By Hasan Beyaz
Going through JACOB’s solo debut project, j., track-by-track with him, it’s clear this is a record stitched together from years of writing.
"Slow Dancing," the album's title track, is a confidence boost, and the song he says he's returned to most since release. "Back & Forth," written with THE BOYZ's own SUNWOO, stands out to JACOB specifically because of who's on it, not just how it sounds, while "Off the Record" has become something else entirely in performance, evolving into the song he now opens his showcase with.
"Promise" carries a message aimed squarely at fans, a commitment to perform for them properly once distance isn't a factor. "Misunderstood" functions almost as JACOB's personal thesis statement, the song he reaches for whenever he's asked what track reflects him most, rooted in a feeling he says he's experienced often. And "Young & Confused," by his own account, is where the entire project actually began, the song that set the sound for everything that followed and one he's already thinking about exploring further.
Below, JACOB gives us a quick breakdown of j. track by track, in his own words.
This song is my feel-good song, and is so fun to perform. During my showcase it is my opening song, and I've come to love it even more.
Having my member Sunwoo be a part of this song makes this song one of my favorites of this album.
I was told playing the guitar while singing this song really suited me, which gave me a big boost in confidence while performing this song. It's definitely the song I've listened to the most after my album release.
This song is about promising to do what I couldn't while I was far away, and through this album I hope to perform for fans once I get to them.
This is the song I choose when people ask what song I relate the most to. I feel every person gets "misunderstood" sometime in their lives, and I have been quite often.
This song is what started this whole album, so it means so much to me. I really love how this song came to sound, and would love to explore more of this sound.
This was the perfect song to end the album, and the last "nananana" part was the biggest reason I made it that way – I felt it put the right close to the whole album.