By now, the BTS mythology is well-worn: In 2010, Big Hit Entertainment, then an underdog record label in Seoul, signed a 16-year-old RM, who was already making a name for himself as a prodigious rapper in the local underground hip-hop scene. Suga, a songwriter and rapper who also had a presence in that scene, and J-Hope, a B-boy dancer turned rapper, joined shortly after. Sensing a more lucrative opportunity, the company changed its plans and turned the hip-hop trio into a K-pop band\u2014eventually creating a unique seven-member lineup that bridged the edginess of the underground rappers with the shiny commercial appeal of a more traditional idol group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By now, the BTS mythology is well-worn: In 2010, Big Hit Entertainment, then an underdog record label in Seoul, signed a 16-year-old RM, who was already making a name for himself as a prodigious rapper in the local underground hip-hop scene. Suga, a songwriter and rapper who also had a presence in that scene, and J-Hope, a B-boy dancer turned rapper, joined shortly after. Sensing a more lucrative opportunity, the company changed its plans and turned the hip-hop trio into a K-pop band\u2014eventually creating a unique seven-member lineup that bridged the edginess of the underground rappers with the shiny commercial appeal of a more traditional idol group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the sentence in the story about the timing of the band’s break, please change it to: “The band and I are together in a studio about an hour away from Seoul, the first interview they\u2019ve granted as a group since announcing a break in 2022, and I find myself immediately disarmed by their camaraderie \u2013 which feels both reassuring and hard-won. In December, RM went live on Weverse, the community platform of Hybe, and confessed to fans that he had thought of disbanding the group \u201cthousands of times\u201d ahead of their comeback. The livestream sent shock waves through ARMY (Adorable Representative MC for Youth), the band\u2019s exceedingly global, impressively strategic and lovingly protective fanbase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe personal pressure is huge,\u201d he said on the 6 December livestream. \u201cSince last month, I haven\u2019t even been able to sleep. I was thinking about whether I should get a prescription for sleeping pills\u2026 I\u2019ve wondered thousands of times, Would it be better for the team to disband or go on hiatus?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strain is understandable; the stakes are almost too high. Nearly six years on from their last studio album, can BTS \u2013 which stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan, or Bulletproof Boy Scouts, and later evolved into Beyond the Scene \u2013 deliver a body of work that meets the anticipation from that long wait? Almost four years after they last performed together, is the magic still there? Or has their time apart changed them in ways that make it difficult to go back to the way things were? Added to all of that is the fact that, in helping bring South Korea\u2019s music scene to the centre of global pop, they also have the hopes of an entire nation on their backs \u2013 not to mention the adoration and dreams of their earth-spanning ARMY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As they\u2019re sitting down together for this interview, and mostly speaking through a translator, the topic of RM\u2019s Weverse live \u2013 the crash-out heard round the world \u2013 naturally comes up. \u201cI think I have some memes because of that livestream,\u201d RM says, laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did the other members feel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cActually, none of us watched that video of the live-streaming,\u201d V says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe would only watch short YouTube Shorts on it, or Reels,\u201d says Jin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause it\u2019d be weird if you watch each other\u2019s live-stream,\u201d Suga explains. \u201cWe\u2019re always together and we\u2019re like brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it\u2019s RM\u2019s love language to ARMY in a way,\u201d says Jimin. \u201cIt really shows how emotionally invested he is in the group, and in ARMY as well. I think it was very RM to be vulnerable and say things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRM is like the identity of this group,\u201d V says. \u201cHe\u2019s the core leader of the group, so he must feel so much more pressure than the rest of us do. I usually don\u2019t have that much pressure, but it seems like he does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n RM, visibly moved by his bandmates\u2019 sentiments, says, \u201cHow sweet,\u201d looking at the other six. \u201cLove these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their closeness is palpable. They are clearly easily relaxed with one another. Jimin squeezes Jin\u2019s neck; Jin playfully taps Jimin\u2019s leg. Jung Kook settles in, placing two tangerines and several tiny bags of potato crackers in front of himself, munching with enthusiasm between answers. Meanwhile, V \u2013 the significance of the occasion not lost on him \u2013 whips out his phone to take a photo of