Here’s The Evolution Of BTS J-Hope’s Rap, According To Himself
In an interview with Weverse Magazine, BTS‘s J-Hope discussed how his rapping skills have matured as he’s learned more and more throughout the years about which styles he wants to try and how to portray various emotions. Coming from a background in street dance, J-Hope unexpectedly didn’t have much experience in rapping until he joined BTS. Quickly grasping the skill, he makes it impossible to tell that he had less time to learn than the others.
Overtime, he’s sharpened his skills and is able to assess which style he should use for each song.
I’m always picking up new techniques, and anytime I get a BTS song, I have an instinct about how I should go about it. There’s no particular reason change happens; I think everything I’ve ever learned and all the energy I’ve absorbed just instinctively comes out in the moment.
— J-Hope
With BTS’s latest comeback, he decided to try out some unique styles that were met with nothing but praise from fans.
Specifically, his melodic rap on “For Youth” stood out and showed off his maturity as an artist.
“For Youth” was another chance for me to try something original. I thought of writing melodic rap and not concerning myself too much with the beat and wanted to show a somewhat more mature side of me.
— J-Hope
As he continues to progress as an artist, he’s able to express more and more with his skill set.
I’m constantly changing, musically maturing and the number of things I can express has increased. I think those things are how I express myself—by using things I learned throughout my life and during my time with BTS. While I was working on Proof, I could instinctively sense things like, This might not be interesting the way it’s going.
— J-Hope
Along the lines of trying new things on PROOF, he experimented with using autotune as an instrument to create a distinct sound.
It’s all because I’ve been with the group for a long time. That’s how I know what I need to do when it comes to music and performing. So I use autotune where needed or sometimes go with a different flow.
— J-Hope
See what else he revealed below!
