[Review] BTS’s J-Hope surpasses my modest expectations with surprisingly solid “Daydream”

J-Hope of BTS dropped his long anticipated mixtape, titled ‘Hope World‘, and a music video for the single “Daydream” was released as well.

Unlike most, I wasn’t all that hyped for this, as I’ve always felt that J-Hope’s verses on BTS’s music were easily the weakest. That lack of expectation of something amazing likely helped with “Daydream”, as I ended up being pleasantly surprised by the chill and playful vibe he created, especially as it contrasts with the rather wistful lyrics.

Of course, a song like this that doesn’t have a ton going on generally requires the rapper themselves to carry it with their skill, and J-Hope isn’t at the level where he can do that and truly make it organically impactful. Quite frankly, I hear relatively similar types of tracks on the singles and mixtapes of Korean rappers that nobody cares about, so I think most would hold similar apathy if “Daydream” wasn’t by a BTS member.

That said, “Daydream” could be an effort that ages particularly well, as I initially found the distortion in the chorus rather annoying but after multiple listens feel there’s an interesting effect it has on the song’s atmosphere, so perhaps this could grow on me further. For now, though, it’s a solidly pleasant release and not much more. That should undoubtedly be good enough to earn overfawning praise for it, but most importantly, J-Hope seems to show clear improvement and direction here. Since overwhelming ability isn’t necessary to make quality music, it could be interesting to see where he goes from here.

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