BIG MUSIC*
Before Jimin was sure he could release a debut solo album, his BTS peers first believed in him.
It was this past spring and the group was in Las Vegas for the final shows of their Permission to Dance on Stage stadium tour. Between nights, he opened up to his brother-like band members over drinks and told them about the self-doubt he’d been experiencing during the pandemic. He got the support he needed from the group, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this summer, and felt ready to tackle his own project.
“I thought things like, ‘Why am I living like this? What am I doing?’” he tells Rolling Stone through an interpreter, speaking from HYBE’s Seoul office on an early spring morning. His bandmates assured him that everyone goes through those growing pains. They suggested that expressing yourself through music might offer a way forward.
Now the 27-year-old artist from Busan, South Korea is preparing his vision as a solo pop star with Face, a captivating six-track album. Throughout the project, which is filled with different sonic moods that shift from spiky and hard-hitting to velvety and smooth, Jimin details the conflicting feelings he had about himself and his journey as an artist. Although he wasn’t originally a singer when he joined Big Hit Entertainment at the age of 16, he has developed one of K-pop’s most unique voices: It’s sweet, with delicately sharp edges, and he distorts his vowels as if they were gentle wreaths of smoke . Through these subtle tones, he conveys bitter isolation on the melancholic R&B song “Alone” but then quickly transitions to explosive anger on “Set Me Free Pt. 2.” On this boisterous, horn-loaded hip-hop track, he proclaims that he’s entering a new era where he’s “not going to hide anymore, even if it hurts,” and sings like he’s grinding his teeth .
The project is a bold evolution of Jimin’s work at BTS, where he’s shown his penchant for emotional R&B through tracks like 2016’s “Wings” and the spirited Latin-pop-tinged “Filter.” In 2018 he showed he can take an acoustic singer-songwriter approach with his debut solo single ‘Promise’ – which was recently officially released after years of living only on SoundCloud. He also teased meticulously prepared performances for upcoming Face singles, which have become a trademark for the skilled dancer whose fluid yet powerful style is informed by his background in modern dance and martial arts. (To see the full extent of his talent, fans can catch his viral contemporary dance to “I Need U” at the 2019 MMA Awards, where he twists and turns effortlessly as if he were wind personified, or his scene-stealing performance in the 2020’s “Black Swan.”) He’s come a long way since he embodied the sensual performance style of his idol, Big Bangs Taeyang, as a teenager; This January, he experienced a moment that came full circle when he was featured on the K-pop veteran’s long-awaited solo track “Vibe.”
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Jimin explores an intriguing mix of emotions on the album’s lead single, Like Crazy, which will be released in both English and Korean versions. He found inspiration in the 2011 drama of the same name by Drake Doremus. Impressed by the depiction of a passionate romance between a British woman and an American man whose relationship can never stabilize due to visa problems and their respective careers, he tried these ambiguous To convey feelings through the choreography of the song. He’s a perfectionist through and through: when I tell him I’m looking forward to these performances, all he says is, “I’ll work hard.”
This album is called Face. What does the title mean to you?
In this album I look back on myself. I’ve heard that the word “face” has many different meanings. Of course it has the meaning of the noun face, but it also means “to face, to.” [confront]’ as a verb. So in order to stand at this new vantage point and begin a new journey, I thought it would be necessary to look back at myself and face myself fully.
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When you look back at yourself, have you discovered something new?
I wouldn’t say I felt anything new. But when I look back at myself and the feelings I felt at the time during the pandemic, I actually didn’t really realize the feelings I had at the time. [I thought] I was fine. I was happy. I just enjoyed things. But looking back, I realized that those weren’t the only feelings [I had]. After realizing that, I just thought that I should overcome [these feelings]. I think I somehow learned to grow up. I realize I’ve felt different emotions during the pandemic.
Looking at the lyrics on this album there are themes of loneliness, struggling with oneself and finding freedom. What kind of thoughts and feelings did you have while writing these lyrics?
I’m actually not good at beating around the bush or saying things indirectly, and the same goes for my lyrics. I just wrote the emotions as they were, exactly how I felt two years ago, and the emotions I felt in each situation [at that time]. So if you just listen to the music, you will immediately understand the lyrics.
How did you want to express yourself musically or production-wise with this project?
Because the emotions are different with each song, I wanted to express those feelings as they are [production]. In the first part [of the album], there is anger. The main route [“Like Crazy”], it feels happy, but there is also loneliness behind it. The choreography for the main track and pre-release single “Set Me Free Pt. 2″ are completely different.
“Interlude: Set Me Free” is a song by Suga from his 2020 mixtape D-2 as Agust D. How is this song and your song “Set Me Free Pt. 2” connected?
I think it would be hard to say that they are actually connected. But when I was working on this song, I just thought that the phrase “Set me free” would be the perfect title for it. Then I realized that there was already a song of the same name on Suga’s mixtape. As I listened to this song, I realized that it’s also a song about the struggle to mature, to grow up. So I thought it would make sense for my song to be the “second part” of this song. If we have a chance or an opportunity, I think it would be nice for him to do a feature on my song. [Laughs]
The first song “Face-Off” begins with a melody that sounds like carnival music. What is that supposed to represent?
