The covers are carefully designed to match the concept of each song and album
A concept album revolving around the story of story of Pandora’s box, Jack in the box discusses themes of passion, ambition, insecurity, success and anxiety about the future.
Jack in the box narrates j-hope’s hardships with fame and identity via the metaphor of the opening of Pandora’s box and how it unleashed evil upon the world and the track list offers you a seamless map as you navigate through the record.
J-hope worked as a group and now taking his role as a solo artist, it’s almost like this album was his to finally pop out of the box.
‘Arson’ is a track of the album ‘Jack in the box’. It echoes the album’s overreaching theme of J-hope’s desire to reveal himself unfiltered and uncensored. It is the album’s most explosive and jarring song.
As the song progress, j-hope rap flow moves from eerily smooth to menacingly urgent, a change that contributes to the anxiety-inducing feel of the lyrics, where he dissects the relationship between his work and personal life.
“What gave me no other option but to overheat inside was the motivation fueled by my blind ambition”
-Lyrics from Arson
Suga raps about his brown piano. ‘First Love’ refers to the piano I played when I was young and also the only friend I had. I cried a lot when recording the track. In the second half, where I explode the feelings, I kept tearing up.” -Suga
Lyrics: A brown piano that’s sitting in the corner of my memory A brown piano that’s sitting in the corner of my childhood home I remember the time when the brown piano that’s so much taller than me guided me I looked up to you and admired you.
The title ‘Reflection’ reflects his desire to introspect himselft and reflect himself through music.
“I want to caress myself,
But you know, sometimes, I really really hate myself"
"I just stand here with the familiar darkness"
"I want to be free
I want to be free from freedom
Because now I’m happy yet unhappy
I wish I could love myself."
“Singularity” is another way to say “singular,” as in “the state of.” The song is about being isolated within love and watching that love fall apart. It is about narrator’s pain and suffering from being in a relationship with his lover. He is suffering because his true self is shattering in order to be the man his lover wants.
when riding a bicycle is the time, one of the rare times, when I feel the freest physically and feel free from thoughts. I wanted to portray the vague, impalpable scenery that I have always thought of when riding a bicycle. Feelings that are sad but exciting, a little cold but warm.
“When sad, let’s ride a bicycle!”
-Namjoon
