{"id":403497,"date":"2026-04-17T14:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/403497\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:08:15","slug":"arirang-finding-hope-writing-about-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/403497\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Arirang,’ Finding Hope, Writing About Romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\tJ
\n\t\t-Hope<\/a> is \u201csoftly spoken and kind of elegant,\u201d says one of his Arirang<\/a> collaborators, songwriter James Essien. \u201cAnd then when he raps, it\u2019s like DMX just comes in! It\u2019s like, \u2018What the hell?\u2019 You never see it coming.\u201d As he made clear on his sonically diverse but relentlessly hard-hitting solo debut, 2022\u2019s Jack in the Box (which followed his 2018 mixtape Hope World), Jeong Hoseok never runs out of surprises, and his smiley public persona is just one side of his reality. He came to BigHit (later Hybe) as a street dancer, and only learned to rap after joining BTS<\/a>. He\u2019s quick to fill silences in group interviews, always aware when a room needs energy or his friends need help. \u201cI do what I can for the other members,\u201d he says, in an interview conducted in mid-February at Hybe headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow does it feel to be back in the reunited group?\u00a0
So, after finishing my military service, I performed as a solo artist for a time before reuniting with the group. And during that time, I was already feeling how different those experiences are. Now that we\u2019re back together, the other members are filling in any gaps that I feel in my expression, in my performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a lot of ways, I realized that this is why there are seven of us: Each person was doing their job spectacularly well, and that was something to cherish. But my favorite part is that the fans will be happy that we\u2019re back together. I\u2019m so happy about that as well.<\/p>\n

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\"Our<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\tRolling Stone\u2019s May issue features the most ambitious cover-story package in the magazine\u2019s nearly 60-year history: eight different print covers in all. In addition to the group cover and story, we\u2019re rolling out the seven solo covers \u2014 each with a video and solo Q&A \u2014 through Monday, April 20. Click here<\/a> for continuing coverage, and click here<\/a> to buy a box set of all eight covers.\t<\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\tRolling Stone\u2019s May issue features the most ambitious cover-story package in the magazine\u2019s nearly 60-year history: eight different print covers in all. In addition to the group cover and story, we\u2019re rolling out the seven solo covers \u2014 each with a video and solo Q&A \u2014 through Monday, April 20. Click here<\/a> for continuing coverage, and click here<\/a> to buy a box set of all eight covers.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tVery important lyric on your solo track \u201cArson\u201d: \u201cDo I put out the fire, or burn even brighter?\u201d This seems like a huge question that applies to your career and to BTS\u2019 career. And it seems related to RM saying he thought about disbanding BTS, but ultimately decided to push forward. How connected is that lyric and that sentiment?
When I was writing that song in 2022, I poured in all of my emotions I was feeling at the time.\u00a0 Back then, I was worried. I thought: Is getting all this love and attention actually a good thing? Maybe while everyone is clapping and cheering for me, I should just turn it all off. And I wondered whether I wanted this. But I think I\u2019ve changed a lot since then. Because all of this is just a part of me. And through it all, whether working with the group or in my personal career, I\u2019m experiencing a lot of life and learning from everything.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are things that you can only feel at a particular time in your life. That\u2019s how you live, and grow, and become an adult, after all. I think I felt a lot of that while making music during that time and ever since.<\/p>\n

\t\tWatch the video interview below\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt does point to that idea that it was always very likely that you guys would continue. But you always had the option of saying: \u201cWe\u2019ve done it all, we can go out on top.\u201d
Although, well\u2026 Now that some time has passed, I realized it\u2019s probably not something I can stop just because I want to stop it. Personally, I\u2019m very affected by the people around me, so I have to think about whether I can handle the emotional effect my decisions will have on so many others. I struggled with that. In the end, I felt that keeping the flame burning is what I truly want, and the choice that feels most authentically me.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tOn your 2022 solo album, you used the metaphor of being inside a box. Do you still feel like you\u2019re in some kind of box, and if so, what kind?
I think that was a perfect metaphor for the time. But now that I\u2019ve made more of my own music, challenged myself, and felt more overall, I wouldn\u2019t say that I\u2019m in a box anymore. Now, I\u2019m wondering, \u201cWhat can I create now that I\u2019m outside of the box?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough, actually, the origin story for [my] music comes from Pandora\u2019s box. In the story, all evil is released when she opens the box, but when she closes it, there\u2019s still hope left inside. So what does hope have to face when it leaves the box? When I think about it, there must be so many \u2026 other presences that I need to find and incorporate into my music. Because there are so many emotions in life, right?\u2026 Whether it\u2019s joy, or love, or even something more negative, nowadays I\u2019m more interested in facing those emotions head-on and expressing them through my music.<\/p>\n

