ARMY Magazine - Special Issues ARMY Magazine Hoseok Special Edition | Page 7

Korea, but he was cut after a few rounds. When JYP did not work out, Hoseok signed the contract with Big Hit, making him a trainee along with fellow bandmates RM and Suga. On Christmas Eve 2010, Hoseok moved into the BTS dorm in Seoul. Hoseok began spending a lot of time with his new co-workers. He studied a lot with RM, Suga, and Supreme Boi; together they taught Hoseok to love music even more. “I think that’s how I learned to really love music,” for without them, he says, “I [don’t] think I would love music the way I do now.” Through time spent with his new friends, Hoseok grew in both his dance and rapping skills. As a debuting hip-hop group, BTS needed a strong rap line; a weak link would have stood out and could have been devastating to their success. As the only rapper who did not have underground experience, they wouldn’t have been able to make it without Hoseok achieving all his abilities. Thanks to RM, Suga and Supreme Boi they coached him and helped him to find his flow. He worked hard, allowing his natural talent and musicality, his prowess in dance, to enable him to create a sound which helped to make BTS who they are today. With debut came great success, but also enormous pressure, something Hoseok discusses freely in his mixtape, Hope World. The album, released under his stage name J-Hope, tells much of his story, starting with his childhood and continuing through the years after debut. Through his lyrics, he shows everyone there is more to him than being J-Hope. While discussing Hope World on a Vlive broadcast, J-Hope stated “…it’s only natural that Jung Hoseok as a person has his own needs as a human being.” Those needs include Hoseok’s occasional desire to return to the days of being young and clueless, when he could look at the sky, appreciate the wind, and think about good memories, such as his mother stroking his skin while he fell asleep as a child, or perhaps going on a family vacation. Even when he can’t sit back and reminisce, Hoseok always wants to be the “sunshine” of the group, as he has been called. He wants to be the hopeful, peaceful force for the band, for himself, and for ARMY, even when things are difficult. As ARMY gives BTS hope to continue their journey, Hoseok takes his role as ARMY’s hope seriously. As J-Hope, he wants to remind us he will “always take the world by storm, together” with the rest of BTS. Even when times are difficult, Hoseok wants ARMY to remember, above all, he is our hope, and we, in return, are his hope. 4