the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In true BTS fashion, the boys worked through the complex emotions spurred on by RM\u2019s Weverse live by clowning on each other, as brothers are wont to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re not the type that consoles each other,\u201d Jimin says. \u201cBut we just laugh and make fun of the person to make him laugh and forget about it\u2026 We also had some drinks together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlthough we make fun of him in the front, in the back we\u2019re crying [too],\u201d V admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re just such boys,\u201d RM tells me, laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s how they deal with this kind of situation. Yeah, make it into a meme and pretend it\u2019s like nothing happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s clear that, for these guys, there\u2019s true strength in numbers. And even the crushing pressures of a massive pop comeback can be relieved with jokes and brotherly banter. At one point during our conversation, apropos of nothing, Jimin dramatically takes off his jacket to reveal a ribbed vest top clinging to his trim torso, fighting for its life. \u201cSexy!\u201d Jung Kook exclaims, a response Jimin visibly appreciates, playfully flexing his arms and pinching his biceps, distracting his bandmates from their philosophising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I witnessed this dynamic during our cover photo shoot too, when V animatedly danced to Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg\u2019s \u201cYoung, Wild & Free\u201d, as if daring Suga \u2013 who had to hold still as he was touched up by the hair and make-up team \u2013 to join him. And as J-Hope walked away from his solo portrait, Drake\u2019s \u201cHold On, We\u2019re Going Home\u201d played over the speakers \u2013 a song he evidently can\u2019t resist, belting out \u201cWe\u2019re going home\u201d in full falsetto, putting a momentary stop to the shoot. (It\u2019s a little staggering, hearing massive pop stars letting it rip a few feet away.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey just share a strong bond with each other and genuinely communicate as a group,\u201d said Megan Thee Stallion, who collaborated with the band on the \u201cButter\u201d remix and with RM on her single \u201cNeva Play\u201d. \u201cIt\u2019s so rare to see that collective level of humility, love and teamwork, but it\u2019s a special dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I feel about the seven BTS guys,\u201d said Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, \u201cis that they have been \u2013 it seems, from knowing them a bit \u2013 made closer by that very intense process [of becoming stars].\u201d Martin and Coldplay collaborated with BTS on the number one hit \u201cMy Universe\u201d. \u201cI was really happy that it seemed like they had each other\u2019s backs. They\u2019re very tight, personally, and they intertwine well. They don\u2019t tread on each other\u2019s toes too much. There are distinct roles\u2026 The love between them is real. That was the most striking thing \u2013 love in a very intense situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt a certain point, just like you can\u2019t really understand what makes music magical, I think it\u2019s the same with bands,\u201d Martin continued. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we love bands sometimes: we don\u2019t really know why. Why is this group of seven people a magical thing, bigger than the sum of its parts? Beyond the fact that they work extraordinarily hard and that they\u2019re kind to each other and they love what they do, there\u2019s a certain magic that I don\u2019t know how to explain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe tend to recommend music to each other when we like something. That\u2019s why we tend to like the same music at the same time.\u201d \u2013J-Hope<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Lost in all this talk of their long-awaited comeback is the fact that, over the past few years, the members of BTS encountered something out of reach for most ultra-famous celebrities\u2014they experienced becoming regular people again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly all male South Korean citizens between 18 and 28 are required to serve for roughly 18 to 21 months in the military due to the permanent threat of conflict with North Korea. Almost no one gets an exemption (save for Olympic medalists). Before they enlisted, there was some speculation that the members of BTS would be granted one\u2014after all, they were practically national treasures. But they soon surprised the world by enlisting, staggering their service\u2014with Jin going in first and Suga completing it last\u2014so that there would always be BTS members active in the public sphere as solo performers, a highly coordinated effort that ensured their beloved ARMY would never miss their presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By fulfilling their military duty, in roles as varied as drill instructors (Jin and J-Hope) to military cook (Jung Kook) to special task force (V), the members were able to experience the tedium and routine of daily life like their fellow 20-something Korean citizens. Suga, for example, served as a public-service worker, reportedly due to a shoulder injury, going from headlining stadiums around the world to clocking in at an office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was actually never, ever late to the office,\u201d Suga says, proudly. \u201cI always came in 10 minutes early. I got ready for whatever I had to do for the day. It was at first weird for me to always get to some place on time, and always go home at the same time, but I got used to it, and later it just became part of me.