j-hope has been racking up achievements since he was in middle school when he won competitions and dance battles in Boogaloo popping with dance crew Neuron. At age 15, he took part in a competition in Seoul held by JYP Entertainment (it is often cited as an audition competition). He was placed in a group that won 3rd place. j-hope missed his Middle Graduation to participate in the contest. (Click here for a j-hope, pre-debut timeline Google link, compliments of fanbase, jhopefullworld.)
Hoseok became the first trainee to sign with Big Hit Entertainment and was so famous for dancing in Korea that before BTS got their name, they were often referred to as "The Group with Jung Hoseok." A few years into his trainee days, j-hope became the first member to earn an official KOMCA credit. In July 2012, j-hope was officially credited for writing and performing his verse in Jo Kwon's 'Animal.' This was nearly a year before his BTS debut. In the past ten years since 'Animal' was released, j-hope has accumulated 135 Komca songwriting credits!
In March of 2018, j-hope charted on the Billboard HOT100 and the Billboard 200 with his very first mixtape release, 'Hope World.' Making him the first BTS member to chart a solo release on Billboard.
j-hope was born to entertain and create music. He has been a pillar of the group and instrumental in creating their success. His impact on the group is evident in every BTS performance. Now it's his turn to show the world what he can do and to be successful in his own right as j-hope the solo artist. And that's just what he's done.
j-hope's first official solo album, 'Jack In The Box' was released on July 15, 2022, and was met with an incredible array of praise from music critics. Among making the top 50 of numerous critics' year-end lists, It was named Rolling Stone's 9th best album of 2022 and ranked #1 on Rolling Stone India's best Hip Hop albums of the year.
He made history yet again by headlining The most significant and longest-running music festival in the US, Lollapalooza. After j-hope was announced as a headliner at the 2022 Music Festival in Chicago, tickets for his performance date immediately sold out. Lollapalooza continued to release more tickets, and with every release, all levels of tickets sold out in minutes.
On Sunday, July 31, 2022, just before j-hope hit the stage, Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell came out to introduce j-hope. Per Perry, in the 31-year history of Lollapalooza, no artist sold as many tickets as j-hope, and there was never a Sunday to ever sell out in the 4-day festival's history. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot then joined Perry to praise j-hope further as the first South Korean to headline a Lollapalooza stage and to announce Chicago's 10-year extended partnership with the festival.
j-hope went on to make history by closing out the 2022 MAMA awards in Osaka, Japan. His exhilarating MAMA solo stage was yet another first for a member of BTS. But he didn't stop there. Just days after his MAMA stage, j-hope announced he would perform in Times Square on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest.
As the first South Korean artist to hold a solo stage in the fifty years of NYRE, j-hope ended the year by making history one last time in 2022. He made an impressive impact gaining 124k new Spotify followers within the 24 hours following his performance.
"First South Korean soloist to," "Broke a New Record for," and "Achieved" are terms that have become synonymous with the name j-hope. And to think...he's just getting started.
If you're interested in looking through j-hope's achievements to date, click here or on the photo. The link leads to an excellently curated Dropbox folder that is updated regularly. Special thanks to whoever created this fantastic resource! We're very grateful!
