Review: Hope World Lives Up to Its Name

I am not even going to filter anything. I am sad and happy at the same time. Why can’t we be absolute something? Why are we often stuck in between?

I decided to write this now when the world is scorching and it’s 3 in the afternoon and I’m still crying. I am just so emotional. I get more emotional the longer I listen to Hope World. I’m a mess.

I died at 12:00 a.m KST because THE great Jung Hoseok dropped his much anticipated Hixtape (hoseok + mixtape).

(*Hoseok’s stage name is J-Hope but we usually call him Hobi)

Hope World

The intro starts with the sound of someone (or us for that matter) submerging down the ocean—into the deep world of Jung Hoseok.

My name is my life
Hopeful vibe
Positive type than negative one

It started off playful. It is very much Hobi.

I enjoy curses and the vulgar words, but
I don’t use them in my music

Hehe 🙂 Hobi went really subtle in his mixtape. I remember how some of Bangtan boys said that Hobi can’t really lie because it clearly shows on his face. They also once said that Hobi is the type of person who won’t tell you to “stop” even if you’re annoying. He is so genuine. Please protect at all cost. I really like how we can see that side of him here. Well, that’s what mixtape is all about, right?

let’s try it together, this is a submarine
everyone is Arronax, I’m Captain Nemo

He used 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a reference. He mentioned on VLIVE that he had fun reading it when he was young so he used it as his motif. (As if Namjoon hasn’t given us enough TBR pile already)

Captain Nemo built his own submarine to stay away from the society. You know how Bangtan is always socially conscious about their lyrics and tackles lots of political stuff? And how Yoongi said that “It isn’t a BTS album if there isn’t a track criticizing society.”? Arronax is known as judgmental and know-it-all. Well, I guess that is the society.

the world is deep and we’ll give it a go up all night

As deep as the sea? Maybe.

“WELCOME TO MY HOPE WORLD!!”, he cheers. Thank you for giving your world to us, Hobi :((

Piece of Peace Pt.1

THE KEYBOARD. Even the keyboard is so frisky. But, it’s somehow sad. I mean:

“Knowing myself is Step 1
Finding my dream is Step 2
Making it come true is Step 3.”

How do we know ourselves? One of my friends asked me before, “what makes us us?” I think I gave her my answer but I want you to think of yours for yourself. 🙂

I want to help
I used to be like them, someone with passion
make dreams brighter, get rid of the nightmares
peace will be right there
I want to help
I used to be like them, I had that spirit
make dreams brighter, get rid of the nightmares
peace will be right there

This is Hobi and this is what makes him him.  He wants to give a piece of himself. He said in his broadcast: “My name is Hope. If I could be that hope to you guys, that itself means a lot to me.” He’s so pure. :((

This song is that friend that reaches out to you. Hobi is that friend.

He titled it with Pt. 1 because he wants to make a series of peace theme. Let’s all give our fair share of help and peace. Let’s make this world a better place. How inspiring this track is?!

Daydream

I want to cry this is bop!

yall must have been caught like a fish
in a net called “desire” with thirst in life
common psychological escape
even I, can’t swim out of it

You know how this is so upbeat and the MV is so colorful and bright, but there’s a sad touch in the message?

This screams “we are all drowning” to me. Mentally and emotionally.

What I also love about this song is the literary references. Alice in Wonderland. Harry Potter and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Seriously, Bangtan is so into literature I don’t know how I can keep up)

This song is so easy to sing along to. I mean, just listen to the chorus.

Wishing on a sky
Wishing on a scar
If there’s the sun
I’d want to dream
Wishing on a sky
Wishing on a scar
If there’s the moonlight
I would want to wake up

I personally think that Daydream has to do with Bangtan theories. Hobi’s character (since Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa era) has Munchausen syndrome and he takes placebo. Daydream is considered as fantasy and like Munchausen syndrome, it is factitious. Artificially created or developed. We can daydream about things that may or not be realized. I don’t know. It’s just the theorist in me. Hobi also asked in his live what does the airplane mean at the end. I’m really suspicious. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have to do with one of his tracks. UGH I hate how smart they are. LOL You can’t really trust BigHit and Bangtan, they love dropping hints for the next comeback.

Baseline

Do you hear those disc scratch? And the swag? Man, it’s thug life. If you know J-Hope who owns Mic Drop, you can hear that side of him here. I like the classic rap vibe. The duality is exceptional.

Base line, the source of my result
Hope world will now flip over all worlds

Hangsang (Always)

There’s so much going on with the sounds. There’s camera shutter that blends well with the beat. There’s like a metronome tick on the background which strengthens more the rhythm of this song. There’s gunshot! The sound is so rich.

Our team came up from behind
Now we’re opening up the world

The song is about the hardships that Bangtan has gone through. This is the J-Hope that cares and thinks so much about his members. This is the J-Hope that takes pride of the music they make. This is J-Hope that introduces himself, loud and proud, “you are my hope, I am your Hope, J-Hope”.

Airplane

Personally, this is my favorite. I must admit I have a thing for planes. To be that high up, with the clouds, in the sky? How can I not love that? I’ve never been into one but LOL [Edit: Got in a place 4x yaaaay!]

I can only imagine and it’s making me ecstatic already. I also love this quote from The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight: “I like how you’re neither here nor there. And how there’s nowhere else you’re meant to be while waiting. You’re just sort of suspended.” When on ground, we keep on thinking if we are where we’re supposed to be. We always have that question. If you’re on a flight, you are just there. I don’t know if I’m making any sense. I just really love that thought.

Hobi said that he was in an airplane when the lyrics for this just came to him. He was on a nice seat and looking at the night sky. He realized that it’s what you call inspiration. He also asked Bangtan to sing the group singing in here and you could see how much of a family they are to each other.

Plus, it reminds me of Epilogue: Young Forever. NO. NO. NO. Hobi really did a great job. I’m so proud of the guy. :((

At the end, the lyrics says: “Don’t give a damn, I’m just happy I made it.” You did, baby. You made it.

Blue Side

I love this one, too! I mean, I love the whole hixtape but I really love the story of this song. Hobi wrote this 3 years ago. He said that it doesn’t have a deep meaning, but I think it holds so much.

At the time he wrote it, he said that he’s so much into wind and the blue sky. When he listens to this, he wants to go back to the old times “filled with nothing but good memories”. Nostalgic, right? I guess we all have that blue side we wish we could revisit.

I like that this is the Outro because it gives a smooth end on the whole hixtape. He welcomed us to his Hope World at the beginning. It’s the new Hobi then all through the mixtape, we travel through his life back to the blue side. It’s all good!

Hixtape tells us to hope, to dream, to make those dreams into reality, to look back to the past and celebrate life, to make a difference and extend help.

Hope World really gives a lot of hopeful perspective. It lives up to its name. Hobi is really the living hope. When he smiles, he literally glows. You are such a sun, Hoseok!

All songs are available in SoundCloud for FREE. You can also download it for FREE. You can listen to it on Spotify and iTunes. Please give it a try and send him lots of love. Let’s listen to it a lot and hype him up!

(Funny thing is it’s FREE but ARMYs still bought it on iTunes making it on top of 72 countries. This is another level of capitalism and we are all slaves)

Here’s a video of Hoseok if you want to get to know him more. He’s known as the Golden Hyung of BTS because he dances, he raps and he sings. TALK ABOUT TALENT!

Also, the Holy Trinity is complete. You can really see their individuality through their music but they still manage to create great songs for Bangtan Sonyeondan as a whole. I AM SUCH A TRASH. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

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