Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box is the debut studio album of South Korean rapper J-Hope of BTS, released on July 15, 2022, through Big Hit Music. It contains 10 tracks, including the lead single, "More", which preceded it on July 1, and the follow-up single, "Arson", which was released the same day as the album, together with an accompanying music video. A concept album revolving around the story of Pandora's box, Jack in the Box discusses themes of passion, ambition, humanity, insecurity, success, and anxiety about the future. Primarily an old-school hip hop-influenced record, the album features a blend of genres, including pop, grunge, and R&B. Originally only available as a digital album, Jack in the Box charted in 17 territories, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It debuted at number 3 in South Korea, number 11 in Japan, and number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. The album sold over 470,000 copies in its release week and was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). A limited edition vinyl version was released in December 2022. The album was made available on traditional CD format in 2023, with five additional tracks included. Background and recording J-Hope released his first solo mixtape, Hope World, on March 2, 2018. It peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard 200 and made him the highest-charting Korean soloist on the ranking at the time. He did not release any new music for some time after that, citing disappointment with the mixtape as a reason during a livestream in January 2019. He further elaborated that a lack of confidence in his skills as a musician, especially in comparison to that of his bandmates, made him feel unprepared and hesitant to try collaborating with other artists. Despite these insecurities, the rapper also expressed feeling motivated by his bandmates' successes "to write great songs and want to work with great artists". The trilingual "Chicken Noodle Soup" single, featuring American singer Becky G, followed in the latter part of the year. No further releases were forthcoming. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2021 about the likelihood of a second mixtape, J-Hope disclosed that he had been working on his music continuously, but nothing was decided as yet.