J-Hope & J. Cole – “On The Street”

When the South Korean juggernaut BTS first formed, the idea was for them to be less of a K-pop idol group and more of a straight-up hop-hop group. That changed over time, but BTS member J-Hope, chosen more as a dancer than a rapper, has always been shouting out J. Cole on record since the very early days of BTS. Today, he’s on a new song with Cole.

Last year, J-Hope and J. Cole met up when both of them headlined Lollapalooza. (J-Hope was a replacement for Doja Cat, who had cancelled.) Right now, BTS are on hiatus, and J-Hope is about to become the second member of the group to begin his compulsory military service. Before that starts, though, J-Hope got to make his dream Cole collab, and that song, called “On The Street,” is out today.

“On The Street” is basically a pop-rap song. It’s got a sprightly beat from longtime BTS producer Pdogg, and it’s built on a whistling melody from J-Hope himself. J-Hope’s verse is mostly Korean, with some English mixed in. J. Cole, meanwhile, takes the song seriously, and he treats it the same way he’d treat a feature for YG or Benny The Butcher or Smino: “Coldest around, with more quotables than what the quota allows/ You see a top ten list, I see a Golden Corral.” J-Hope and Cole shot the video in New York, and you can watch it below.

“On The Street” is out now on HYBE.