J-Hope and J. Cole release new song, “on the street”

Korean superstar j-hope (of BTS) and American rapper J. Cole have just released a new song, “on the street.” The song is a melodic blend of K-pop, hip hop, two cultures, and two languages. j-hope opens the song with a hypnotic whistle that he wrote and performs throughout the track.

Speaking to Variety, j-hope talks about how the collaboration with J. Cole came together. “It goes back to Lollapalooza last summer. J. Cole is my idol and we met there,” j-hope said. “Since then, I couldn’t stop thinking about how great it would be if we could make music together. So I reached out to him. I already had a plan in mind to release music around this time, and I began working on it in early November. As much as it took me a while to finish the song, I cherish it so much and it means a lot to me.”

j-hope and BTS have often talked about their admiration for J. Cole and even reimagined his song, “Born Sinner,” as the Korean boy band’s song, “Born Singer.”

Speaking of “on the street,” j-hope said to Variety, “To be honest, it still feels unreal. It’s such an honor. Looking back, we’ve gone through so much to make this happen and it wasn’t always easy. If you listen to J. Cole’s verse, you can see how he really put his whole soul into it to tell the story of his life and true feelings within. It took a long time to work on it, and when I finally heard his verse, I was deeply moved.”

The song is released as j-hope’s music career is about to hit a pause. He has started to process of enlisting in South Korea’s military to fulfill the country’s 18-month mandatory draft service.