--- title: J-Hope's Jack in the Box Album Helps Us Understand BTS description: 'Jack in the Box' is the first solo project released by a BTS member after they announced they would focus on their solo careers. canonical: https://time.com/6198008/j-hope-jack-in-the-box-bts/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-07-18T14:39:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:30:43.030Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: How J-Hope's New Album Helps Us Understand BTS Better og:description: 'Jack in the Box' is the first solo project released by a BTS member after they announced they would focus on their solo careers. og:url: https://time.com/6198008/j-hope-jack-in-the-box-bts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c17dfde24eb3b9/698a33b84ee262910031a64e/j-hope-album.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How J-Hope's New Album Helps Us Understand BTS Better twitter:description: 'Jack in the Box' is the first solo project released by a BTS member after they announced they would focus on their solo careers. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c17dfde24eb3b9/698a33b84ee262910031a64e/j-hope-album.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How J-Hope's New Album Helps Fans Understand BTS Better > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jul 18, 2022 2:39 PM UTC  J-Hope attends the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on April 03, 2022. J-Hope attends the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on April 03, 2022.Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jul 18, 2022 2:39 PM UTC The men of BTS have always liked allegory and myth. Consider their early albums, riffs on Jungian philosophy. Consider “ON,” [their 2020 single](https://time.com/5791804/new-music-videos-lady-gaga-taylor-swift-bts/), rife with biblical references and callbacks to apocalyptic movies. For _Jack in the Box_, [rapper J-Hope](https://time.com/5181183/j-hope-bts-hope-world-interview/)’s first official solo album, he doubles down on Greek mythology and the concept of hope, aptly enough. This is the first individual project released after BTS [announced in June](https://time.com/6189914/bts-future-solo-careers/) they would be focusing more on their solo careers. _Jack in the Box_ is also a more serious follow-up to J-Hope’s uplifting 2018 mixtape [_Hope World_](https://time.com/5183251/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-44/item/hope-world-j-hope/), as well as a kind of mission statement and candid reflection on the pressures, concerns, and ultimate ambitions that drive him. It addresses [where BTS has been](https://time.com/5911481/bts-music-legacy/)—and suggests where they might be going. ## Returning to his—and BTS’—roots The album opens with an English voiceover telling the Greek myth of Pandora, in which the beautiful but ill-fated lady opens a box of mysteries and releases into the world all manner of bad things. (The god Zeus warned her not to, but her curiosity cannot be quashed.) The silver lining of the incident: hope, the last thing that flutters out of the infamous box. “Hope gave people the will to carry on living amidst the pain and strife,” the narrator intones in the intro track. The rapper is**,** clearly, not aiming for subtlety when it comes to his intentions and his belief in the power of his own work and [influence on his fans](https://time.com/5912998/bts-army/). Nor is he trying to downplay the impact that [BTS’s outsized success](https://time.com/entertainer-of-the-year-2020-bts/) has had on him—as an artist and an individual. With _Jack in the Box_, though, he returns to his roots as a serious rapper, and to BTS’s roots as an act focused on shedding light on the fears that drive us. The album is mostly in Korean, with no features. The first half is tinged with darkness in its beats and its focus; the second half a bit lighter, with some R&B moments. J-Hope is not concerned with making a play for chart status; there are no [songs of the summer](https://time.com/6087073/bts-butter-permission-to-dance/). Unlike BTS’s most recent releases, many of which leaned into bright pop and were sung in English, his Korean rapping is foregrounded, with a few English lines thrown in for emphasis. This feels like early BTS: experimental, influenced by classic hip-hop, unapologetic. (He even samples Wu Tang Clan and Ol Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”) It does not sound like the K-pop many newer fans may be used to, of singable choruses and uplifting messages meant to make summer brighter or get the people dancing. That return to his own identity is, of course, the point. In interviews, J-Hope is invariably the BTS member with the biggest smile, but here, he intentionally lets that mask of exuberant optimism slide off. The album offers many facets of his mindset: his constant striving (“More,” “What If”), his desire to create positive experiences for others and a place of respite for himself (“= (Equal Sign),” “Safety Zone”), and his personal struggle to decide where to go next (“Arson”). In many ways, it echoes BTS’s previous—and more introspective—albums and lyrics. Self-development and understanding have always been at the core of what made the group different from many of their K-pop peers; clearly J-Hope has not lost that passion for personal growth and willingness to be his own critic. He also uncovers a new desire to be open with his audience about the pressures of the last decade of hard work. ## A hint at what’s to come for BTS In fact, his words on _Jack in the Box_ only help illuminate the group’s decision to focus more wholly on their individual works, citing a sense of creative depletion with their group projects. After all, where do artists go when they’ve broken every record in the book already? On “Arson,” the powerful closing track, he brings it all home: “Now I ask myself, choose what? Put out the fire, or burn even brighter? My dreams, done/ Success, done/ My part of the job, done/ What else, none.” It’s a poignant—and revealing—question. But if _Jack in the Box_ is any indication of what comes next, this upcoming chapter should be one of creative liberation and maturity. As [he told _Rolling Stone_](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/j-hope-bts-album-jack-in-box-lollapalooza-1380778/), each of the other members inspire him and bring their own “color” to their work. J-Hope’s color right now might well be a burning red: urgent, intense, willing to burn everything down to build back up again, and unafraid to alienate those who don’t understand this new, more nuanced version of him. “I crash and fall to make my art/ I want it, stadium with my fans, still,” he raps on “More.” “Bag all the trophies and Grammys too, I already know it/ Fame, money’s not everything, I already know it/ My work makes me breathe, so I want more.” BTS may be taking a group breather, but _Jack in the Box_ suggests they are very far from done. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6198008/j-hope-jack-in-the-box-bts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6198008/j-hope-jack-in-the-box-bts/"},"headline":"How J-Hope's New Album Helps Fans Understand BTS Better","datePublished":"2022-07-18T14:39:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:30:43.030Z","description":"'Jack in the Box' is a kind of mission statement for J-Hope—but it also sheds light on the group's mindset","url":"https://time.com/6198008/j-hope-jack-in-the-box-bts/","keywords":["Music","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c17dfde24eb3b9/698a33b84ee262910031a64e/j-hope-album.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c17dfde24eb3b9/698a33b84ee262910031a64e/j-hope-album.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"64th Annual GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals","caption":"64th Annual GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/music/","name":"Music"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6198008/j-hope-jack-in-the-box-bts/","name":"How J-Hope's New Album Helps Fans Understand BTS Better"}}]}] ```