BTS’s J-Hope releases first solo album with ‘Jack in the box’

Seoul, Jul 15 (EFE).- J-Hope, one of the members of South Korean band BTS, released his first solo album “Jack in the box” on Friday through which the rapper says he seeks to grow and show a different side of his musical talent.

The album’s lead single, “More,” goes in that direction, as J-Hope adds guitar and drums to a hip-hop-based track that speaks precisely to the creative struggles he’s been through as a member of the global BTS phenomenon.

“Jack in the box” is the first solo album by a member of the group (until now its members had only published in mixtape format.) It is the first of the works released after the band announced in June – saying so many years of effort in BTS is exhausting them – the beginning of a new stage in which they will be more focused on personal projects.

“I have worked hard to be able to show a new side of myself that you have not seen yet and my growth,” said J-Hope, 28, whose real name is Jung Ho-seok, in a message posted Friday on YouTube.

He said the album’s title refers to the old children’s toy made up of a box, from which a clown or a harlequin emerges when it is wound up.

Jung said in this case he would be the doll, who wants to get out of the box and grow beyond the imposed molds, as said in a statement by his music label, Big Hit Music.

J-Hope will be this year as a soloist at the American festival Lollapalooza, which takes place from July 28 to 31 in the city of Chicago.

In turn, BTS will hold a concert sometime in October in the South Korean city of Busan, which aspires to organize Expo 2030 and for which the band is an ambassador. EFE

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