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Vocal Analysis of Blue Side by j-hope (2021)

On the day of Hope World’s third anniversary, Blue Side came about not only as a surprise but more as a total amazement. J-Hope has perfected the overall production of this song as well as his vocal techniques. Moving forward, we can see that he will keep blessing us with his high-quality works in future.

In the extended version of Blue Side (2021), J-Hope applies multiple singing techniques, such as breathy voice, mixed voice, and belting. For J-Hope, it’s a way of demonstrating his skills by properly controlling his voice and adjusting his voice placement, both of which allowed for better musical effects in this song.

To start, while keeping his vocal cords partially open, he admits airflow which enables vibration of his not-entirely-closed vocal cords. He thereby combines voice and breath together, forming a singing style consisting of obvious breathy sound and whispering voice.

Secondly, singing with breathy voice requires a concerted coordination between chest resonance, oral resonance, and one’s inspiratory capacity. Oral resonance takes place at the same part of the throat as where one speaks and utters. To create an oral resonance, the singer needs to relax their vocal cords and raise up posterior pharyngeal wall in order to create enough space for singing. Singing with breathy voice demands a high inspiratory capacity, for it requires the singer to simultaneously reserve part of their breath and steadily exhale the rest of it while maintaining the integrity of music verses.

On top of that, chest resonance is the pivotal force for one to apply breathy singing. The breath and strength pushed up from one’s stomach are reinforced by the chest, thus reaching the ideal vocal effect. At the same time when the breath is evenly sent off from one’s stomach, it vibrates through one’s vocal cords with the assistance and strength from a strong inspiratory capacity. Finally, it is formed into a singing voice through the process of utterance and verbalization happened in one’s oral cavity.

Thirdly, mixed voice is applicable in bass and baritone besides tenor vocal range. Different from mixed voice found in tenor which merge modal voice and falsetto, j-hope utilizes a mixed voice of overlapping resonance. He stretches and compresses his pharynx, ensures a complete vocal cord closure, and vibrates his vocal cord with airflow from his lungs through an overlapped resonance within his chest and head. Such use of mixed voice constructs a multi-layered effects along with his other ways of singing. He keeps the vibration rate of his vocal cords at its minimum, opening up the mid-part of his vocal cords when the airflow goes through them. His voice comes out in the pharynx cavity as airflow and vocal cords simultaneously press against and vibrate with each other.

Bass and baritone is the most suitable vocal range for j-hope’s natural voice. When combined with breathy singing, his voice is ornamented with a gravelly texture, bringing forth an everlasting softness and tranquility.

The fourth point is, vocal fry brings a mingled effect of one’s modal and breathy voices. A calm low register keeps flowing along with a refreshing feeling of the vocal fry, evoking a precisely perfect allure for the listeners. He alters his timbre as he applies different techniques such as mixed voice singing and vocal fry, which surprisingly have multiplied musical layers of this song.

Regardless if he is using a high pitch or low pitch, j-hope’s voice never feels disjointed or fragmented because he has a skillful control over his oral muscle strength when he is uttering a verse, and he is extremely stable with his placement of pharynx when singing.

His vocal placement is contracted and concentrated, with his vocal cords entirely relaxed. His thoracic diaphragm is pushed up and against his breath. It makes his voice more penetrating and enkindling without tearing his vocal cords or making his voice cracked. He sings from his natural vocal range. He applies various elements in his modal voice, such as a bouncing effect and a crying voice, a supportive strength from his stomach, as well as a combined application of cavity spaces among his thoracic cavity, nasal cavity, oral cavity and head cavity.

Singing as if in tears adds an emotional flavor to his song while he is able to stabilize his breath. The bouncing effect of his voice also relaxes his vocal cords.

Original text in Chinese by 尼摩船长 English translation by 高清画质

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Dance Analysis of Chicken Noodle Soup by J-Hope ft. Becky G

J-Hope is not only an incredible dancer but also a cultural preacher of street dance.

To people who are keen on hip-hop, Chicken Noodle Soup, a song made by DJ Webster and Young B, is no way to be unfamiliar. CNS was such a prevailing song at the very first beginning that it meant a lot to hip-hop enthusiasts. This song was even regarded as the ‘soul’ by these people. J-Hope also mentioned in his V-live on September 27th, 2019, that he began his first dance lesson with this song. That’s why he chose to rearrange it, which is of great importance to him, and paid tribute to the original version of Chicken Noodle Soup.

At the start of Chicken Noodle Soup’s music video, what the four dancers danced to is part of the primary choreography in the original song. J-Hope’s dance move, which uses both his elbows to flap inward, stems from the choreography of the original song, known as ‘the chicken dance’. Same thing applies to the most classic actions of flapping wings like a chicken in the chorus. When the original song came out, these dance moves successfully owned a phenomenal popularity among teenagers who enjoyed dancing. It was just catching on like the previously big-time dance movements such as ‘Gangnam Style’, ‘Coincidence’ and ‘hammer dance’. Movements which went viral on the Internet represent not only the trends back then but also the profound cultural background of a period of time.

