consequence of spreading all the evils existing in the world, there was nothing left but hope for Man.
Always upbeat, energetic and enthusiastic, HOSEOK is a perfect fit for his stage name. His bright and smiling personality also earned his the nickname “SunShine”. His character traits are reflected in particular in his artistic universe which is always very colorful, sparkling and dynamic.
With great sensitivity towards his family and friends, he never misses any opportunity to convey his gratitude and feelings towards them. His music “Mama” from the album “WINGS”, testifies it. This song is dedicated to his mother and is a way for him to show that he has finally become a son she can be proud of. While “Hangsang”, music from his mixtape, deals with his friendship with the members of BTS.
J-HOPE was born on February 18th in the town of Gwangju where he grew up in a loving family. J-HOPE has a big sister, a well-known instagramer who has her own clothing brand, MEJIWOO, for which she is also a model.
It should be noted in particular that the hope of BTS has been passionate about dance since his childhood. Indeed, J-HOPE took dance lessons at the Gwangju Music Academy, on the occasion of this dance training, he won many prizes including a national prize in 2008. At the same time, he shares his passion at the ‘local level by being part of an Underground dance group called “NEURON”.
A sportsman at heart, the rapper was also a member of a tennis club, notably receiving a bronze medal following a tournament.
However, it was not until HOSEOK chose to become an idol in order to make a living from his passion that he began to take an interest in singing, determined to make his debut as a singer. However, he will eventually pass the auditions with the agencies as a dancer and rapper, discovering a talent for this style during his training and for which he is self-taught. He is auditioning for the first time with JYP ENTERTAINMENT alongside Youngjae (former B.A.P member) and Dino (HALO member). On this occasion, he passed several tests given by the agency, but ended up not being selected. Far from being discouraged, he decides to audition to enter BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT. His talent was then rewarded as the agency integrated him into the training. He thus joined RM and SUGA who were at that time already trailed, these first three members to join the group today form the root of BTS, that is to say that they are all three the rappers of the group.
Before the debuts of BTS, J-HOPE worked on various collaborations and re-adaptations of music. Thus, on October 27th, 2011, he lent his voice with RM, leader and rapper of BTS, for the music “The song that make you smile” by Lee Seung Gi. A few months later, on June 30th, 2012, J-HOPE shared the stage with Jo Kwon during a Music Core for a featuring on the music “Animal” even though BTS did not debut.
With the members of BTS, this time, he will adapt several American music. Which then gives birth to three musics, the performances of which are posted on the Youtube channel BANGTAN TV. Before the debut, the music “Graduation song” will be unveiled, re-adaptation of the music “Young, wild and free” by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, but the two other re-adaptations that are “Beautiful” (originally “Beautiful” by Maria Carey) and “A typical idol’s Christmas” (re-adaptation of Justin Bieber’s “Only thing I ever get for Christmas”) will be released a few months after BTS debuts.
Although already revealed to the public, J-HOPE makes the decision to leave the group shortly before the debut of it. As he and the agency broke the contract, he finally decided to continue the adventure by trusting the members, who kept telling him that the group was not the same without him. The leader, RM, had even, on his own initiative, spoken to the agency to convince them not to let J-HOPE go. And it was finally on June 13th, 2013 with the title “No more dream” that J-HOPE made its debut alongside RM, JIN, SUGA, JIMIN, V and RM, revealing itself to the whole world as being the group BTS.
“If you don’t work hard enough, there won’t be good results ”- J-HOPE
This is the motto of J-HOPE, a motto he personally follows as during his training within the walls of BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT, J-HOPE improves his rap alongside RM and SUGA. These two members also help him develop the writing and creation of music, to which he still devotes himself today, writing some songs for the group.
But J-HOPE’s role as lyricist is not limited to the group. It was on March 1st, 2018 with the public release of “HopeWorld”, the rapper’s first mixtape, that he began his solo journey. We can, through the various titles of this mixtape, find the unique personality of J-HOPE, significant by the styles used (Hiphop, Funk Soul, Pop, …), by the bright color palette used in the video clip of his music title “Daydream” as well as by his wish to bring hope and an ideal of peace in the lives of individuals thanks to his mixtape and his lyrics, in particular with the words of the title “POP” (Peace of Peace).
“HopeWorld” was then ranked 63rd and 38th in the Billboard top 200 charts, making him, in 2018, the Korean solo artist with the highest place in the charts.
On September 27th, 2019, J-HOPE‘s solo journey continues to progress with the release of his single “Chicken noodle soup” (featuring singer BEACKY G) which is taken from the sound of the same name by Young D and Webstar released in 2006. This single was a way for him to approach his artistic journey.
The single was highly regarded by the public, so in 24 hours the MV has more than 21.76 million views and is ranked number one in 72 countries on itunes and number one in the world rankings itunes.
This single even ends up going viral when a challenge develops on social networks, especially on the social network TikTok, consisting of taking a few steps of the choreography in unusual places or in front of magnificent landscapes. J-HOPE is particularly devoted to this challenge born of his music as they repeatedly post videos of him accompanied or not performing the challenge on the networks.
This is not the first time that J-HOPE has taken part in a social media challenge. In fact, on July 24th, 2018, he took part in the #InMyFeelingsChallenge on twitter, a challenge which aimed to film himself next to his moving car using Drake’s music “In my feelings” in the background. In less than 24 hours his Twitter post got 6.7 million views and became the most liked post of 2018 on the network. This subsequently earned him an appearance of a few seconds in the music video.
Also, J-HOPE’s works and personality attract listeners a lot, making him the most followed person on spotify for Korean solo artists as he has more than 5 million subscribers on the platform.
Today, J-HOPE has a big role in the group BTS having over time developed his creativity and his writings, he notably has his own studio in the building of BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT which he named “HopeWorld”. In 2020, J-HOPE, alongside RM, was appointed as a member of the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) as a producer, then joining SUGA which had integrated him in 2019. The organization then declared: RM and J-HOPE joined the membership list for the worldwide popularity of their songs, “Boy with luv”, “Home”, “Blood, sweat and tears”.
However, he doesn’t forget his passion for dance. Indeed, he punctually shares his passion through a series of videos called “Hope on the street” during which he is content to dance and train. Also, he dedicates a whole music to this passion through the title “Trivia: Just dance” of the album “LOVE YOURSELF: ANSWER“
A man with a big heart, J-HOPE has, on several occasions, made donations to various associations or organizations. Thus, from 2018 to 2020, J-HOPE has already paid millions of Won to help children in financial difficulty, to support sick children and passionate children who cannot develop their talents or allow them to access studies, thus creating the “J-Hope Scholarship”. In 2020, the ChildFund Korea charity reports that J-HOPE donated 100 million won as a member of the Green Noble Club, a group of major donors to the charity. During his donation, he submitted the wish that his donation be for children experiencing economic difficulties due to the global pandemic.
We wish J-HOPE a very happy birthday and hope that this day will bring him as much happiness as possible.
Journalist: Omérine
Translator: Shawn
Sources: SNS Bighit entertainment / BANGTAN TV / Mnet