J-Hope
“Hope World”

J-Hope of BTS is originally a street dancer hailing from Gwangju, southwest city of Korea. His scratchy swag-rapping, alone with that of BTS’ rapper RM, surely stands out among the members, but what has always grabbed attention is his masterful dancing, the reason why he is called BTS’ private choreographer. And this time, J-Hope holds onto his rap skills in his first mixtape “Hope World,” proving that his sound is as sturdy and powerful as him is.

Just like the imaginary fantasy world depicted on the album cover, the seven-track album’s opener “Hope World” is full of positive vibes and energy, backed by its future bass sound and exciting bass rhythms. Penned and composed by the artist himself, it’s an official and intimate invitation to his world, where he passionately wails “Say hello to my Hope’s World” in each chorus and offers details about his positive personality.

If there is a music video, one can totally imagine the beaming rapper warmly ushering people into his own colorful fantasy world, telling them there is nothing to worry about. “Peace of Peace” is an extension from the previous track, delivering the rapper’s sincere hope; that he could become a “hope” to this world.

“Daydream” is another self-reflection of J-Hope, where he enumerates his more private hopes and wishes in a dreamy and calm voice, while the alarm sounds in the end, waking up the singer from his dreams, adds dramatic effect to the song.

Melodically, the aforementioned tracks don’t sound so catchy. But from “Base Line,” the rapper breaths more of a fierce hip-hop spirit and melodies into it. Sprinkled with pounding basslines, “Base Line” and “Hangsang,” which means “always” in Korean, are probably two tracks that suit the hip-hop influenced rapper the most.

The now superstar goes back to his old past, when he used to cover half of his face with a hip-hop bandana and spit fierce rappings full of swagger. As a marathon runner lies down on the ground and looks up a blue sky at the end of the game, J-Hope tempers down the aggressive tone with the soothing “Airplane” and “Blue Side,” both of which are inspired by blue skies.

J-Hope is the third member of BTS to drop a mixtape, following RM and Suga, but his work is definitely brighter and more energizing, just like the artist himself.

(lotus@heraldcorp.com)