Sharing my thoughts on the Hope World mixtape as a journey of discovery: we learn the story of J-Hope the name, the idol, the rapper, the dancer, and Jung Hoseok, the person behind it. Let's dive in and see how all the songs link together! ++
#JHOPE #제이홉 #HOBIverse @BTS_twt

We all love to bop and dance to Hope World, but sitting down and really thinking about the transition between songs, it feels like a journey of sun rise to sun set: hello to my Hope World, and returning to the Blue Side. It really reminded me of this shot from EGO! ++

Before we dive song by song, I'd like to mention that Hoseok is a true lover of literature! His verses in BTS songs and throughout his mixtape have loads of literature references. His father, being a literature teacher, must have been an influence to fuel that love! ++

Let's get into the songs, here's the journey through the mixtape I'd like to take you on! Hope World is an exploration of everything J-Hope and Jung Hoseok, BUT it's everything from the bright side, not the Blue Side. I'll talk more about this at the end! ++

The first song has the same title as the mixtape. Hope World is bright, happy. Here Hoseok shows the persona of J-Hope and his positive energy, his identity. Imagine if the mixtape was a day, Hope World would be the sunrise, setting the tone for the journey! ++

I love this next line: it is very Hobi. He says he enjoys cussing but he doesn't do it in his music, he straight up starts with stating one of his strong principles. J-Hope wants to be source of positive energy and good vibes, and feels that swearing does not match his persona +

Hoseok has always been very vocal about how much he takes from his parents, his mom and dad have been big inspirations for him. His mom's hard work to help him chase his dreams, best expressed in his song MAMA, and his dad's love for books, are a big part of his music ++

With his name, his influences, his decision to be positive, Jung Hoseok created the world of J-Hope, Hope World, that comes to life in his music. Hope World is the essence of J-Hope, his own story injected into the rhythm of the music ++

Hoseok references "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea", a famous book by 19th century French novelist Jules Verne. The story follows Prof. Pierre Aronnax, who journeys into the ocean to chase a legendary sea monster that keeps sinking ships. ++

In the book, it turns out that Aronnax' sea monster was actually an amazing submarine built and piloted by a Captain Nemo, who J-Hope often references (like in his GO GO verse), exploring the depths of the ocean. Aronnax and his crew then join Nemo on adventures. ++

This line is SUPER interesting. Captain Nemo ('nemo' means 'no one') has a dark side who he refuses to acknowledge. He takes on an eccentric persona to escape torments of his past, and enjoys taking people who are hungry for adventure (like us and Aronnax) on amazing journeys. ++

In Hope World, J-Hope invites us on a journey of discovery onto his mixtape submarine, like the Captain Nemo to our Aronnax. +
#JHOPE #HOBIverse

The next track is Piece Of Peace (P.O.P) part 1, where Hoseok describes the meaning behind his name, and how he wants to help people as J-Hope. He wants to be a source of positive energy, just like he said in Hope World, and that desire formed his whole identity as J-Hope. ++

The message Hoseok has in P.O.P is that he wants to be there for people, someone, anyone. He knows everyone struggles with lots of different hardships, he doesn't pretend to understand them, but he wants to give courage and faith that things will get better. ++

In the second verse, Hoseok addresses problems of the youth, trying to find jobs, dealing with debt and unemployment and low wages. He's not happy with the state of the world, he criticizes the system. ++

These lines in particular hit hard. If things don't work out, it is not your failure, together we can overcome it. It reminds me of Hoseok's description of the meaning of Bangtan: to fend prejudices that rain on youth like bullets.

This is who J-Hope is: a bulletproof piece of peace for the youth and anyone who needs it. ++
#JHOPE #HOBIverse

Now that we know who J-Hope is and what he truly means to Jung Hoseok, we can explore the dynamic between the two. Hoseok decides to do that in the next track: Daydream. Balancing his conscious decision to live partially as J-Hope, Jung Hoseok deals with the costs. ++

Hoseok reminds us that being J-Hope does not mean he doesn't feel what it's like to be human, but being in the spotlight does cost him some basic human things: privacy, freedom, romance... ++

But Daydream is not a song of regret, it's just a world Hoseok has created where he can picture a different life, a different him, one who isn't J-Hope. Hoseok is quick to remind us that daydreaming is just a coping mechanism, something he does once in a while to escape. ++

In the pre-hook Hoseok references two famous books: the road to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series, and the hole in Alice in Wonderland. In both stories, the main characters discover an enchanted world where they could become someone else (quite literally for Alice) ++

I find it interesting that he uses books here, including this reference to a call from Arthur Dent and the friendly letters of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy in the MV. We often daydream using books, traveling to other worlds and taking on different personas, like Hobi. +

Daydream is really a fascinating song. I'm sure we've all wondered how Hoseok maintains his positive and happy persona, it is really challenging. But we learn here that he found the perfect coping mechanism, how to leave everything behind for a moment! ++

Daydream taught us how Jung Hoseok deals with being J-Hope, but who is Jung Hoseok really? How did he get where he is today? Hoseok answers these questions in Base Line, which here means "core" or "essence" or "point of reference". Hoseok is lead producer/writer on Base Line. ++