Not all dance lovers spend time learning what dancing really means before they start their lessons. From my perspective, rather than merely showing the moves, we should also know where the dance originates from as well as its cultural connotations, which can help us better understand and demonstrate the dance style. It’s obvious that J-Hope’s dance is far from being a superficial imitation but he has attentively studied its culture and history behind the scenes.

The details in the music video show that J-Hope knows a lot about hip-hop culture.

One of the most indispensable parts in the development of the US hip-hop culture is to remould vintage cars into Lowrider cars. When people were fond of remoulding cars in quest of their high horsepower and accelerating speed, they would lower the chassis of the vehicle, write graffiti on the car, install a hydraulic system on the chassis and suspend the vehicle so that it could bounce up and down, as if the car got a chance to “dance” on the road freely. In this way, Lowrider Car gradually became an integral part of the hip-hop culture, like a big toy for hip-hop lovers. J-Hope put Lowrider cars into his music video and danced in front of them with dancers, as if he was holding a grand party which was established on hip-hop culture.

Someone trenchantly pointed out in the comment section of a reaction video, “None of you understands the real meanings behind this song, nor do you have any idea of its origin. The plummeted truck and the cars are all parts of a bygone history.” During the 1970s and 80s, Bronx borough of New York City was agonized by poverty and ghettos. Arson crimes frequented the neighborhood. Its crime rate topped the country. But then, the rise of hip-hop culture changed the neighborhood and reduced illegal actions, leading to an overall movement carried out by the government to promote hip-hop to the general public. The emergence and development of hip-hop culture has since then brought far-reaching influence all over the world.

If an artist failed to show his understanding on hip-hop culture in his music and dance but only added hip-hop elements like Lowrider car or dreadlocks for the sake of face value, it certainly could not gain hip hop lovers’ appreciation. In stead, it may even offend them. Nonetheless, J-Hope poured his wholehearted passion of hip-hop culture into his music video, and thus had his own way to make a nod to it.

Another example is “Show Me Your Bba Sae” which J-Hope danced to in the Weekly Idol variety show. Though he deliberately did it in an amusing and comical way, he was actually performing waacking dance. Waacking originated in gar bars, and was used as a vehicle by the LGBTQ community for self-expression and resistance against discrimination and marginalization toward queer people. Therefore, waacking adopts very striking and often flamboyant moves. J-hope embraces dances of all origins without any bias and stereotype. In his studies of dancing, he embodies an inclusive mindset which is common among people who appreciate and study hip-hop culture. On top of that, he also genuinely showed his own understanding of waacking dance by pulling off its expressive and outgoing attitude with his body movement and facial expression. Of course, this discussion deserves another essay to articulate in depth, but we have to regretfully stop here.

Hip-hop culture originated from four elements: DJ, MC, B-boy and graffiti. The hip-hop culture and its subsequent different types of dance are derived from these four elements. The headstream of street dance was party dance in African-American communities in the 1960s. This kind of party dance incorporated rough and vigorous African dance, free and elegant Salsa dance, humorous tap dance, dynamic Jazz Dance and Chinese Kung Fu, as well as other dance elements and moves. These various dance and elements in turn developed into different dance types in hip-hop culture.

Hence, both hip-hop culture and street dance have a strong sense of inclusiveness and that’s exactly what J-Hope’s Chicken Noodle Soup represents. Chicken Noodle Soup used to be the signature dance of black people, who are the owners of hip-hop culture, but now it’s performed by an Asian dancer. Dancers of all ethnicities from The Lab group were also invited to take part in the shooting of this music video. J-Hope used his music and dance to break the barriers of language and races, cheering up hip-hop enthusiasts all around the world with his masterpiece. That’s what Elite Force, the crew which initiated hip-hop culture, wanted to see. True solidarity of humanity comes at the premise of goodwill and mutual respect among people.

It is worth mentioning that in 2013 J-Hope had written three articles titled “Street Dance Review” in the BTS official blog even before his debut. In those posts, he vividly illustrated the development and definitions of Popping, Locking and Breaking dances in a multi-media format of texts, images and videos. With his own efforts, he aimed to eliminate the stereotypes by general public toward street dance, and truly hoped that people could learn about these dance types. From his early attempts, we could get a glimpse of his unshakable confidence and passion about dance and the culture it entails.

J-Hope sincerely hopes that hip-hop culture can be accepted by people of all races. Hip-hop culture did not hit Asia and enthralled many people until the beginning of the 21st century. But there is still a long way to go. At the same time, J-Hope never forgets hip hop’s origin. Nor does he ever cease to gain a deeper understanding in hip-hop culture. He also shows respect to hip-hop all the time. That’s the reason why J-Hope is not only an incredible dancer but also a cultural preacher of street dance.

Writer/Special thanks to @Hopeworld_Spume (weibo)  Sources/薄巧 泼辣黑  Proofreading/柠檬  Translate/hoya 高清画质

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Music Analysis of Chicken Noodle Soup by J-HOPE ft. Becky G

Music transcends geographical boundaries. CNS is the ultimate language.

