BTS’ J-Hope reportedly treats fans at ‘HOPE ON THE STREET VOL.1’ listening party in NYC to a song-inspired cocktail menu

BTS member Jung Ho-seok, aka J-Hope, digitally released his second solo album, HOPE ON THE STREET VOL. 1, on March 29, 2024. The album consists of six songs, which are original soundtracks from his second documentary series, HOPE ON THE STREET. Furthermore, the limited docuseries has only six episodes and is filmed in various cities across the world, such as Seoul, Osaka, New York, etc.

On the occasion of its global release, the artist's management company, BIGHIT MUSIC (now HYBE Labels), operated under the HYBE Corporation, held a listening party on Stationhead on March 29. On the same day, another listening party was held in the United States where J-Hope's fans could gather, listen to his new album, and party. Furthermore, the New York listening party served non-alcoholic cocktail drinks named after the album songs in honor of J-Hope.

Reportedly, the South Korean artist and BTS sensation paid in full for the event hosted in the United States. An X user (@j94shope) mentioned:

"ARMY at the HOTS parties have been told that Hobi paid for the events!! He really paid for ARMY to have fun and dance and just enjoy music."

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BTS' J-Hope reportedly paid for all the drinks to be provided free to the ARMYs attending the listening party

An X user (@cyb3rpunkt) shared that fans were provided with free non-alcoholic drinks at the HOPE ON THE STREET VOL.1 listening party held in the United States. The list of non-alcoholic cocktails consisted of "ON THE STREET," which was made of pineapple ginger mule and edible gold glitter. The drink was named after J-Hope’s original track, which featured American rapper J. Cole. It was released on March 3, 2023, and debuted at No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The second drink was called "I WONDER," named after the second track from J-Hope’s latest release and featuring BTS’ Jungkook. The drink was a unique concoction of ceremonial matcha, yuzu, and lemon. The soft pop song I Wonder blends the former’s powerful rapping prowess with Jungkook’s serene baritones, which makes the song a complete no-skip.

In addition to "LOCK/UNLOCK," which was made from jujube fruit and Omija-cha shot, the last drink on the menu was "NEURON," which was a beautiful concoction of green plum, lychee, and green tea spritz. lock/unlock (feat. Benny Blanco and Nile Rodgers) was co-written by the BTS rapper along with Benjamin Levin, Blake Slatkin, Magnus August, Hoiberg, Michael Cleveland, Nile Rodgers, Omer Fedi, and Pdogg.

Furthermore, the song NEURON (feat. Gaeko and Yoon Mirae) was co-written by Gaeko, J-Hope, Pdogg, and Yoon Mirae and is an ode to the idol’s roots buried deep in the dance group from Gwangju—Neuron Crew. The dance group was the beginning of Jung Ho-seok’s realizing his dreams as a dancer, which led him to the auditions of BigHit Entertainment and his debut as a member of global sensation BTS.

The X user @cyb3rpunkt wrote:

"There was a full liquor bar at the NYC release party, but these are the yummy drinks Hobi gave us for free. I had several of the OTS drink. I wonder if he selected these himself."

All the drinks and food were fully paid for by J-Hope, even though the musician has been serving in the South Korean military since April 2023. Meanwhile, BIGHIT MUSIC arranged a HOPE ON THE STREETS pop-up store in Seoul for the artist's beloved fans. On March 31, 2024, the Jack in the Box rapper-songwriter shared pictures of the pop-up store on his Instagram story.

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J-Hope lets viewers take a peek at his dreams, aspirations, and will to find his true self

The release of the artist's second solo album held extreme significance since all six tracks were background scores for his docuseries. His new documentary project is a series instead of a film, like his first one, J-Hope in the Box, which was released on February 17, 2023.

HOPE ON THE STREET follows the journey of Jung Ho-seok of Gwangju, who was a dance fanatic and became a prodigy after he was spotted by the dance group Neuron Crew. The album also features the song NEURON as an ode to his first dance group, which holds a significant place and importance in his life. After that, Jung Ho-seok gave auditions for BigHit Entertainment (now HYBE Corporation) and debuted as a rapper for BTS.

Reuniting with his mentor, Woong, after ten years has great significance for J-Hope since Woong is an essential component of his heritage. J-Hope gives a deeper sense of purpose to the series by expressing his intention to capture this trip as a tribute to his beginnings and stating that through his new solo album and docuseries, he intends to find his true identity.

With Seoul, South Korea, serving as the backdrop, the episode's central topic is locking and unlocking. The BTS star highlighted the connections he sees between the idea and his life experience, as well as the deep roots of his enthusiasm for dancing and locking. His coach, Woong, says that the dance form “locking” thrives in social situations and exudes good feelings. He started with “pinging” and has since explored numerous genres to develop his abilities.

J-Hope honors fellow bandmate and friend Kim Namjoon, aka RM, by dancing to his song Still Life, which features Anderson Paak, during one of his episodes in HOPE ON THE STREET.

In six installments, J-Hope delves into his beginnings as a street dancer with Boogaloo Kin, his former coach and champion dancer. The docu-series has released two episodes so far, which followed the BTS powerhouse in Osaka as he met various dancers, performed on the streets, literally, and dove deep into his past as a dancer.

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Earlier, the BTS rapper's first documentary tracked the global music phenomenon as he prepared to release Jack in the Box—his debut solo album—at every stage of the process. Throughout the documentary, viewers were treated to a first-hand glimpse at the artistic difficulties encountered while preparing the album, as well as front-row seats to J-Hope's 2022 Lollapalooza appearance and the record's listening party.

J-Hope In the Box is available on Disney Plus for global streaming, while HOPE ON THE STREET is available on Prime Video and TVing.