Worlds are about to collide: BTS’ J-Hope announced that he’s dropping the solo track “On The Street” tomorrow (March 3) and that appearing on the tune is J. Cole.
The Cole appearance is revealed in a new teaser video, which starts with a shot from behind J-Hope as he walks on a city roof. As he approaches the ledge, Cole comes into view and the two lean against the ledge together and look out over the city.
This collab is probably particularly exciting for J-Hope, as he’s long been a Cole fan. On BTS’ 2014 track “Hip Hop Lover,” J-Hope raps (translated to English via Genius), “Hope hope world / Before I made my own world, Cole world / Ever since he shone on Friday nights.” In 2018, he named his debut solo mixtape Hope World, similar to Cole’s 2011 debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story. Then, J-Hope got to meet Cole at Lollapalooza 2022 and a video of the encounter makes it clear how special the moment was for him.
J Cole 만나서 넘 좋아해
pic.twitter.com/jrRFh1R3b1
— o.gu 사랑해 (@951230_951013) February 17, 2023
J-Hope (whose real name is Jung Ho-seok) didn’t actually model his stage name after Cole like it may seem, though. Rather, the J-Hope name came about because he wants to be a source of hope for the BTS Army.