In 2021, the K-pop group BTS celebrated eight years of existence, which is unusual for most K-pop groups. The septet, which consists of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, V, Jungkook, and Jimin, has often commented on their stormy rise to stardom, and how, despite their multiple achievements at such a young age, they try hard to remain grounded and humble.
Vogue Korea spoke with the members about their trip so far. Suga, a well-known rapper, revealed how wrath guided him through his debut mixtape, but that he eventually realized he couldn’t harness that energy to progress further. “I was someone who made rage and my inferiority complex into my weapons but I think it was around 2018 when my self-destructive rage started to lose its effect.” When asked what he has earned in the last eight years, he said happily, explaining that it is tiny things that bring him delight rather than material items. However, when asked what he had lost, he said, “normalcy.”
In terms of the future, he stated that he believes he will remain in BTS “until he dies.” ” I’m often asked how I’d like to try producing [a group]. But I don’t think I’d be able to. I don’t have that much responsibility to be responsible for someone else. I just like BTS.”
BTS members were hit hard by the 2020 epidemic. Jimin told Vogue that two years was longer than he had anticipated and that he had ‘reached a plateau’ because he couldn’t play on stage or hear audience reaction. “Even though I worked hard, everything felt fake and like a rehearsal,” he claimed.
Jin, on the other hand, spoke openly about himself, admitting that he felt “nothing extraordinary.” “I’m nothing special, and I’m someone who doesn’t particularly excel at anything. Though people around me don’t think of me that way at all… if I even start to say something like this, they’ll say, ‘How can you say that? You’ve accomplished amazing things.’ But I still have a hard time accepting that. If someone were to ask me what sets me apart from other people, I wouldn’t have much to say other than ‘I’m a member of BTS,” he said. Jin, who frequently makes jokes about being “Worldwide Handsome,” addressed it in the interview, saying it’s a joke he enjoys telling for laughs.“There are people more handsome than I am, and lots of people who sing and dance better than I do.” He went on to say that because others regard him as greater ‘than he really is,’ he works twice as hard to live up to their expectations.
