HOPE ON THE STREET Episode 5 Review: Created by BTS’ J-Hope and directed by Park Jun-soon – the 6-episode series gives an insight into J-Hope’s Love for Dance and various styles of street dance. Guided by exclusive producer Young Jae-shin, executive supervisor Gyewon Suh, and producer Jiwon Yoon, the series follows J-Hope as he goes on a journey to understand dance, friendships, life, etc.

J-Hope travels to South Korea, Osaka, New York, and Paris to meet with expert dancers such as Kim Hak-nam, known as Boogaloo Kin, GUCCHON, LOCK WOONG, and Massangila Lumengo, aka Yugson, among other stars of the dance world.

HOPE ON THE STREET Episode 5 Review 

The penultimate episode dives into the history of street dance as they meet with his hero, Link. The episode displays J-Hope’s reason to dance. In an episode that is mostly sprinkled with dance breaks, we get to see him look back at his passion for dance, hip-hop to be specific. 

J-Hope talks about his love for hip-hop and how that is one dance style he is the most confident in since that is what he grew up with. This tells us how his love for dance transcends through dance styles but his heart remains with hip-hop.

He meets with Boogaloo Kin in New York and over brunch, the latter talks about the creation of many hip-hop groups and trends. One is the dancers wearing Ralph Lauren Polos and screaming ‘Lo-Life’. Boogaloo Kin explains the creation of the saying through an old-school New York gang member. Inspired by the story, the two of them dress in Polo Ralph Lauren head to toe. 

They also dive into J-Hope’s stress about being limited to creating the best of the best. Boogaloo Kin points out that he may be a perfectionist and he agrees to an extent. The stress of things not going well stresses him out but the fact that he gets to dance – it became a stress-buster to him. 

They meet up with Link and he immediately gives J-Hope some confusing dance steps that confuses him but he keeps at it. Link points out that he does not stop him but rather he takes it as a challenge and continues to try his best. One of the best lines from Link is, ‘I get why he is named like that. I hope his passion, his fire never dies down’. It truly shows that the small interaction gives him an insight into J-Hope’s love for hip-hop and the way he puts his 100 per cent into everything he does. 

Link then talks about his love for dance and what made him want to dance. It resonates with him how Link loves to dance as well as how much he loves music. Link also breaks down the meaning of hip-hop – ‘hip’ means to have knowledge and ‘hop’ means to dance. Boogaloo Kin and J-Hope, later, talk about the different types of dances they have tried over the years as well as during the series. 

There is a serious conversation about dance and the question ‘why do I dance?’ He goes deep into thought and says that he is not himself if dance is not in his life. He says that dance is the reason he lives, which also gives us an insight into who he is as a person, and as a performer. 

The episode ends with a performance starring the BTS member and Link. They dance to his song ‘What if…’ (dance mix with JINBO the SuperFreak) and they look amazing as they show off their moves to the New York public on the streets. 

HOPE ON THE STREET Episode 5 Final Thoughts 

The episode has more dance than documentary-style interviews but his interactions with Boogaloo Kin and Link show us how he loves hip-hop since he began his journey as a performer by learning hip-hop. Over the years, most of his solo tracks have had some form of hip-hop dance style, especially in his last few solo releases. 

His conversations with Link and Boogaloo Kin show the viewers the history of hip-hop as well as the dancers’ love for dance. The story of how Link began dancing is unique but J-Hope relates to it. He shows the viewers that he will never be himself if there is no dance. While most fans know that he is someone who loves to dance, to see his journey as someone falling in love with hip-hop again, is beautiful to watch. 

HOPE ON THE STREET is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Also Read: All Our Reviews of Hope On The Street Docuseries