The Real BTS: Who is Jung Hoseok? All about J-hope, the dance king who randomly joined the group
With BTS now branching out and each member establishing their solo careers, it is time to get into who they are and what we can expect from them in the coming months. BTS debuted in 2013 under BigHit with seven members - RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook. J-hope, whose real name is Jung Hoseok was a street dancer and known among other dance crews before he debuted as the main dancer and rapper of the global K-pop group.
J-hope was part of a dance crew and used to compete in underground dance battles earning him the nickname ‘dance king’. While along with Jimin, he is the main dancer of BTS he is also an all-rounder having auditioned with his rap and producing his own songs. With over 110 songs under his belt, he already has a solo career having released his first mixtape ‘Hope World’ in 2018. He also became the first BTS member to debut on Billboard Hot 100 with his viral collab ‘Chicken Noodle Soup’ with Becky G.
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Who is Jung Hoseok?
Born in 1994 in Gwangju as Jung Hoseok, he selected his stage name as J-hope because he wanted to spread positivity and hope. It also represents his personality as his loud and hyper self has fans calling him the sunshine and mood maker of BTS. His nickname Hobi also happens to be a cute alteration of J-hope as ‘p’ and ‘b’ are pronounced similarly in Korean. Hoseok happens to have an older sister and was pretty close to B.A.P members having gone to the same academy with Zelo while auditioning with Yoo Youngjae at JYPE. The stylish member also often wows fans with his bold and colorful choices, has an almost irrational obsession with Sprite and is a figurine collector.
While the happy pill felt he was an extrovert, J-hope’s latest MBTI test categorizes him as INFJ. Fans are also often amused with his recruiting story as he just randomly happened to join BTS. He never actually auditioned but entered a dance competition held by JYPE which he won. He almost made it but was cut after a few rounds which led him to simply audition at BigHit next. The label was immediately impressed with his dancing and signed him on with J-hope becoming the third member to join BTS. But while he was known for his dance, he got underground rap sessions with Suga and RM to become a rapper. But he still happens to be one of the best dancers in K-pop with fans often noticing the perfect angles his dance moves make.
Old fans also know that J-hope actually left BTS because he was afraid that he was being kicked out and went on to pursue a solo career. It was Jungkook and RM’s conviction that led to BigHit bringing J-hope back before BTS’ debut. He is now set to pursue his solo career along with the rest of the members. From being the guy who was ignored by fans and did not receive any fanmail during his debut days, J-hope has become a much loved and sought-after artist by fans and the industry as the Lollapalooza 2022 organizers personally requested for him as a headliner. Fans are also excited for ‘Hope World 2’ as J-hope revealed that he wants to show an extremely dark and raw side of him in his upcoming album.