j-hope is only really "j-hope" when he's on stage - or when he's promoting his music. The rest of the time we call him "hobi" - and by "we" I mean ARMY and the members. Hobi has many famous descriptors to his name, SUNSHINE and VITAMIN are probably the most common ones. He tends to fuel you with bright energy and good laughs. As baby-ARMY you quickly learn to single him out as "the loud one" or "the animated one" in american interviews or in a lot of their own content. The members see him as a necessary source of energy to have around - not just because of his vitamin-like aura but because of his relentless work ethic and meticulous professionalism.
He is "dance captain hobi" when instructing and helping his members to practice their choreographies - and because of that he's widely known as the group's second leader next to RM. With RM being the official spokesperson, the middle-man between label and the members + a key figure in their songwriting. Hobi is a key figure when it comes to anything performance-related. He did street dancing before he joined BigHit, and was thus one of the only members with actual dancing experience. When Bang PD decided to turn his hiphop crew (full of rappers) into an idol group, hobi became a key component. Hobi has thus been assisting their choreographer Son Sungdeuk in teaching the members all their choreos since debut days. Aside from his performance experience and expertise, RM has also credited hobi with second leader-duties when it comes to the emotional well-being of their members. Hobi can often come across as the glue of the group - you see him taking on mother-like responsibilities around his members: cleaning and organising as well as generally taking care of the members in a both practical and emotional sense. He'll throw a warmer piece of clothing to his younger brother, if they're heading outside in the cold - he'll clean up around his older brother, as he's busy cooking - he'll organise the camping van if they're away on a trip. He ALWAYS makes himself useful to the group in whichever way he can, and the members appreciate that much more so than I think he knows.
He's a structured and organised guy by nature. Maybe that's why it was easy for him to take on this mother-like role? But you blend that with his sunshine-like aura, and he becomes this extremely likeable guy. The guys call him the most professional one out of all of them, because he never complains and always shows up early and ready to take on the daily challenges with a smile.
Another component that I would never ever fail to mention is his ambition. They're all incredibly ambitious artists, but sometimes it really feels like hobi is breathing fire... The way he talkes about his craft and how he thoroughly enjoys facing new challenges however big or small, is inspirational without a doubt, but it's also kinda scary. Remember Jack in the Box and Hobipalooza? He lost so much weigh and were barely able to eat and sleep properly during that month. This professional greed reminds me of Seventeen's Hoshi, who talks about his own career in a similar way - with fire blazing in his eyes. It feels like the flames cannot actually ever get too hot for the two of them, they're always going to feed the flames with more oxygen and load the fire with more firewood. I think of Jungkook in a similar way. The ceilings aren't ever tall enough... There's a certain type of excitement that accompanies that image - you see these people on stage and it's like they were legitimately born to perform in front of thousands. At the same time though if you flip the coin the repetitive motion of adding new oxygen to the flames and new firewood to the fire in a continuous cycle, feels utterly exhausting and draining. I'm convinced that to live this kinda life, you have to pay with bits of your soul along the way...
Not everyone is capable of maintaining this type of lifestyle. This is another reason why I'm continuously impressed by these guys, they've been doing THIS exact thing for almost 12 years now (though pause for military enlistments) and they STILL want to keep going. They have not had enough. They want more. Yes, things may not look the same as they used to. Bangtan 3.0 will be different. But their passion for music and performing have not changed.
Okay, back to hobi.
This guy is a master at what he does. He learned to rap from Yoongi and Namjoon in their pre-debut days. And now he's such a goddamn good rapper - I love the way he alwaysalways changes his flow mid-verse and how rhythm runs in his blood to the extend that he cannot make a song that doesn't have you grooving along, and tapping your fingers and feet. He has found his own sound and genre almost ? We all adore his melodic rap - and the way he can sing AND rap in the same song, without it seeming weird is (also) very impressive.
Dancing is his foundations in so many ways. It informs the beats and melodies that he writes into his music, he rarely sits still, he communicates most effectively with movement - and it probably has some sort of input on his extraordinary fashion sense also...? or is that a stretch...?
Post-discharge hobi is a whole adventure in and of himself. Just like jin, hobi has become an even better and cooler and more grounded version of himself after returning to civilian life. Also he seems to be walking all over JK's space with his 12-hour livestream and his sexy solo songs - as well as his increasingly more intimate ARMY interactions.. Now "challenge accepted" or what JK ?! Hobi is completely spoiling us in this era, and we're all completely loving it (massive understatement).
What a way to start our purpled 2025 !!! 💜
No comments:
Post a Comment