Crush & J-Hope Are Cooly Cruising On Their New Single “Rush Hour”
“This is Crush hour, get out the way.”
BTS’ J-Hope is back with even more new music, and this time he’s helping hype up a musical pal. Just two months after the “Arson” rapper dropped his debut solo album, Jack In The Box, in July, J-Hope teamed up with fellow K-pop star Crush for the highly-anticipated single, “Rush Hour.” The track marks Crush’s first release since he embarked on his mandatory military service in November 2020, making the duo’s collaboration that much more exciting. So, what’s the song about? Well, it’s about Crush and J-Hope enjoying the ride to the top of the charts, of course.
Crush teased the single for several weeks before its Sept. 22 release. On Sept. 16, he shared the official artwork for “Rush Hour.” The photo showed the star wearing a denim jacket, red shirt, and black pants with his hair dyed pink. The artwork’s vintage filter teased that the song would have a retro feel, and that was definitely the case when “Rush Hour” finally dropped. Its groovy sound is reminiscent of old-school R&B and hip-hop.
“Rush Hour” begins with Crush referencing various locations in Seoul, South Korea, including UN Village, the Hangangjin subway station, and the Itaewon neighborhood. “Honking nonstop once I hit the road after work / It's been 2 whole years of this,” Crush raps on the song, before reveling in his return to music. “Held my tongue for way too long / Set my destination to the studio, 'cause I can / This is Crush hour, get out the way.”
In the chorus, Crush says his fans gather around him like a traffic jam with the lyrics, “So let me hear y'all scream, hibihibi hop, just like that / Again, clap clap clap, and then hit that.”
In the second verse, J-Hope comes in and also uses the image of a traffic jam and show off his success. “Wherever I go now, it's a red carpet feel, yo / Cameras snapping wherever I go, like flash-flash,” he raps. “Crowds of people, feels like traffic.”
In a Sept. 22 interview with the Korean outlet Naver, Crush explained what the phrase “Crush Hour” means. “I wanted this one sentence to sum up and express that ‘the time for Crush is back’ and that ‘Crush’s time starts now,’” he said, according to a translation by Soompi. “This is a song that compares the way people gather together to enjoy Crush Hour to a traffic jam. It is a very energetic and exciting song that captures my passion as I was eager to work on my music during the hiatus.”
Crush also revealed to Naver that he and J-Hope wanted to collaborate for a while but hadn’t had a chance to until now. “While I was preparing for this new song, I learned that the musical direction I was looking at and the parts I relate to are similar to those of J-Hope,” he told Naver, per Soompi’s translation. “I was thinking that J-Hope would suit this song better than anyone else, so I really wanted to work with him, but I think we created synergy in many ways.”
Check out the English lyrics to Crush and J-Hope’s “Rush Hour” below, via Genius.
Intro: Crush
La, la, la, la
La, la, la, la
La, la, la
Oh, yeah
One, two, three, four, yeah
Verse 1: Crush
Yo, I've been
Walking on the street, yo
From UN village to Hangangjin Station
Passed Itaewon over the hill
Honking nonstop once I hit the road after work
It's been 2 whole years of this
Held my tongue for way too long
Set my destination to the studio, 'cause I can
This is Crush hour, get out the way, ayy
Pre-Chorus: Crush
We gotta celebrate, leave it up to fate, ah
No matter what they say or do, baby, hey, yeah
Hey ladies and gentlemen
Do what you wanna do, baby, ah
(Oh, oh, let's go!)
Chorus: Crush
So let me hear y'all scream, hibihibi hop, just like that
Again, clap clap clap, and then hit that
Gather one and all like (Oh) traffic jam
Get up
Get up
So let me hear y'all scream, hibihibi hop, just like me
Follow me, ain't it pretty easy (Oh)
Gather round like traffic jam
Get up
(Get up)
(Get on up, woah!)
Verse 2: j-hope
Yo, I've been walking on the streets, yo
From Seoul Forest and around the block
But wherever I go now, it's a red carpet feel, yo
Cameras snapping wherever I go, like flash-flash
Crowds of people, feels like traffic
The future I'm envisioning isn't even insured
Y'all trippin'
Whole lotta freaks
And now Crush hour
Imma just follow his lead
Pre-Chorus: Crush, j-hope
We gotta celebrate, just leave it up to fate (Come and get it)
No matter what they say or do, baby (Hmm)
Hey ladies and gentlemen
Do what you wanna do, baby (Hmm)
(Oh, oh, let's go!)
Chorus: Crush
So let me hear y'all scream, hibihibi hop, just like that (ppaekppaek)
Again, clap clap clap, and then hit that (Hit that)
Gather one and all like (Oh) traffic jam
Get up (Uh)
Get up (Ho)
So let me hear y'all scream, hibihibi hop, just like me (ttaekttaek)
Follow me, ain't it pretty easy (Oh)
Gather round like traffic jam
Get up
(Get up, rush hour, oh)
(Take 'em to the bridge)
Bridge: Crush
La, la, la, la
La, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la
La, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la
Outro: Crush, j-hope
This is Crush hour (A-a-ah), Crush hour, Crush hour (A-a-ah)
This is Crush hour (A-a-ah), Crush hour, Crush hour (Get up, give it to)
Watch out, watch out
Watch out, watch out
This is Crush hour, Crush hour, Crush hour
