[j-hope, in Korean] I started out with dancing.
Dancing is what opened up the doors for me.
So, I thought I should look back
on the dances I've done before.
I used to love dancing so much,
but I had forgotten all about it.
I'm about to start my military service,
so it was a chance for me to look back on my life.
[audience screaming]
[j-hope] "What did I like in the past?"
"What was my mindset when I debuted
and performed on stage?"
[audience screaming]
[j-hope] "And in the end,
what is it that made me who I am today?"
I kept…
asking myself those questions.
In the end, the answer was "dance."
Hoseok from Gwangju was the real start.
Back then, all I could do was dance.
I was the most confident in dancing.
I think all I knew was how to dance.
I just loved it so much.
If I didn't have dance…
I wouldn't be where I am right now. [laughs]
Me without dance doesn't make sense.
J-hope would not exist.
Even Jeong Hoseok would be a different person too.
It has become my life.
And that's where it all began.
[sighs]
Let's just give it a shot.
[newscaster, in English] BTS has taken over Billboard.
[newscaster 2] …that they'll focus on solo projects.
[newscasters continue in background]
[j-hope] Hope on the Street.
Ay.
Vol. 1.
["on the street" playing]
[in Korean] I think the most important part of this project is learning.
I get to look back on myself,
and learn from the passion
and inspiration I had back then.
And I'll be inspired again.
That's what this project is about.
["on the street" continues]
[music ends]
[j-hope] The song, "on the street,"
expresses exactly who I am.
I think I wrote it thinking I could really encapsulate
my determination
and emotions about the streets.
But, of course,
I always wanted to release a song as a gift to my fans
before my military enlistment.
And it worked out nicely,
since it became a big launching song
for Hope on the Street.
That's how I made the song, "on the street."
[interviewer] Could you tell us about the direction of this show?
I've done a lot of live streams
under the title of Hope on the Street.
It's one of the projects I've worked on for a while,
and this is a continuation of that.
Depending on the music,
the style of clothing,
and the angle it's being shown in,
the vibe of the dance,
and many other aspects, can change.
I think those were the parts
that I tried to focus on in terms of directing.
Is it okay for me to call Hak-nam like this?
Should I call him?
For me, the main point of this content
is to learn.
So, I thought I could learn from Hak-nam once again,
whether it's about dance or life.
I contacted him, thinking it would be very interesting
in many ways.
[line rings]
-[ringing stops] - [distorted chatter]
[in English] Yo, bro!
-Yo, Hoseok. - [in Korean] Yo, Hak-nam. Where are you?
So, here's the thing.
I'm actually shooting a documentary.
It's a documentary about dance.
[announcer, in English] Representing Korea,
Boogaloo Kin!
[j-hope, in Korean] You could say Hak-nam is a guy who has been
part of the street dance scene
since the very beginning.
He has very deep roots in this field.
He's respected by dancers from all over the world.
People look up to him like no other.
I thought he'd be perfect for this project,
and that he'd lead me very well.
As I got started on this project,
there were many things
that I couldn't express
or explain
on my own.
So, AKA Kin.
Boogaloo Kin.
That's how I decided to call Hak-nam
at the last minute.
Hello. I'm Boogaloo Kin, or Hak-nam Kim.
I think I've been dancing
for about 24, maybe 25 years.
I travel the world
and work as a judge, I host workshops, train dancers,
and I do many activities related to dancing.
When I first got that phone call,
I was very flustered.
He wanted me to fly to Osaka in three days.
Of course, it took me by surprise.
So, I was quite flustered.
But passing down the dance moves
that I've learned, studied,
researched, and practiced myself,
to this generation and the next,
in the correct way,
is my current motivation.
That's why I accepted right away.
[laughs]
- [in English] Not bad. - Not bad, okay.
[laughs]
[in Korean] As we worked things out, we decided to do popping in Osaka.
Gucchon was active in that area,
and he's someone
I've known and watched since I was young.
He's a dancer I've been following for a while.
I decided to do popping, thinking it would be great to have him join.
That's how Gucchon joined us.
The first song we started with was "I wonder".
I was just curious
what my future would be like
and whether I'd still like
what I like right now in the future.
I wanted to express that.
I think I just dove right in.
I liked it.
I used to do it when I was young,
so I figured it would work out.
But it didn't turn out that way.
I remember when we danced under the railroad.
I was so nervous.
I thought, "How am I supposed to dance?"
Honestly, I think I lost my nerve
at the time.
