Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Music Review: On The Street by J-Hope and J.Cole

As most fans of BTS know, J-Hope is the second of the members to enlist in the South Korean military. He actually entered the service today. It's a big blow to fans like me. I don’t think anyone expected him to be the next one to go and serve. Everyone knew that someone would be going next eventually, but no one expected it to be him until it was announced.

Just like Jin who entered the military before him, J-Hope decided to release a song for the fans as a way to say goodbye for now. Not only did he also release a song just like Jin, but he also did it in collaboration with someone he admired in the music industry. If Jin had Coldplay, J-Hope had J. Cole. 

I enjoyed listening to On the Street. It had a lighter tone compared to J-Hope’s other songs from his recent album and I thought it had a feel-good, comforting vibe which was perfect considering the intentions of the song. 

The lyrics are a clear message for the fans (aka ARMY), sharing how everything that he does is “for us” (meaning him and ARMY). It is this special relationship that every member of BTS has with their fans that is something that other groups will probably find hard to replicate. There is this mutual respect and love with the fans that many may not understand but is something that I’m sure many other artists would like to have.

One thing that I will always admire about everyone from BTS is how much they acknowledge the love that the fans have for them and how whatever they have is because of that love. This song is a good example of that. The fact that the members have been taking the time to write songs to give a proper farewell before their enlistment is something that only an artist who truly cares about their fans would do. 

It’s so touching that J-Hope was able to do this with J. Cole, who is someone that Hobi admires a lot. It feels like a full-circle moment knowing that one of my favorite early tracks of BTS was Born Singer, which was adapted from J.Cole’s song Born Sinner. Born Singer was an unofficial track back then, but now that BTS have established themselves in the industry that song has now been officially released and included in their anthology album Proof. They have truly come a long way and Hobi doing this with J. Cole further cements that fact.



The music video for the song was simple and yet it also felt very sentimental for a fan like me to see. Watching J-Hope walking and dancing on the street, (a nod to his street dancer beginnings) to walking to a building to meet J.Cole shows the journey he has been on in this past decade. He was a dancer who became a rapper and performer after which he went up in the industry and now got to work with the rapper that he admired during his humble beginnings. 

I also enjoyed listening to the rap that J. Cole had in the song. I am familiar with him but not so much with his music so this was like an introduction for me. I did not know that he was a religious/spiritual guy. I loved how he referred to how God is real and how nothing would be possible if there were no higher power behind everything. It reminded me of how I feel whenever I see a beautiful sunset, when I see a newborn child, or when I see the beauty of nature around me. You can’t help but believe in a higher power being responsible for all these beautiful things. 

Hobi may have enlisted in the military along with Jin, but this is a song that I think will help comfort fans like me while he is away. This song is so good and so catchy. Even the dance steps are so good. I’m even considering doing that dance challenge that he has for it one day (but that’s for another blog post).

Two down, five more to go. But fans like me will still be here when they get back. We’ll be waiting. As always, for us.


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