THE HILL 01 July (Online): Two weeks after K-pop band BTS decided to go on a break to focus on solo projects, band member j-hope is already out with his first single from his first solo album Jack iIn The Box.
On Friday, j-hope released ‘More’ after exciting his fans with teasers and the song has already surpassed seven million views on YouTube within six hours.
The music video features a very edgy looking j-hope singing in a mix of English and Korean. The video brings out a previously unseen side of the singer and follows him and his devil-may-care attitude, angry music blasting when the song reaches its chorus.
He had been gearing up fans with updates in the form of teasers and “concept photos” from the music video before he dropped the song.
His upcoming album is scheduled for a release on July 15. “Jack In The Box“lends voice to j-hope’s aspirations to break the mould and grow further,” Bighit Entertainment, the South Korean company representing BTS, revealed, according to Rolling Stone “The album represents j-hope’s own musical personality and vision as an artist.”
The band announced their break mid-June at the annual FESTA dinner that celebrated the group’s founding. Band member RM said he had been feeling a need to explore his own work without the constant recording and performing required of BTS.
“The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature. You have to keep producing music and keep doing something,” he said, seated at a table with his six fellow band members and speaking in Korean.
An English translation of the remarks showed one of the members calling the break a “hiatus,” a description a representative for the band disputed in a statement.
“To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats,” the statement said.
BTS made its debut in June 2013 and became a worldwide sensation with its upbeat hits and social campaigns aimed at empowering young people. The group released its new album, proof last month.
Last year, BTS became the first Asian band to win artist of the year at the American Music Awards. The group met US President Joe Biden at the White House in May to discuss hate crimes targeting Asians.
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