That was the exact moment I realized
that I thought too lightly of this when I started out,
and that I shouldn't approach it in such a light way.
How about something like this?
Try shooting from the outside, in the distance.
We could shoot from this angle from afar,
or shoot from up close.
That way, we won't get the cars…
I wanted to get a vivid shot
that could be expressed realistically.
I think that's why I tried to make the composition
a bit simpler.
I'm not sure if it turned out as I intended,
but a simpler shot
could make this genre stand out more,
and could help me express myself in a more exciting way.
That's what I thought. Mmm.
I'm lacking in many ways,
but as someone who's leading a dance documentary,
I felt a lot of pressure
that I couldn't mess this up.
So, I tried really hard to do well.
I remember the moment
that Woong and I officially started shooting the locking scene.
When are the times I have to lock myself up,
and the times I have to let myself go,
in my life?
This is sort of like…
In a way…
my life is similar to the locking dance.
There are times I have to lock things up,
and there are times I have to loosen up and take things easy.
I started out thinking it was quite similar.
If I just enjoyed it and felt happy
when I danced,
I thought I would feel a bit less anxious.
That was what was going through my head.
[laughs] I had three weeks to prepare.
But I think I just dove in headfirst at the time.
I didn't even realize there was so much to prepare
or how meticulously things had to be planned out.
We pretty much improvised it, and we actually did well.
I think I expressed the raw, unique vibe
as best as I could
and captured it on film.
I don't have any regrets.
[hip-hop music playing]
[music ends]
[j-hope] I don't think I'll ever forget what happened on the stairs.
The stairs were just Paris itself.
The place felt so much like Paris,
and so did the music.
I really liked the vibe of the place.
It was because I was doing what I loved there.
"This is literally the best.
This was what I wanted.
This is why I'm doing Hope on the Street."
Exactly.
House has always been
in my inner rhythm
in a gentle and subtle way.
And dancing to the house genre gives me such a rush.
I really wanted to try it, no matter what.
I thought a lot
about how I should include and learn this genre.
Like this. Boom, boom.
[both laughing]
[dancer, in English] Yes.
[j-hope, in Korean] It makes my heart race. Just like a song.
It's so exciting.
It gets me pumped up and gives me a rush.
I think that's what house is about.
When I fall into a slump,
or get stuck in a certain mannerism,
I wonder why I'm like that.
I don't really know why.
"What should I do?"
I think I tried to deal with that issue a lot.
While writing a song…
I realized the answer was in the song and in the dance.
[house music playing]
[music ends]
I seriously can't forget that episode.
Hip-hop was the genre
I was most used to.
And that's why I felt the most confident about it.
Wow.
There were these people
who danced to this odd and unfamiliar beat.
When I saw that,
I realized there were some things even I couldn't imitate
for the first time in my life.
This was just something I couldn't do.
- [in English] Damn. - [laughs]
Damn.
[in Korean] I can do this, right?
This is on a whole other level.
It was a new experience, though. It was great.
When else would I get to play with Link? [in English] The elite course. Wow.
[in Korean] It was fascinating. It was history itself.
I was watching the history of street dance itself.
[in English] All I'm saying.
[j-hope, in Korean] I learned so much just by being there.
I gained this energy just by watching
and being near them.
It was just pure inspiration.
I learned not only about dancing, but also about life
in many ways
throughout this project.
You'll get it when you watch that episode. [laughs]
You'll be able to see firsthand
how I slowly lost my cool
in New York, in the hip-hop episode.
[R&B music playing]
[music ends]
I tried to capture the emotions
of an encounter that wasn't easy.
It was also the last episode of the season,
so I wanted it to feel like the finale in many ways.
That's how I approached it.
I think the melody turned out that way too.
The lyrics also say, "We live to move,
and we will keep moving without forgetting about our roots.
Because we are Neuron."
[rap music playing]
That dance style could speak
on behalf of the Hoseok from back then.
Dance was everything to me.
I learned to dance from the members of Neuron.
I imitated their dance moves and attended their lessons.
I called them "Ssaem" back then.
I think those guys knew how I truly felt.
They called me and asked, "Do you want to dance with us?"
I was so happy.
I was so grateful.
In a way, I owe them everything.
They're Hoseok's saviors.
Though I've changed in many ways,
I've always felt genuine emotion
and a strong admiration for those guys.
You haven't changed at all.
[laughs]
[laughing]
Wow, this was it.
This was how I felt back then.
- It was wonderful and amazing. - [music ends]
It was unforgettable.
["on the street" playing]
Subtitle: Youla Kim