BTS Star J-Hope Taps J. Cole for New Single 'On the Street': 'I Was Deeply Moved'

There's clearly some hope in this "Cole World."

On Friday, BTS star j-hope teamed up with Dreamville's J. Cole for his latest single, "On the Street." The track, released alongside a video of the musician traveling on the streets of New York, was a long time coming for the pair, and arrives nearly eight months after j-hope's debut studio album, Jack in the Box.

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Jacopo Raule/GC J-Hope of BTS

"Every time I walk/Every time I run/Every time I move/As always, for us," j-hope raps in the chorus. "Every time I look/Every time I love/Every time I hope/As always, for us (On the street, I'm still)."

The lo-fi track with a repeated whistle sees j-hope take on the first verse as Cole tackles the second, rapping about his place in hip-hop now over a decade after the release of his debut album, The Come Up. For j-hope, though, the collaboration marks a big moment in his career, as he told Variety that Cole — whom he met at Lollapalooza — is his idol.

"Since then, I couldn't stop thinking about how great it would be if we could make music together. So I reached out to him," he said. "I already had a plan in mind to release music around this time, and I began working on it in early November. As much as it took me a while to finish the song, I cherish it so much and it means a lot to me."

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As j-hope explained to the publication, the word "street" in the song is a "metaphor for life," and he aimed to "share hope and courage to those who are walking through their lives" with "On the Street."

"To be honest, it still feels unreal. It's such an honor. Looking back, we've gone through so much to make this happen and it wasn't always easy. If you listen to J. Cole's verse, you can see how he really put his whole soul into it to tell the story of his life and true feelings within," he added. "It took a long time to work on it, and when I finally heard his verse, I was deeply moved."

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The release of the song follows the news that the BTS star is enlisting in the South Korean military for mandatory service after legally deferring for several years. Almost all able-bodied men in Korea are required to serve in the army for at least 18 months by the time they are 28, according to CNN. And in some special circumstances, men are able to defer until they're older, which several members of BTS have done.

j-hope opened up to Variety about his general hopes for the future, sharing that now after releasing the new single, his goal is to "stay healthy."

"Both physically and mentally," he said. "That's the way you can keep moving forward. This is the only thing I hope for myself. I've always thought that there is nothing inevitable in life, but I've learned that sometimes there are things that you really have to accept as fate. I want to be able to enjoy what comes to me by fate as well."