Nine years after their debut, boy band BTS [Bangtan sonyeondan en coréen] announced on June 14 its decision to take a break. The Asian group had conquered the main markets of the music world. Idols of young people, its seven members had managed to extend their activities beyond the music scene, promoting a message of self-love and speaking out against racism.
Each member of BTS – RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook – will pursue their own careers. It is not a question of a disappearance of the group, they affirm. In addition, the announcement comes at a time when they will be required to join compulsory military service. [qui dure entre dix-huit et vingt et un mois]. The group released on June 10 the album Proof, a synthesis of the first chapter of its existence.
Find your own voice
“We stop to take a break, but we move forward so that we can spend more time together again”, one said in the YouTube video posted on June 14, during which they broke the news. We see them conversing freely around a few alcoholic drinks. The leader, RM, says: “The system of idols of k pop [régi par les labels] does not leave time to mature to its actors constantly solicited for shootings of all kinds.
“By dint of responding to the commitments made by the group, I have not had the leisure to grow internally, whereas I have to express with my own voice what emerges from a deep and solitary reflection.”
RM also wonders about his own role: “I became a machine translating rap. Speaking English was my main function. Our team has lost its orientation. We have to come back after having taken the time for introspection, but perhaps it was a disrespectful and ungrateful reflex towards our fans that allowed us to reach the top. He adds : “I would like to continue being part of BTS. But for that, I have to be myself, even if I won’t be as good a dancer as I used to be.”
He announces that he will continue his solo activities, despite some obstacles, including compulsory military service. The members of BTS have never been authorized by the company they belong to to release solo albums, although some have released mixtapes [compilations de chansons]or even contributed to original soundtracks for series.
Solo projects unveiled
J-Hope stresses the importance of solo activities to get to BTS Chapter 2. It should also be the first of the group to release a solo album, given that it is headlining at the next edition of the Lollapalooza music festival, which will be held near Chicago from July 28 to 31.
The other members also have album projects. RM thus reveals that V “has been composing for a long time and has accumulated superb pieces”. Jimin says he just started composing. Jungkook’s album will be released after Suga’s, says the person concerned. As for Jin, he declares that he will undoubtedly be the last to embark on this path, while raising questions about the rest of his career: “I always wanted to be an actor. So you never know, even if my experience as aidol K-pop kinda cured me of that longing.”
In Korea, parliamentary debates on BTS’s military service failed to result in a law amendment, so members are expected to join the military in turn, starting with Jin, the eldest. The younger members of the group will be able to continue to bring BTS to life through their solo activities.
The long journey of an innovative group
BTS debuted on June 13, 2013, with a single titled 2 Cool 4 Skool. It was originally a hip-hop group launched by producer Bang Si-hyuk. The Big Hit label that the latter founded was not as prestigious as SM, YG or JYP, BTS was initially considered a second-class group.
Thereafter, the group multiplied songs likely to seduce teenagers. One of his characteristics was that he communicated extensively with his fans through social networks, at a time when this kind of practice was not yet very common.
BTS has always been very active on the international stage, such as participating assiduously in KCON, the K-culture festival, which CJ E & M organizes in foreign countries. In May 2017, he received the Billboard Music Award for Best “Social” Artist. Its fans, in the United States, being at the beginning mainly Asian-Americans or Latinos, making the group a phenomenon defying the major current of the country, namely the culture of the Whites.
An international influence
The group picked up many claims to fame that Korean musicians had never before conquered. His third album, Love Yourself. Tear, ranked first when entering the Billboard 200 [qui comptabilise le sommet des charts américains]. Other albums by the band have followed the same path.
Dynamite, his debut English-language album, released in August 2019, topped the Hot 100 for singles. In November 2020, BTS was nominated for the Grammy Awards, a first for Korean artists. In October 2018, BTS’s contribution to the Korean Wave, called hallyu, earned its members the status of the youngest recipients of the National Order of Merit.
The activities of the group, going beyond the limits of idols, have attracted attention. The seven young people participated for the first time, in 2018, in the UN General Assembly, during which they spoke as representatives of the youth of the world, participation which they renewed in 2020. and in 2021. Last month, guests at the White House [pour porter un message contre le racisme anti-asiatique]they met with President Joe Biden.