Hoseok was a pretty famous street dancer in Gwangju and did some large scale dance competitions when he was younger. His dance shaped him, his music, his rap, and his whole life. He was so famous that when BTS were trainees, they were called "the group Jung Hoseok is in"! ++

He's come a long way, his name tag is now "Top Class" with success, but he never forgets the grit and passion he has for music, he continues to work hard and is grateful for what he has accomplished: that is his base line. ++

Hoseok is ready to take over the world and make it his Hope World. He knows exactly who he is, what he wants, and how hard he needs to work to get there. His determination, discipline and control, in his dance, rap and daily life, are extremely impressive, that's his base line. +

We're past the midway of the mixtape now, and if this were a day, Base Line would be the early afternoon, where the Sun reached the midpoint (half and half) at Daydream, it's now dipping toward darkness. Base Line showed a bit of Hoseok's true colors, the next song is Hangsang. +

Before we get into the lyrics of Hangsang, I'd like to address the elephant in the room. This song features SuBoi, who obviously worked a lot with Hobi for the whole mixtape. I like his work, and as a 94er he is very close to both Hobi and Joon, but I do NOT approve of him. ++

Hangsang means "always" in Korean, the song is an ode by Hoseok to his BTS brothers, cherishing his bond with them and the success they've now collected after working so hard together. They get all the good things now, they're not frogs stuck in the well (see DDAENG)! ++

Hoseok expresses how much his BTS members mean to him, they've lived all the tough moments together, and now they enjoy the good moments together. Even in the future they will always (hangsang) be together, all 7 setting the pace! ++
#JHOPE #HOBIverse

I don't want to spend too long on SuBoi's feature (because i dont approve) but there are a couple of nice lines (and truthfully his whole verse is fire...). First he calls Hoseok "Hobari", this is a special nickname only people REALLY close (family/close friends) can call him! ++

SuBoi also references crow-tit (baepsae), which I think is a reference to Baepsae (Silver Spoon) by BTS. Back then, BTS were the crow-tits, the underdogs looked down upon, but now the tables have turned, they're successful and those who looked down on them are now inferior! ++

Hoseok's next verse tells of the tough times they've had as BTS, they only had each other, and managed to work their way up on their own and PAVED THE WAY. Hoseok no longer is bound to his J-Hope persona here, he's stripped that layer off and is now speaking pure truth.++

Hoseok ends Hangsang with a forward-looking tone, saying that the 7 of them will continue stepping over people and collecting awards, with BigHit and ARMY by their side, and each other, ALWAYS. ++
#JHOPE #HOBIverse

The 6th track of the mixtape is Airplane. Following our "day" analogy, we've now reached the afternoon, where Hoseok takes stock of how far he's come, everything he's accomplished and the opportunities he was given since joining his brothers in BTS. ++

Hoseok cleverly uses the analogy of the airplane and flying to express his success with BTS. On his airplane he's now living life, enjoying his successes, too high above the clouds to care about the jealous frogs stuck in their well ++

In Airplane Hoseok is straight-up savage. He's raking in air-miles from flying so much with BTS, being successful, and you frogs who didn't make it need cheering up, so you can have his miles. DAMN. ++
#JHOPE #HOBIverse

This part is my favorite from Airplane, Hoseok uses the metaphor of the "airplane mode" to shut off the negative and jealous voices, sit comfortably at the top where he belongs! The imagery in this song is really top-tier, and Hoseok is lead producer and writer too! ++

The final track of Hope World is Blue Side. It is a short outro with faded vocals, but there are lyrics to it! Following the "day" metaphor, Blue Side would be the sunset, or dusk. The Sun plunges into darkness, hidden from us. ++

The first lines remind me of Namjoon's verse from Telepathy, where he says "instead of sleep, my eyes are filled with you". Hoseok here says "in my blue dream, my eyes will be filled with you". The lyrics are so melancholic, very different from the rest of Hope World.++

Blue Side gives a glimpse to another side of Hoseok, a side that is full of thoughts, doubts, sadness, struggles. A side he is not ready to show us yet, or perhaps not ready to explore himself (just like Captain Nemo). Who is Hoseok in the Blue Side? ++

The block to complete the day cycle is missing from the Hope World story. We start with the bright Hope World sunrise, peak in a Daydream, and then back to the Blue Side. But what happens between Blue Side and Hope World? Maybe the next mixtape? ++

I also noticed that the Hope World progression is the opposite of the other rapline mixtapes. While Namjoon and Yoongi start their mixtapes either in complete anger or sadness, and then progress upward, it feels like Hoseok progresses downward, from Hope World to Blue Side ++

One might even say that the Hope World progression goes from a sunny surface to 20 000 leagues under the sea ++

This concludes my Hope World mixtape analysis! I hope you've enjoyed this journey with me! Please go and listen to Hope World on both Soundcloud and Spotify, it's the best way to start your day and give love to Hobi for his birthday! https://open.spotify.com/album/1bJ8O4jIyqSdunqT9RWXc9?si=qObRJx_MTxG19k6gfLXpKQ

Last time people enjoyed seeing my notes, so here are the notes I took listening to Hope World 6 times in a row, from start to finish
#JHOPE #HOBIverse