With the release of his debut solo album Jack in the Box, J-Hope has been taking BTS ARMY behind the scenes to explain how the project came to be. In a new interview, the Korean rapper discussed the project’s ties to Greek mythology’s tale of Pandora, and how it also fits in with the story of his stage name.
“Producer Bang brought up Greek mythology … Pandora opened a box she shouldn’t have. All of the many disasters flew out and all that remained was hope, so he said, ‘When you’re making music or doing anything else, ‘Just say ‘Jack in the box!’ in the intro shout out! Talk about opening the box and releasing hope,’” the rapper recalled. “Looking back on it, I realized it really hit me hard in my head and heart. That’s the origin of my name and I wanted to reflect that in my music. In a way, I tried to create a story arc out of it.”
Check out the interview here:
He continued, “The music I’ve made, like ‘Hope World’, ‘Chicken Noodle Soup (feat. Becky G),’ ‘Blue Side’ … the different mixtape tracks, if those were all songs in a box, it’s time to leave the box. My countless experiences, the emotions I’ve felt, the stories I’ve told … I wanted to share those stories and also show another side of me in the shadows that I’ve felt while working. I wanted to bring it all out into the world and create music and emotions that reflect all of that. That’s how I came up with the album title ‘Jack in the Box,’ and the album was created with that overarching theme in mind.”
J-Hope is just getting started with Jack in the Box. The rapper is scheduled to headline Lollapalooza on July 31 alongside TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Meanwhile, fans picked Jack in the Box as their favorite music of the past week, after the LP secured 85% of the vote, and album track “MORE” allowed the 28-year-old to become the second BTS member to have a solo No. 1 top Billboard‘s Hot Trending Songs chart.