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\n\tYou have such an important role in the group, musically and emotionally. It\u2019s said that you keep the group together, and RM has said that in some ways you share his leadership. It\u2019s your personality and your talent \u2014 you\u2019re needed. Is that ever a burden?
I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s a burden. I just do what I can. I think that\u2019s my role on the team. And, well, I don\u2019t think of it as a requirement. I don\u2019t think about what I need to do. It just comes naturally. This \u2026 role? Should I even call it that? It feels weird to call it a role. But all I do is take it in stride.<\/p>\n

\n\tI think it\u2019s clear from your lyrics and interviews that sometimes J-Hope is looking for a source of hope. You do that for other people, but where can you find hope?
Well \u2026 I actually think about that all the time. Even as I went around talking about hope, I wasn\u2019t sure if I was truly a hopeful person. Truthfully, though, it\u2019s all about your mindset. Before I got my name J-Hope, was I always a bright, positive, and hopeful person? Sure, I had a lively personality, but I wasn\u2019t obsessing over the nature of hope or anything. It\u2019s like the name made me who I am, and the place I found in life made me who I am as well.<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce I got this name, I told myself that I should take responsibility for this name that I\u2019m carrying, and it changed something inside of me. I started searching for hope everywhere. So I told others about this as well. That if you change your mindset, you can truly find hope. I\u2019m always reminding myself, \u201cYou are J-Hope.\u201d\u00a0 So, no, I don\u2019t have a detailed method for how to get there, but my current life is so intertwined with the concept of hope, and J-Hope, so I happened to find my way.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat moments stand out from the making of Arirang, perhaps ones where you felt as though you were finding something new?
First off, just the fact that all seven of us flew to the States and had recording sessions together was a complete change to our process. So we had a lot of fun taking in the culture and feeling out the vibes as we worked. I think that\u2019s what made this album as special and unique as it is. And a lot of the songs themselves are very different in tone from our previous work. So those are the ways that the process shines through. Traveling together to make music allowed us to show a new side of ourselves, and ended up strengthening our core as a whole.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tJudging from your recent solo singles, you have a newfound comfort writing about romance. What had to change in your mind to get there?
I feel like the love and romance you feel in your thirties holds a different weight from the love and romance of your twenties. Even beyond personal experience, I just find myself thinking more deeply about it, and taking on the perspective of a more mature adult.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, those who are older than me might find that cute, but what I\u2019m feeling now is that I should deal with emotional themes with more thoughtfulness and care. And actually, that freed me up to speak more openly about love. I think that\u2019s just the natural order of things. I realized that love as a concept gets more and more refined as time goes by.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first 10 years of BTS were about climbing to a new kind of superstardom. What is the goal of BTS 2.0, then?
I\u2019ve been thinking recently that I shouldn\u2019t get ahead of myself. We\u2019re just in the moment, and we\u2019re having so much fun right now. As long as we keep moving forward with these feelings intact, we\u2019ll naturally fulfill and accomplish all sorts of things. So rather than dream too big, I just want to keep having fun making music with the group, and to nurture our loving relationship with one another and our fans for many years to come. That\u2019s my only goal, and my hope. I want that.<\/p>\n

Production and Fashion Credits<\/p>\n

Styling by YEJIN KIM. Hair by HANSOM, HWAYEON, and HYUNWOO LEE. Makeup by DAREUM KIM and SHINAE. Set design by YEABYUL JEON. Produced by NUHANA. Executive Producer SOOH HWANG. Producers SEBIN PARK and KALY NGO. Line producer: CHERRY LEE. Digital Technician: HUIJIN KIM. Photographic Assistance: SOOJUNG OH, MINHYUK LEE, MINJUN KIM, JIHYUN OH, JUWAN KANG and JUNHYUNG YANG. Set Design Team: SOHYUN WON, YUNSEON CHOI, JUNHYUK SIM. RS Video DoP MIKE BEECH. Camera Operators: BYEONG HWI MIN, CHURL GWON, HYUNSUH PAIK. DIT : JIWOON LEE. Sound operator: MIN JAE LEE. Production assistant: SEOHYUN YOON<\/p>\n

CLOTHING
Jacket and shoes by LOUIS VUITTON. Watch by AUDEMARS PIGUET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"J -Hope is \u201csoftly spoken and kind of elegant,\u201d says one of his Arirang collaborators, songwriter James Essien.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[140555,6432,19887,93,61,60,88277,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-403497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-arirang","9":"tag-bts","10":"tag-cover-story","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-j-hope","15":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}