As BTS member J-Hope rounds the corner on the final eight months of his mandatory 18-month South Korean military service, the K-pop superstar is giving Army a soundtrack to his final stint in uniform. The singer announced the details of a new mini-album on Tuesday morning (Feb. 27), Hope on the Street Vol. 1, which will debut on streaming services worldwide on March 29 at midnight ET.
The six-track EP was described in a press release as spanning a “diverse array of sounds and moods that showcase j-hope’s musical prowess and depth.” It also features a number of special guests, including band mate Jung Kook on “i wonder,” as well as Benny Blanco and Chic’s Nile Rodgers on “lock/ unlock,” a dance mix of “what if” with Jinbo the SuperFreak and “NEURON” featuring South Korean hip-hop vet Gaeko of Dynamic Duo and yoonmirae.
“NEURON” references the dance crew J-Hope was part of before his debut in BTS, as well as the word’s literal meaning: generating electricity and delivering information while stimulated. “[The song] is inspired by 2000s old-school hip hop, a genre that made a significant impact on j-hope as an artist… [and it] reflects the album’s theme of exploring j-hope’s artistic roots, ‘street dance,’ and delivers his motivation for life and a new start,” reads a statement about the project that features four new songs, as well as a solo version of “On the Street” (which first came out in 2023 featuring J. Cole) and a dance mix of Hope’s 2022 song “what if.”
The album will be accompanied by a deeper dive into J-Hope’s artistic roots and street dance background in an accompanying six-part docuseries, also named Hope on the Street, which will debut on March 27 at 11 a.m. ET on Prime Video.
The mini-album is the follow-up to Hope’s 2022 solo album, Jack in the Box, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. An expanded HOPE Edition of the album was released in August 2023, featuring the original album tracks, as well as three live recordings from the singer’s history-making performance at Lollapalooza in 2022 in Chicago and two instrumental tracks.
Check out the track list for J-Hope’s Hope on the Street Vol. 1 below.
- “on the street” (solo version)
- “i wonder” (featuring Jung Kook)
- “lock/ unlock” (feat. Benny Blanco, Nile Rodgers)
- ‘i don’t know’ (feat. LE SSERAFIM’s Huh Yunjin)
- “what if…” (dance mix with JINBO the SuperFreak)
- “NEURON” (feat. Gaeko and Yoon Mirae)
