j-hope: most rounded and talented in 875; the real golden member and ace. what are your thoughts?
Yes, I agree. What is an ace? Someone who is objectively considered an all-rounder. What is an all-rounder? A person that is generally good at a wide range of things. In this case let’s stick to music for our analysis, because after all BTS are musicians, not models, influencers, or comfort characters. Since you specifically asked for my thoughts, I’ll be brutally honest this time around.
j-hope: the only member who can do it all. And not just do it and say he can do it, but do it extremely well, to the point where you can objectively say his skills and expertise are far above average.
j-hope is a rapper, dancer, singer, lyricist, producer, performer, choreography leader, and that’s just with the music side of things. He’s the best dancer in the group (by technical standards), his rapping style is way more versatile than namgi’s, he has excellent live vocals and great vocal control/stability (better than most of the vocal line members), his lyrics are brilliant, colorful, and thought-provoking, his production skills are enviable, he leads the group’s performances, and don’t even get me started on his stage presence, not to mention he’s out here saving BTS’s songs one ad-lib at a time (hidden vocals anyone?) People will argue that some of the other members are aces, but I strongly disagree.
To start with, many consider Jungkook an ace but the reason he isn’t is because he’s no where close to j-hope’s level of skill in many areas. Sure JK could be considered a lyricist, but there’s a reason why he doesn’t even have 1/7 of the amount of writing credits j-hope does. The same thing applies to producing. He also can’t dance as well as j-hope, and JK can’t rap to save his life (and no sorry that early debut fast talk he did doesn’t count, especially when he’s never written his flows himself). He also has no stage presence, if it weren’t for the golden maknae, center time, shippers, tattoos and piercings agenda, there are many instances he simply fades into the background. Jungkook sticks to singing for obvious reasons. Which is, once again, arguably the only area of music he might be better at than j-hope (listener’s preference). Then again, j-hope does have great vocals, and doesn’t get nearly as much chance to showcase that side of himself as JK does, so who are we to judge. So, is Jungkook an ace? Yea, maybe if j-hope wasn’t a member of BTS he would be. But you can’t compare a jewel to a piece of rock, when one clearly shines much brighter than the other.
Edit 2022/01/17: It’s come to my attention that previously, I said Jungkook doesn’t have 1/3 of Hoseok’s credits, but that was an over-exaggeration because he doesn’t even have 1/7. Lol meaning when it comes to the group’s discography, he’s contributed less than a single member BTS. According to KOMCA, Hoseok has 119 credits total and Jungkook has 16 credits total. You do the math.
Yoongi isn’t an ace. His production skills are arguably the best in the group (the only person I’d say is comparable in this area is Hoseok and that’s only because Yoongi wins when it comes to quantity, whereas Hoseok wins when it comes to quality. Meaning Yoongi could probably make beats in his sleep because he always sticks to a specific sound that’s proven to be profitable for him, whereas Hoseok likes to explore different genres and make things challenging for himself. If Yoongi is simple and to the point, then Hoseok is complex and multi-layered. At the end of the day, they’re both great producers, it just depends on the personal tastes of the listener). Okay, back to ace talk: Yoongi has his own rapping style as well, that’s undeniably him and the same applies to his lyricism. However, his dancing and singing skills are below Jungkook’s. So, if Jungkook isn’t an ace, then Yoongi surely isn’t either.
Namjoon, his lyricism is elite. He also has his own rapping style that sets him apart from the rest. But he’s absolutely subpar when it comes to everything else, so again, not an ace.
Jimin, his dance and performance skills are great, but behind the scenes? He has the least writing and production credits in the group. His singing skills need work (especially his live vocals) and he can’t rap to save his life, so he’s definitely not an ace.
Taehyung for sure isn’t an ace. His dance skills aren’t even close to Jungkook’s much less Hoseok’s and Jimin’s. His live vocals needs just as much work as Jimin’s and his performance skills tend to look lazy/sloppy at times. He also can’t rap to save his life. His lyricism is peculiar. Some may like it, some may not. Most of his songs aren’t my cup of tea and the only song of his I’m really a fan of is Blue & Grey (and that’s thanks to the other members’ contributions).
Jin is probably the least aceiest member of all. I know aceiest isn’t a word but you get my point. He has one of the more likable personalities in the group but that doesn’t excuse everything else. Jin is interesting though. Dance skills aside, his (and JK’s) voice is the most stable of all the vocal line members. Abyss is also a really well-written song. Jin will never be an ace, but he does have a lot of potential as an artist. A potential I doubt will ever be fully explored because he simply doesn’t have as much passion, drive and motivation towards self-improvement (in the music industry) as some of the other members, but I digress.
