BTS’ J-Hope scores a hit

MANILA, Philippines – J-Hope is known to many as the main dancer and lead rapper of global K-pop sensation BTS. The dancer-rapper, whose real name is Jung Hoseok, has produced, composed and written for the majority of the supergroup’s releases, including songwriting credits for latest single Boy with Luv. Now he’s back with a solo track and proving that there’s still much more where that came from.

Last Sept. 27, J-Hope and singer-actress Becky G shook the world with the release of Chicken Noodle Soup (CNS). The single, available online on major music platforms and BTS’ Soundcloud, samples the 2006 song of the same name by DJ Webstar and Young B, featuring AG a.k.a. The Voice of Harlem. CNS quickly shot up to No. 1 on the US iTunes Songs Chart, making J-Hope only the second Korean act after PSY to achieve such a feat.

The infectious dance track shows the two singers rapping and singing about their pride for their roots — in three languages. J-Hope provides the Korean lyrics that detailed his beginnings as a dancer, while Becky G sings in Spanish and English about her pride as a female Latin American artist. Both were credited as songwriters on the track.

J-Hope thanks fans for listening to his new song via Twitter

The music video, directed by BTS’ longtime collaborator Lumpens, was shot in Los Angeles and featured a diverse group of dancers of different ethnicities from World of Dance champs The Lab. Aside from being a fun, catchy homage to a popular song, the CNS music video is a refreshing celebration of artists of different backgrounds, brought together by music.

Shortly after its release, the CNS Challenge was launched on BTS’ newly-opened account on TikTok, a social media app for short-form videos, with J-Hope posting a video of him dancing the song’s choreography. Many fans have since joined in, with Twitter users using the hashtag #CNSChallenge for their videos.

J-Hope previously released his first mixtape Hope World last March 2018 with singles Daydream and Airplane.

Fans can watch out for BTS as it continues its Love Yourself: Speak Yourself Tour on Oct. 11 in Saudi Arabia and wrapping it up with three final shows in Seoul from Oct. 26 to 29. The group is also headlining the KIIS-FM Jingle Ball in L.A. on Dec. 6 alongside Halsey, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, Camila Cabello, Sam Smith, Lizzo, Normani and French Montana.