Here’s Why BTS’s J-Hope Didn’t Include Any Other Artists On “Jack In The Box”

His inspiration came from a surprising place.

In a recent interview with Variety, BTS‘s J-Hope went in-depth about his process of creating his debut solo album Jack in the Box and his decision to not feature any other artists.

BTS’s J-Hope | BIGHIT Music

Filling the entire album with only his own personal color and stories, the album is a true representation of exactly what J-Hope wants to convey.

There are no featured guests in my album; all the tracks are filled with my voice only. Because I wanted to convey my own narrative, my own story as an individual, I thought that featured guests are not necessary in this album production, and I believed that filling all these songs with my own voice only would make this album very authentic.

— J-Hope

He decided to take it a step further, not even looking to other artists for inspiration in order to focus on his own sound.

Because of this, he was able to use himself as his own inspiration.

So, when you ask me what kind of influences I’ve got, I think the influence that I’ve had when working on the album was my inner self — my identity as an individual. The inner self, and my thoughts while working as part of BTS and of the history of my life, have been the influences.

— J-Hope

In terms of musical influences, J-Hope continued to look within himself and took it back to his roots in the world of street dance.

The old-school hip-hop style that fans will hear listening to his album is part of J-Hope’s foundation and what he’s particularly drawn towards.

And if you ask musical influences that I had when working on the album, because my career first started based on street dance, I believe that the music that I used to dance to definitely laid the foundation for my music. So you will hear a lot of old-school hip-hop as the basis of the music style in this album.

— J-Hope

| BIGHIT Music

Check out more from his interview below.

BTS’s J-Hope Puts An End To Misconceptions About The Group’s Future

Source: Variety

BTS