Seated at a feast in the style of Da Vinciโs Last Supper, the seven members of BTS celebrated their ninth anniversary as a band. The visual reference was apt. During a video of the mid-June dinner, the biggest musical act in the world dropped an industry-shaking bomb: they were starting a fresh chapter and prioritizing their solo careers.
โWe have to accept that weโve changed,โ rapper and group leader RM said. โThe problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is they donโt give you time to mature.โ Suga made clear, in the hour-long โdinner partyโ video posted to their YouTube channel, BANGTANTV, that the group is not โdisbanding,โ and Jung Kook clarified in a follow-up video that this is not a โhiatus.โ
What does this new chapter mean?
First thingโs first: it is not, as Jung Kook clarified in a later video, a hiatus. RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jung Kook, Jimin, V, and Jin will be working on solo projects, and as they explained in their first video, theyโre looking forward to some more independence. But they have no plans to stop working as a group. โBTS now starts a new chapter with new solo projects as well as group projects,โ HYBE shared in an official statement explaining the transition. โMembers will take this time to achieve personal growth through various new activities, and we expect it to further strengthen the foundation for the groupโs long run as a team. BigHit MUSIC will actively support the artists.โ
Will BTS get back together?
Since theyโre not disbanding, theyโre still together. Their future musical output as a group is uncertain, though, and itโs unclear when they might return to live performance as a group.
To Barrionuevo, the signs of this change in direction have been evident for some time. Besides a slowdown in output over the past few years and their clear interest in moving past the โfishbowlโ group living situation theyโve been in, he points to Koreaโs required military service as the ultimate warning sign of impending change.
โThe only thing that was looming that everyone understoodโand that was being parsed and debatedโwas the military service requirement. Everyone thought maybe they would be the exception to finally break the rules in Korea,โ he says. (A 2020 amendment to the laws allowed them to defer until age 30, but other proposed changes have not come to fruition.) โThey were looking at a situation where for three consecutive years, they were going to lose one BTS member every year to military service.โ
That remains trueโstarting with oldest member Jin, 29โand especially with this new direction, most likely inevitable.
What will their solo careers look like?
The members of BTS have always pursued side projects, even during their busiest times as a group:ย
- Suga has released multiple mixtapes under the name August D, and featured on Halseyโs last album with his interlude as well as in a popular collaboration with singer-songwriter MAX; he also has over 100 producing credits.
- RM has featured as a rapper on independent tracks and put out his solo mixtape, mono., in 2018.
- J-Hope also released a mixtape in 2018.
- Vโs solo music, which leans balladic, has earned hundreds of millions of streams.
- Jimin, Jung Kook, and Jinย have dabbled in solo releases as well (although in the dinner party video, Jimin was keen to note that he doesnโt see himself as a solo artist, but as a BTS member).
The artists are also known to have other passions, including photography, acting, dance, fashion, and film, so it seems likely we will start to see more of their interests and hobbies playing a bigger role in their lives, whether personal or professional; Jin joked in the video that heโd spent much of the last few weeks playing video games, while Suga has kept up a schedule of English, Pilates, and dance classes.
First up with new solo work will be J-Hope, whose solo album is underway and who is slated to perform at Chicagoโs Lollapalooza music festival at the end of July.
But why is BTS pursuing this new direction?
During the dinner party video, RM reflected on the past few years. โFor me, it was like the group BTS was within my grasp until โONโ and โDynamiteโ but after โButterโ and โPermission to Danceโ I didnโt know what kind of group we were anymore.โ (The latter two were the groupโs most recent English-language mega-hits.)
He said it had become hard to know what kind of story to tell in his music. โAfter I get up in the morning and get makeup done, thereโs no time for growth. And itโs not just about music and work. Iโve changed as a human over the past 10 years, so I needed time to think and have some alone time.โ He continued: โSomehow, itโs become my job to be a rapping machineโฆ but I kept feeling like I was trapped inside myself.โ
โI think now, finally, weโve come to think about what kind of artists we each want to be remembered as to our fans,โ Jimin said.
BTS has spent nine years developing an intense relationship with their ARMY; their most recent releases have all been odes of gratitude to the support theyโve received, creating music that strengthened that bond. Now the time has come, for once, to turn that gaze inward.
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