The original song of Chicken Noodle Soup was released by DJ Webstar and Young B in 2006. J-hope, as a well-rounded K-pop idol who’s known for his extraordinary rapping and dancing skills, demonstrated his ingenuity as a music producer this time with a completely overhauled version of Chicken Noodle Soup, of which the achievements and chart data have claimed his undisputed success around the world. 

From a flat surface to a multi-dimensional work – tribute and enrichment

Let me start by explaining how J-hope turns a flat surface into a multi-dimensional work. For instance, there is a circle on a plane, and it can evolve into a sphere. The sphere retains its circular shape, rather than taking form of other geometrical structures such as a square or a line. In a similar vein, J-hope transforms the original song, a circle, into his new work, a complex and multi-dimensional sphere.

The following paragraphs will illuminate how J-hope has uplifted Chicken Noodle Soup, and I highly recommend you to listen to it while readinig this article so that you can capture these details.

To begin with, you can hear a bass melody accompanying human voices throughout this song after the intro part. This bass melody is in accordance with the beats of electronic drums, and together they consist the loop part of the entire song. This loop keeps going on till the end, except some parts where it is deliberately left out.

There is a descending scale which is made with synthecized brass instruments in the first verse of “Chicken Noodle Soup”. It is, in fact, a tribute to the original song by keeping its whistle sound. The new whistle sound, simulated with brass instruments, imitates the sound effect of an old steam locomotive. It epitomizes J-Hope’s music style, bringing upbeat feelings despite not being as expressive as the original song. In addition, J-Hope applies multiple sets of rhythm composers and electronic synthesizers, exquisitely and specifically tuning to each part of the song. There are about as many as six sets of drums, so that Chicken Noodle Soup gains an eloquent beat from these arrangements.

I have to bring up another interesting instrument which J-hope uses in the joint between the verse and the hook of CNS, and that is bar chimes, or wind chimes as we normally call them. Their crisp and whimsical sound unveils the second half of the song, adding a lively yet mysterious atmosphere to it. After Becky G finishes her vocals and right before the song enters its pre-chorus part, there comes a very short interlude. Within these fleeting seconds, the interlude consists of wind instruments, string instruments as well as percussion instruments. Connecting to the hook part at the very last section of the song, this interlude also serves as a relatively short loop which is combined with the bass and electronic drums J-hope uses at the beginning. However, the song does not end there abruptly. It is well wrapped up with percussion instruments, probably maracas.

Most of the human voice flows by J-hope have at least two soundtracks. One of them is what we can obviously hear in the main track, the other vocal harmonies. Harmonies in this song are in acapella style. In order to add texture as well as dimensions to his voice, J-hope utilizes different vocal placement and melodic phrases in order to record the tracks of harmonies, including Becky G’s vocal part. Moreover, he applies a sound effect called “double”, which means tuning down a track after recording it so as to amplify and enrich its sound. Thus, listeners will gain better auditory experience. J-hope never breaks away from the original “circle”, and yet he makes it into a multi-dimensional “sphere” with his professional and idiosyncratic talents in music production. This is how J-hope, as a music producer, vigorously exhibits his unique style in Chicken Noodle Soup, whilst paying the most proper tribute to its original version.

From surface to insights – cultural compatibility and diversity

Besides the above texts which I have explained in a straightforward and easy-to-understand fashion, there are actually a few more ideas J-hope puts into Chicken Noodle Soup that deserve mentioning and sharing, such as electronic synthesizing, remixing, sampling and orchestrating. Chicken Noodle Soup is more than a simple song, as it encompasses a whole array of memories and meanings. That’s also part of the reasons why it gained a worldwide attention once it was released. For one thing, the original version holds collective memories of an ethnical group as well as a generation of people, so it resonates greatly with everyone. On top of that, it is a trilingual song in Korean, English and Spanish, so it can circulate from one group of listeners to another, from one generation to a few. At the end of the day, a thousand people can appreciate this song from a thousand perspectives. During the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit in 2019, Foreign Minister of Korea, Kang Kyung-wha, mentioned Chicken Noodle Soup in her keynote speech. She spoke of it as a super-popular song, as well as an exemplary case in which culture, creativity and talents converged and ignited a global trend.

From an idol to a producer – pain and gain

As I gather and read through the materials to promote J-hope, I realize that he keeps an extremely high and strict standard to himself. To be perfectly honest, much of the knowledge involved in his music production has exceeded the scope which an idol could normally know of. But with each of his high-quality works, Jung Hoseok is steadfastly growing from an idol into a professional producer. Allow me to quote a sentence in the dance analysis written by @HopeWorld_Spume (from weibo), “Jung Hoseok is an absolute hard worker who has talents.” The same applies to his music. He did not learn music production until his debut, but now he can deliver a masterpiece like Chicken Noodle Soup. No words can do justice to the labor and pain he puts into his learning process and practices. I cannot hold but exclaim while I read analytical articles written by other fans: What an outstanding person he is! For all the pain he pays, he deserves every nice thing in this world.

Author/Special thanks to @落日与蝶馆长 (weibo) Sources/尼摩船长 泼辣黑 Proofreading/泼辣黑 Translate/高清画质