\u201d (That routine eventually influenced his music making too: \u201cBefore I went to the service, I would usually work on music at nighttime or very late at night, but I actually used the daytime to work on songs after I just got discharged.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing put into a totally different world for us and adapting was, of course, difficult,\u201d J-Hope admits. \u201cBut humans are funny because they learn to adapt pretty quickly. I do feel that I have become healthier, and I got to learn more about life and different sides of society. I also got to know a lot of new people, which was a big plus. And being in the military and serving in the military is something that every man in Korea goes through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was so, so hard, I was going to cry,\u201d Jimin says, pantomiming tears while cracking up. \u201cIt was very challenging. But being able to be in those shoes and experiencing that meant a lot to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the group\u2019s most memorable reunions was actually during the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was before we all got discharged from the military service. And Jung Kook cried, he bawled,\u201d V says, recounting his bandmate\u2019s desire for the group to reunite in earnest. \u201cJung Kook cried because he really wanted to be onstage, and he just really wanted to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was before we all got discharged from the military service. And Jung Kook cried, he bawled,\u201d V says, recounting his bandmate\u2019s desire for the group to reunite in earnest. \u201cJung Kook cried because he really wanted to be onstage, and he just really wanted to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe all treasure BTS more than we treasure each one of us separately. We debuted as a group, so I think that\u2019s the core identity that we have.\u201d \u2013V<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cI could really feel how much love and passion Jung Kook has for our stage performances and music,\u201d Suga adds. Apart, the seven grew professionally. Each member released distinct, impressively fully formed projects. From boom-bap hip-hop (J-Hope\u2019s Jack in the Box<\/em>) to Peter Gabriel\u2013esque power ballads (Jin\u2019s \u201cThe Astronaut\u201d), from chart-topping Top 40 hits (Jung Kook\u2019s \u201cSeven,\u201d Jimin\u2019s \u201cLike Crazy\u201d) to introspective meditations on existential ennui (RM\u2019s Right Place, Wrong Person<\/em> album), from trilogy-length artistic statements (Suga completed his third release as his alter ego Agust D during the break) to short-but-sweet EPs (V\u2019s Layover<\/em>), the past few years have showcased the members of BTS stretching artistically. They\u2019ve collaborated with legends like Erykah Badu (RM); the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto (Suga); J. Cole (J-Hope); and even revered Wong Kar-wai collaborator Wing Shya (RM again), to bring their visions to life. As a result, the seven have blossomed into self-styled auteurs with their own unique obsessions and increasingly distinct ways of doing things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pop star Halsey, who worked with the band on the 2019 hit \u201cBoy With Luv\u201d and worked with Suga separately on her Manic<\/em> album and a reimagining of her song \u201cLilith,\u201d paid close attention to each member\u2019s burgeoning artistry. \u201cThey have all had such unique solo journeys that truly reflect their individual style and strengths,\u201d she said in an email. \u201cI wasn\u2019t surprised, necessarily, but really impressed with how tastefully their solo work was handled. I think the most exciting thing about everyone\u2019s projects was getting to see them flourish as songwriters and watch their personal flair come front and center.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe solo activities, for me, was like a wake-up call,\u201d Jimin says. \u201cI knew that I had to practice a lot and grow as an artist and widen my spectrum before we banded together as one. I was looking at the performances and solo activities of other members and I thought, Oh, I could do that too. They\u2019re doing very great.\u201d \u201cI think it was a steep learning curve for me to be able to do that,\u201d he continues. \u201cThat\u2019s why I think it\u2019s more meaningful that we\u2019re coming together as a group\u2026. I got to learn a lot, and experiences are invaluable. You can\u2019t buy that with money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know we\u2019re here because we are a team and we started as a team and<\/strong> we very much acknowledge that. And also, we have a lot of fun together.