Unicorn Jukebox

Hey~~~~~

You have no idea how completely excited I am to be able to review this album!!!! I have been actively waiting for this album to be released for over 6 months now. In case you don’t know, J-Hope is a member of the kpop sensational boy group, BTS. He has been teasing the release of the album for what feels like forever, and he dropped it last week.  This release has set a bunch of records on the Billboard charts including debuting at number 63 on the Billboard 200 chart, which is the highest for any solo kpop artist. To make that number even more impressive the album was released with only 14 hours left to be counted in that week’s Billboard 200. And with that let’s get into the track by track review 🙂

Hope World: It starts off with a really fun retro feel, which will be repeated throughout the whole album. I loved the start and I feel it really set up the listener to what the rest of the album would be like, and what J-Hope’s personal style is. J-Hope learned producing through his time in BTS so it was really cool to see him put his personality into the music and create something that truly reflected who he is versus who BTS is. Bonus fun fact: Hope World is the name of J-Hope’s studio 🙂

P.O.P. (Piece of Peace) pt. 1: The titling of this is super cute. It refers to the fact that J-Hope hopes to continue this thought in his future music, and also speaks to his personality and how he wishes to bring happiness to many people. It has a very relaxed backing track, but it never feels slow. The overall style transports you to a colorful world. This track also does a good job of highlighting J-Hope’s vocal ability as well as his flow as a rapper.

Daydream: This was the first song released off the album with an accompanying music video. Again we are greeting with a fun retro vibe throughout the whole song. You can easily picture yourself grooving out to this song at a roller disco. This song I believe is a perfect example of how J-Hope takes very interesting approaches to his rap flow. He tends to utilize space and pitch changes often versus relying on clever wording or trying to be the fastest. Also the use of the alarm clock sound effect is a super cute touch.

Base Line: First of all this song is not nearly long enough for how good it is! I am really glad it is included because it begins to show the other side of J-Hope that is heavily influenced by R&B and hip hop. This song acts as a good transition from Daydream to Hangsang making the album even more cohesive.

Hangsang feat. Supremeboi: I’m so glad that J-Hope decided to include Supremeboi on this track because he does not get nearly enough recognition for all of his work. (He’s a main producer for BTS and actually almost debuted with them). This song is something that most people would expect to be on a rapper’s mixtape, yet still retaining all of the J-Hope flavor. This is his way of saying, I can play the mixtape game your way too. I love this song so much and think it does everything you want from it. It’s the type of song you turn on when you are pre-gaming to go out for the night.

Airplane: This was the second single off of the album. I love how the backing vocals are done by the other members of BTS. This track goes back to the fun retro feel that we had in the beginning of the album. I’m glad that he set it up this way because it creates full circle effect that is very effective. This is definitely the most laid back song on the album, which kind of gives it this first class vibe. But, to be honest this is probably my least favorite song on the album, but it is still really good. I just don’t really see myself putting it in any of my playlists or reaching for it on its own.

Blue Side (Outro): I’m a huge fan of intros and outros to begin with so I am very happy that he included this. I think it is a fantastic way to showcase the fact that your thoughts on the album are concluded and brought around. It acts almost as a landing point for everyone to come home after visiting ‘Hope World’. I did hear that he had actually made this as a full song first and then cut it down to an outro, which definitely makes me wonder what the full track would be like.

Overall I thought this was a fantastic album that actually lived up to hype. I do wish it was a bit longer, but I can’t actually think of anything that is missing from the album. As far as a first mixtape from someone whose first love is dancing, this is absolutely phenomenal and I can’t wait to see what else will come from J-Hope and BTS in the future.

Safe Travels~~~~~ 🙂