With BTS‘ J-Hope teaming up with J. Cole for “On the Avenue,” two of hip-hop’s most uplifting and earnest storytellers right now come collectively for a significant hip-hop collaboration.
After BIGHIT MUSIC shared the information on Feb. 26 that J-Hope was starting his South Korean navy enlistment course of, the label quickly adopted up {that a} new solo single from the rapper would drop on Mar. 3. Whereas followers obtained official “On the Street” photos that noticed J-Hope hanging in New York Metropolis, the main reveal for “On the Avenue” got here 24 hours forward of its launch when the official teaser video revealed the music’s particular visitor in J. Cole.
True to each artists’ penchant for invigorating and socially aware messages, “On the Avenue” is brimming with gratitude A lo-fi beat with parts of boom-bap blended with a catchy whistle hook (with the whistling supplied by J-Hope himself, based on a press launch), the music’s heat vitality is plain because the Ok-pop star opens the monitor, chatting with followers saying, “Even my stroll was product of your love and your religion.”
J. Cole takes over for the second verse with a candid, reflective part trying again with appreciation on his journey: “All hail the mighty survivor of hell…/ Fought tooth and nail/ Simply to prevail ‘mongst its most ruthless.” Cole additionally contemplates the way forward for his profession, spitting, “Because the moon jumps over the cow/ I ponder if I ought to wait handy over the crown/ And stick round for a bit longer/ I obtained an odd sort of starvation,” little doubt rousing followers into analyzing every lyric.
J-Hope closes out the monitor by repeating the anthemic refrain however not earlier than including a shoutout to “Cole World.”
“On the Avenue” is especially significant to J-Hope. Whereas BTS has lengthy shared their admiration for the North Carolina-raised rapper—revealing approach again in 2013 their reinterpreted tackle J. Cole’s “Born Sinner” with “Born Singer,” which was solely formally launched final 12 months on Proof—J-Hope has all the time shared how Cole is certainly one of his final favourite singers; check out his playlist of favourite songs with two Cole tracks.
The official music video noticed each stars collaborating and capturing the video in New York Metropolis.
“On the Avenue” is J-Hope’s first new solo music since hopping on “Rush Hour” with Korean R&B singer “Crush” (at No. 1 hit on the World Digital Track Gross sales chart) final fall and follows up his full-length Jack within the Field album from July. In the meantime, J. Cole dropped a shock music a couple of weeks again on Jan. 18 with “Procrastination (Broke),” appearing as a thanks to producer Bvtman and “each producer on the market cooking up and sharing their work with the world.” Cole’s final LP was Could 2021’s The Off-Season from (which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200).