\u201d \u2013Jimin<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Despite their explosive solo successes, there was never any real doubt in their minds that they would be getting back together. \u201cWe all treasure BTS more than we treasure each one of us separately,\u201d says V. \u201cWe debuted as a group, so I think that\u2019s the core identity that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love you, man,\u201d Jimin tells V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut if we have too much time together, I don\u2019t want to see that!\u201d V cracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t always\u2014or maybe ever\u2014happen this way. Do you remember when \u2019NSync went on a hiatus after Justin Timberlake wanted to pursue his own career? A temporary break that eventually became permanent, as his solo career earned him the industry credibility the band never had?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or when the Spice Girls continued on\u2014sans Ginger\u2014with new music? Only for Scary, Sporty, and Posh to crowd their feverishly anticipated third album by launching solo efforts within months of its release? (Baby, at least, was on message.) That album, Forever,<\/em> ultimately tanked, and the promised world tour never transpired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To go even further back, there was the Jacksons\u2019 Victory<\/em> tour in 1984, a moment meant to trumpet the family band\u2019s longevity that eventually felt more like a sad trombone cuing its end. Tensions between the brothers escalated on tour so much that on their final night headlining Dodger Stadium in LA, Michael\u2014hot off the success of Thriller<\/em>\u2014went rogue and announced that it would be the last time the band would be performing together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The annals of pop-music history are bursting with more examples of great bands that met their demise due to intraband dynamics and the temptation of solo careers than ones that went on a break and successfully reunited. The fact that all seven members of BTS have had successful solo efforts that handily showcased their individual identities as artists but are making good on their promise to get back together and continue working as a band, is a triumph in itself. The boys increasingly have individual passions, highly personal artistry, and busy lives of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re just good people. It\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d Halsey said. \u201cThey are respectful of each other and inclusive of everyone\u2019s opinion and ideas. There\u2019s a really clear vision of what BTS is so everyone knows what\u2019s on the agenda, and they\u2019ve hit such a stride in how their individual strengths support that central vision. It\u2019s not a really egocentric environment. There\u2019s no way it could be, considering how focused they are on representing BTS and rewarding the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a testament to the God-honest friendship and their devotion to the ARMY that this is all happening. People always say they will and they don\u2019t. It never happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we can keep this going, then maybe we can be dancing in our 60s.\u2026As long as we\u2019re willing\u2014I think maybe into our 50s, into our 60s\u2014we can always be together as a band.\u201d \u2013Suga<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In some ways, everything changed for RM at the 2022 Grammy Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nominated for the funky, infectious \u201cButter,\u201d BTS went into its category riding high on its second career Grammy nod and the rapturous reception to the showstopping performance it delivered earlier in the telecast, bringing both bulletproof efficiency and an infectious air of camaraderie to the sometimes stodgy proceedings. It all made its eventual loss in the best pop duo or group performance category (to Doja Cat and SZA\u2019s smash duet \u201cKiss Me More\u201d) all the more disappointing to its fans\u2014who quickly made the hashtag #scammys trend on Twitter and accused the show of using the band to drum up viewership. But RM had other things on his mind that night. Watching Lady Gaga\u2019s theatrical and emotive tribute to her friend and mentor Tony Bennett and H.E.R.\u2019s electric medley with Lenny Kravitz and Travis Barker, he reflected on what it meant to dedicate your entire life to music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think the performance of \u2018Butter\u2019 we put on at the Grammy Awards astonished people,\u201d he later said in an interview with Weverse, two months after the performance. \u201cI think it\u2019s time for us to move beyond astonishing people and think again about what kind of messages we can send people now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI definitely had a grasp of what this group is back in the day, but now it seems like I hit this phase where it\u2019s impossible for me to know what the group is like or even who I am that clearly,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhat should BTS be saying to the world from now on? What position should BTS be remembered for taking at this point? How are we going to function moving forward?