BTS’ J-Hope Announces Solo Album ‘Jack in the Box’

Less than two weeks after BTS announced they would go on hiatus to focus on their own projects, the K-pop band’s J-Hope has revealed plans to release his first official solo album.

Bighit Music announced on Weverse Saturday that Jack in the Box — the rapper/dancer’s first-ever non-mixtape album, and the first BTS solo LP since the group embarked on “BTS’ Chapter 2” earlier this month — will arrive on July 15; the first single will arrive next Friday, July 1.

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“Jack in the Box lends voice to J-Hope’s aspirations to break the mold and grow further,” Bighit said of the LP. “The album represents J-Hope’s own musical personality and vision as an artist.”

Soon after BTS announced their hiatus, Lollapalooza revealed that J-Hope – who released the solo mixtape Hope World in 2018 – would serve as Sunday night headliner at the Chicago festival, making him the first-ever South Korean artist to headline a major music festival; J-Hope filled in on the lineup for Doja Cat, who canceled all her summer dates following tonsil surgery.

Earlier this month, BTS members told fans about their unified plan to take a break from the K-pop group. “Right now, we’ve lost our direction, and I just want to take some time to think,” RM said, with Jungkook adding, “We’re each going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things. We promise we will return someday even more mature than we are now.”

A spokesperson for BTS later told Rolling Stone, “To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats.” In addition to J-Hope, solo LPs from Jimin, Suga, and Jungkook (who released a new single with Charlie Puth Friday) are also reportedly in the works.

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