We’ve entered the era of BTS enlistments, with Jin leaving late last year and J-Hope scheduled to depart soon. Before he does, he’s teamed with another “J” — American rapper J. Cole — for On The Street. This pairing transforms the song into more than a typical “farewell for now” stopgap before hiatus. And though the music is more vibey and chill than I’d usually be drawn to, the overall product works well.
There’s something refreshing about how unfussy On The Street feels. The production remains muted all the way through, driven by looped guitars, old school hip-hop breakbeats and a whistled sample. None of these elements are overcooked, which helps forge a rugged sort of charm. Even that whistle manages to remain atmospheric rather than obnoxious. The chorus follows suit, opting for a lulling repetition rather than an explosive centerpiece. The arrangement grows as it goes on, adding backing vocals and “found sound” type samples to elicit a sense of space and setting that’s quite effective.
Listed as one of J-Hope’s own idols, J. Cole dominates during his verse. I’m not a religious person myself, which makes the lyrical content a bit off-putting in places (I’m not “stupid as hell,” thank you very much). But, the intensity of performance is appreciated and forges a dynamic midpoint that contrasts with Hope’s more languid delivery. Best of all, On The Street’s sound hearkens back to a robust era in BTS’s discography. From vibe to delivery to sense of self, the song feels as if it could slot right within the group’s pre-2017 material. That’s its own type of gift – embracing J-Hope’s roots while keeping one eye on the future.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
Grade: B-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
It’s a great song to have play in the background. It’s very tame all the way through but that’s what makes it great. It doesn’t have any unnecessary parts to it and it knows what it’s meant to be.
8/10
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I loved it. My friend Logan Ciara also loved it.
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The 2000’s esque song cover, especially with the butterfly, is the cherry on top for me. I really liked this!
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why do those lyrics sound so condescending to me 😡 not really a fan of this kind of music anyway, but if I were, the lyrics would have been enough to stop me from adding this to my playlists lol.
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i didnt know > : – ( turned into an actual emoji skskks im not THAT upset i only meant to use an emoticon ahahah
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You might be atheist or practice another religion, that’s why
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i personally really enjoyed this song. I liked how how this song had actual depth to it.
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The song is fine, as long as you like the note F# on repeat for four minutes straight.
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What on earth are you talking about.. Do you expect like “I’m sorry Beethoven someone that goes by “myamagoogle” doesn’t like your Piano Sonata No. 24 due to all F#s. You might want to give it a re-write”
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Oh my goodness I had no idea that this song was in F#! I’ve always had trouble finding out what key songs are so thank you myma! Now I know that F# songs such as this make me nostalgic and happy ☺️
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Something I hear too much from kpop fans is “I didn’t like rap until I got into kpop”. I find this problematic because undoubtedly it can be a case of liking black things but only when performed or exhibited by non black people. For that reason alone, I enjoy this collaboration and hope some people change their minds and maybe get rid of that bias. I have to add though, I can’t listen to all rap because sometimes the content is not for me (misogyny, homophobia, religion(I’m agnostic), etc) but I don’t like people acting as if all rap is like that. The same way I don’t like non kpop fans thinking all kpop sounds like bts or blackpink.
That sentiment makes me like the song more which was already pretty decent. 8.5. (realistically will drop in the future but we’ll see)
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“I didn’t like rap until I got into kpop”. As a black person I’m guilty of this haha. And I totally agree with this comment.
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I might be guilty of this tho admittedly I listened only to Eminem prior to kpop. And he’s not black. But on serious note, I appreciated j cole’s bars. Not religious myself but I honestly like meaningful raps and not the typical ones about money, cars, sex and drugs. I like political ones too so definitely the general ones are not to my taste
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Man, this sound takes me back! It would fit right in with early BTS.
Apart from that, I’m bored.
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I love this song! It’s the collab we didn’t know we needed! JHope has long been a fan of J Cole and the two pair together so well. To me it’s a song of hope that’s not in your face. In the video J Hope dances his old-school moves so effortlessly! Check it out on YouTube!!
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I like the song, it’s pretty good. The only thing I’ll say is though the song is 4 mins long. It feels like it’s 4 seconds long. Idk if it’s just me, but Jhope barely appears in the song for me, I see him in the video, but I don’t hear him. The chorus is too long, but it does fit the vibe of the song. Maybe if he changed it up a little bit would’ve been better. I loved J.cole’s rap (when I ignore the lyrics), and Hobi’s voice has always been a favorite of mine. It’s a chill song I might listen to when I’m in class or relaxing.
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I don’t really know what to think about this. I love it, but at the same time the song seems like meh to me. Gotta confirm the instrumental is atmospheric in the most exciting way possible.
However, J. Cole’s verse lasted too long, in my opinion. Also, its religious lyrical content puts me off a bit. Overall, fine. Rating-wise, for me it’d look like this:
Hooks: 8
Production: 8
Longevity: 8
Bias: 7
Total: 7.75/10
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I didn’t really like the song, it’s too way repetitive.
But overall, the bad acting was really distracting. He tried so hard to look cool that it was kinda ridiculous…
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It’s decent. The instrumental is kinda repetitive to me.
The religious lyrics were a little unexpected in a j-hope song. And yeah, I don’t like getting called stupid either lol
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I can fuck with this. Nothing more, nothing less!
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I actually really liked that J-Hope just kinda let jcole take over a big chunk of the song as he freestyles in the background – it’s nice to see him do what he’s best at with his biggest idol. I prefer songs with an actual big climax rather than just repetitions but it is very vibey. I’d put this in my playlist but not something I’d intentionally search up and play but then again this isn’t my type of song.
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My problem is that this song is J Cole featuring J Hope and I’ve only ever liked a couple J Cole songs. Lyrics like “I got a friend smart as fuck, but he stupid as hell. He swear that god ain’t real” do not help. Believing in god is not a very good measure of intelligence. I was hoping J Hope, who has my whole heart, could make me interested in J Cole but that did not happen. I’m probably never thinking of this song again.
More importantly though, I hope everything goes well for J Hope in the military. Be safe and we’ll see him when he gets back.
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