It actually has no specific meaning or meaning. But when I was working on this song, the producers and I started playing around with different pianos and instruments. If you listen to it you will realize that this song is very intense, rebellious and full of anger. But start like this [with the carnival sound] would be a stark contrast to the other vibes. So they said, “You know, if you start the song like that, it would be kind of paradoxical or ironic and it could be pretty funny.”
Interlude: Dive has water sounds and then sounds of you speaking on stage. What kind of story does this track tell?
Originally the first track was “Face-Off” which is really intense and rebellious and the next track was the main track “Like Crazy” which gives a feeling of dreamy intoxication. I thought it would be nice to have something in between that bridges those two tracks, so we came up with “Dive”. If you listen to the track, you might hear sounds of someone gasping for breath or me running somewhere. I wanted to convey this feeling that I was lost and wandering. So I tried many different things [for that song]. I actually recorded walking around with my phone and it was a fun process.
For “Like Crazy” you were inspired by the film “Like Crazy”. What did you particularly like about this film and how did it influence the song?
I was actually on YouTube and came across this video of a mashup between this song “In Return” by Breakbot and clips from this movie. I was like, ‘Oh, what is this?’ and that’s what made me want to watch the film. I thought it would be very romantic and cute, but it turns out it’s actually a very realistic and blatant depiction of a breakup. So when we were talking about the main track, this movie suddenly came to my mind and I thought it would go well with the type of song [we wanted to make]. So I watched the film again and incorporated various inspiration points [into the song]. There are some interesting dialogue snippets at the beginning and end [of the track] expressing exactly what I wanted to say.
Can you let us know what the Like Crazy choreography and performance will be like?
I was trying to express the feelings of this film… you know, the somewhat complex, somewhat lonely, somewhat happy feelings. I tried to express all these ambiguous and subtle emotions in a slightly sexy way, but I’m not sure how people will take it. [Laughs]
I know you have a background in modern dance as well as various martial arts such as taekwondo and kendo. How do you think these different forms of movement influence your dance style now?
To be honest, when I first started learning choreography I thought that my background in modern dance and different types of movement would be a barrier for me. But when I found my own way of expressing choreography after my debut, I think those things became very helpful. What I thought were bad habits had a positive effect. I could see dances from a different perspective than other people, and I could mix my modern dance style or incorporate powerful acrobatics into the choreography. So I think those basic shapes actually made me who I am now.
How did the other members help you in preparing this album? Or how were you influenced by them during the process?
Actually, it was my members who made it possible for me to start preparing this album. It all started on [Permission to Dance on Stage] Concerts in Las Vegas last year and at that time I was struggling with the emotions that landed in me [“Like Crazy”]… As we chatted over drinks, I told them, “I don’t know if I’m okay. I don’t even know what I’m doing.” But members said it’s okay to feel that way, it’s okay to feel lost sometimes. They suggested, “Why don’t you express those emotions through music?”
When I returned to Korea from the US, I met with the producers and immediately started working on the music. I’m so grateful to my members for inspiring me to work on this album. I don’t know how people will react to the music, but I was actually able to completely release and detach myself from all those feelings of being lost. I’m perfectly fine now, so I’m so grateful to them.
What triggered all these emotions in you at the concerts in Las Vegas?
As you know, we haven’t been able to meet our fans in person during the pandemic. Back then, I felt like I didn’t have enough space or time to think about myself. So I [lived] not really knowing what I was doing or why I worked so hard up to this point and for what. Every day I had all these different thoughts and emotions. But during the Las Vegas concerts, I had the opportunity to talk to my members about how they survived this time as well. Before I thought that I’m the only one feeling and acting weird and all my members still work very hard and still look cool that they radiate on their own. I thought I was the underdog so talking to them really helped me get back on my feet.
On a different topic, how was it working with Taeyang on Vibe?
It was such a happy memory for me. As you know, he has been my role model since I was little. The fact that I was able to meet him, hear him sing right next to me, watch him closely while he worked on the music, dance with him, shoot the music video and perform together… all of that made me so happy.
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When Taeyang appeared in Suga’s interview series, Suchwita, he said that you are someone who works really hard. When you hear that, how do you see yourself?
I contacted him many times throughout the recording and practice process of “Vibe”. I actually took a lot of time to record my parts myself as it’s not a very easy song. I think every time I made a new recording, I would send it over to him, like, “This is today’s version of the recording, could you please listen to it?” Then the next day I would send a new recording and say : “I corrected those details, what do you think of today’s version?” After seeing me doing it, I think that maybe that’s why he said that and saw me positively.
Can you describe how you practice while preparing for the release of a new album?
I always say something to the producers I work with: “Practice is the answer.” When I have time in the evenings after work, I practice singing with the producers. i practice dancing I try to spend as much time practicing as possible. It’s just an endless cycle of practice.