J. Cole describes his track with J-hope as "a blessing"

No one can forget the 2019 film Parasite. The Oscar-winning film was written and produced in Korea. Over the past decade, as evidenced by the acclaimed 2021 Netflix series Squid Game, Korean cinema and TV have really come to the forefront of Western consciousness. However, along with film and TV, partnered with the rise of East Asian social media platform TikTok, Korean popular music, often referred to as K-Pop, has become an extremely profitable genre. Korean band BTS are one of the revered K-Pop bands, and recently rapper J. Cole has worked with the band’s frontman J-hope.

Entitled ‘On The Street’, the two musicians came together due to the Forest Hills Drive rapper’s admiration. Sources revealed that J. Cole asked to work with the Korean musician himself. The pair have recently released a snippet for their track’s visuals and a behind-the-scenes video. The snippet commences with the K-pop megastar in a New York hotel room, writing a letter to the American act. Filmed the morning before their shoot together, J-hope wonders if this his emotions are akin to those of his fans when they are writing fan mail for him.

The behind-the-scenes footage then captures J-hope meeting Cole on set. The music video is filmed on location near New York’s Manhattan Bridge. The two proceed to hug each other as they reunite. The duo first met at the Lollapalooza festival in 2022. Speaking to J-hope and his team using a Korean translator, the rapper told them before the shoot, “It’s a blessing to be here with y’all.”

At a certain point during the behind-the-scenes clip, fans get a one-on-one interview with J-hope in which he expresses his adoration of J. Cole and his music. Speaking on the musician, J-hope revealed, “When I started listening to music, the first artist I listened to was J. Cole. Being able to work with J. Cole after ten years as a fan, I’m so happy. It’s just all new, and I still can’t believe it!” The footage also shows hope’s fellow BTS counterparts on set cheering him on as he shoots the video.

Speaking after the shoot, Hope stated, “A lot of preparation went into this, and I don’t think the process was easy,” he added. “But after everything… I’m so relieved.” You can view the behind-the-scenes interview with J-hope in the video below.