On April 29, BTS’s J-Hope sat down with Zane Lowe for an extensive interview on Apple Music. During his time with Zane Lowe, J-Hope opened up about many aspects of his life, including his current solo endeavors, the mandatory military service, and what’s next for BTS.
The interview started with talking about J-Hope’s solo activities off the bat, since he had been busy with his solo tour and solo releases. J-Hope gave his thoughts on his first solo album ‘Jack in the Box,’ and said, “Well this album ‘Jack in the Box,’ is filled with a lot of my aspirations, ambitions, and passions. The music I was doing before was more about trying to create a positive vibe as much as I could. For ‘Jack in the Box,’ I wanted to challenge myself to do something different. I guess I wanted to share what I envisioned musically. So I thought that something a little harder and more intense was very appropriate for that time. It was about me wanting and yearning for something more and presenting something great.”
He further added, “That is literally, Jack in the box; It’s really about me, J-Hope, who felt trapped in the box, is now stepping out of that box to show my point of view and my music. In a way, the music I listened to when I was a kid became a source of inspiration. It’s an album that’s full of my personal experiences and thoughts.”
Then Zane Lowe asked what it was like to enter into the mandatory military service as J-Hope. He asked, “When you go into military service and you’re coming off the back of this very large success, how important is it that you leave that behind. What’s the balance between looking forward to coming back and focusing on the service that you have to do at hand?”
J-Hope replied, “I think it’s only natural for young people in South Korea to take on this responsibility. I thought it was a very important part of J-Hope’s or Jeong Ho Seok’s life. After all, I am a proud citizen of South Korea, I love my country. There are things that I cherish in this country. I thought a lot about how it was going to mean a lot to me. It’s a different experience. From which I experienced something new. That was what I thought. I’ve learned a different life. And in many ways, I got to meet people from all walks of life, and I received a lot of good energy. I also heard a lot of good things.”
He added, “But also, a year and a half is actually not a very short time. That a bit made me feel lots of things. In the end, I think the most important thing was that I realized how important the work I’ve been doing for all these years is incredibly meaningful to me. That was basically the main thing I felt. Even though I was in the service, I think there was a part of me, who never really let go of my love for music.”
Lastly, J-Hope opened up about what the future holds for BTS as a group. He explained, “I think what I was hoping for most of all was, I believe that there is music we can create as BTS. But when we started to come out with our solo projects, we started thinking more about what other stories and music we could create. I think we’ve found a healthier way of doing it. In the end, we all have our own unique identities that we had a chance to realize and express. We wanted to come together again after each of us have done it their own way.”
He continued, “There’s definitely something to learn from that. And then there will be even greater synergy when we reunite. Maybe there will be something new we will want to talk about. We’ve talked about that a lot since the start of our solo projects. I think that over time, we each refined our own unique identities as each of us work on their own music, come out with their solo projects and do their own thing. The funny thing for me is when our identities, which have taken shape in various ways, come together as BTS, I’m curious to see how it’ll look like. So I look forward to June when our members will have completed their service. We will quickly get together and talk about what BTS can do in the future. I think it’s going to be a massive energy. And the other thing that I’ve noticed on this tour, when BTS reunite and perform again, I feel that response will be tremendous.”
SEE ALSO: Based on the latest remarks by HYBE’s top officers, BTS may not resume group activities in 2025
