J-Hope Talks About BTS' Future, Living Up to His Name, and More | Cover Story

For Rolling Stone's eight-part May 2026 cover-story package, the seven members of ‪@BTS‬ met up in Seoul, South Korea in mid-February to talk with senior writer Brian Hiatt, both individually and as a group. In this solo interview, #jhope talks about how his stage name reshaped his identity, writing about romance, escaping expectations, and much more. #bts #btsarmy #jhopebts J-Hope on finding hope: "Once I got this name, I told myself that I should take responsibility for this name that I'm carrying, and it changed something inside of me. I started searching for hope everywhere." J-Hope on writing about romance in his recent solo songs: "I feel like the love and romance you feel in your thirties holds a different weight from the love and romance of your twenties. Even beyond personal experience, I just find myself thinking more deeply about it, and taking on the perspective of a more mature adult." J-Hope on being back with BTS: "Now that we're back together, the other members are filling in any gaps that I feel in my expression, in my performance. In a lot of ways, I realized that this is why there were seven of us." J-Hope on BTS' goals going forward: "Rather than dream too big, I just want to keep having fun making music with the group, and to nurture our loving relationship with each other and our fans for many years to come. That's my only goal, and my hope. Read the Rolling Stone interview with J-Hope here: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/mu... ON SALE NOW: 'BTS: The Cover Collection' brings all 8 covers together in one set, the best way to secure the full collection. Tap to shop, while supplies last: https://shop.rollingstone.com/ ⸻ Talent — J-Hope Interviewer & Senior Writer — Brian Hiatt Director of Social & Video — Waiss Aramesh Executive Producer & Shoot Director — Christopher Hwisu Kim Senior Producer — Viviane Feldman Producer & Colorist — Mitch Saavedra Social Video Producer/Editor — Sim Tumay Moktan Productions Video Director of Photography — Mike Beech Gaffer and Camera Operator — Wonman Kim Camera Operators — Byeong Hwi Min, Churl Gwon, Hyunsuh Paik DIT — Jiwoon Lee Sound Operator — Min Jae Lee Production Assistant — Seohyun Yoon Nuhana Executive Producer — Sooh Hwang Producer — Sebin Park Line Producer — Cherry Lee Translators Alex M. Lee, Sungbin Moon Creative Director — Joe Hutchinson Executive Music Editor — Christian Hoard Editors in Chief — Sean Woods & Shirley Halperin CEO — Julian Holguin    / rollingstone