Jung Kook - GOLDEN (2023)

When BTS began a group hiatus in 2022 to allow the members to perform mandatory military service, Jung Kook used the opportunity to collaborate with Western artists and producers for his solo album debut, GOLDEN. The result is an 11-track English-language LP that is not only perfectly primed for a mainstream American listening audience, but also embraces an exploration of more explicitly sexy subject matter for the Korean superstar.

Pre-release tracks “Seven” (featuring Latto), about the power of good sex, and “3D” (featuring Jack Harlow), about the limits of good phone sex, immediately set the tone for GOLDEN’s role in showcasing a more adult side of Jung Kook. The latter track was written (alongside BloodPop® and Harlow) by “Dynamite” co-writer David Stewart, who also contributes to GOLDEN with breakup tracks “Too Sad to Dance” (“And this Christmas, I got no gifts/Do I really deserve all this?”) and “Shot Glass of Tears” (“She got some dangerous hobbies/Like chasing after the sun and making me fall in love”).

Elsewhere on GOLDEN, Jung Kook explores other relationship themes. Ed Sheeran has a co-writing credit on the playful, boy-band-esque bop “Yes or No” about maybe falling in love (“Are you feeling the rush?/If so, then I think I know what's going on”), while Shawn Mendes was behind the scenes for “Hate You,” a confessional broken-heart ballad (“I’m gonna hate you/Paint you like the villain that you never were/I'm gonna blame you/For things that you don't do”). On “Somebody,” Jung Kook tells the story of a person who is ready to move on from a relationship (“Oh, I hoped you'd find somebody/I hope you know that somebody ain't me”), while “Please Don’t Change” is a plea from one star-crossed lover to another that they stay the same until they can find a way to be together (“Please don’t change/’Cause I love you, yeah, I love you”).