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sitting with the band today, almost four years after that evening, I pose those same questions back to the group\u2019s leader. After a period of being by themselves\u2014growing as individual artists but also as men\u2014what will<\/em> BTS be, moving forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sitting up straight, RM considers the question. \u201cThe 13 years of the journey of BTS\u2014for personally, myself\u2014started with \u2018I know this team,\u2019\u2009\u201d he begins, referring to his story as the band\u2019s founding member, the bright-eyed 16-year-old trainee that Big Hit Entertainment built the rest of the group around. \u201cThis team started with me, myself. And then it just became\u2026man, I don\u2019t know\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe company, the label got so much bigger,\u201d he continues. \u201cThe world is getting more complicated and confused even more and more. The platform has changed, the technology has changed so fast\u2014getting faster and faster, it\u2019s accelerating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ten years ago, success to the band just meant being number one on the charts. \u201cOur only goal was to rank number one in the TV music shows,\u201d Jin says, referring to the popular Korean television genre. \u201cThat would give us so much delight to be ranked number one. And after that, we grew as artists\u2026. I think we can only be here because we were very hardworking back then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we\u2019re still confused,\u201d RM says, with characteristic honesty. \u201cBut we\u2019re trying to find a little piece of gold inside this confusion.\u201d To get that clarity, the group knew they had to return to the foundation of BTS: each other. They entered a songwriting camp for the first time, working with the music industry\u2019s best songwriters and producers in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In songwriting camps, some of the industry\u2019s top songwriters and producers are typically assembled in one place and divided into several rooms with the express task of producing the next chart-toppers and fan favorites for pop\u2019s biggest acts. It\u2019s a tradition as old as our modern conception of pop music itself, going back to the competing teams of the Brill Building and the assembly-line approach of Berry Gordy\u2019s Hitsville U.S.A. \u201cWe\u2019re all very ambitious, still, about writing music and creating music,\u201d says Suga. \u201cDepending on the different songs, there would be one member who would be the leading person who would contribute to the writing of the song.\u201d Jimin, for example, expanded his skill set, learning new techniques on the music software QBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jung Kook enjoyed the routine of the camp. \u201cIt was really fun because we had three rooms in the studio,\u201d he says. \u201cSometimes, we would pair up to go into a studio room. Sometimes, it would be just one of us and then we would switch pairs so that we could have different ideas and different types of collaborations. So it was our way of breaking away from molds, and sometimes it worked out really badly, sometimes it worked out really nicely. But the whole process was very liberating and free, so it was very fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jin found his younger bandmates\u2019 enthusiasm inspiring. \u201cThe younger brothers are so persistent,\u201d he says. \u201cThey have so much passion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speculation around the new album, which will be released March 20, is at an all-time high. Already, ARMY sleuths have reportedly identified big-name songsmiths like Max Martin (the legendary Swedish songwriter-producer behind everything from \u201c\u2026Baby One More Time\u201d to \u201cBlinding Lights\u201d) and Jon Bellion (the songwriter behind songs like Miley Cyrus\u2019s \u201cMidnight Sky\u201d and Justin Bieber\u2019s \u201cGhost\u201d) as possible collaborators for the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The members are careful not to share too many details about the album, but what they can say is a tantalizing enough prospect. \u201cWe have a diversity of genres,\u201d Suga says. \u201cWhat I can tell you is that it\u2019s going to be quite different from the BTS albums and sounds that you\u2019ve been listening to. You\u2019re going to see a more mature side of BTS this time around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s truly the whole package,\u201d RM says. \u201cI can tell this next album is going to enlighten a little of that confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two weeks after my interview with them, I\u2019ll receive a message from the band about their album title. They\u2019ve chosen to name it Arirang,<\/em> after a widely known anthem in Korea, reflecting the country\u2019s history. They wanted a name that represents who they are as a group and the stories they want to tell. \u201c\u2009\u2018Arirang\u2019 is a traditional Korean folk song that transcends time and generations, long associated with emotions of connection, distance, and reunion,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It feels like an apt name for this chapter of the group, one that finds them reuniting with their ARMY and one another. It\u2019s notable, too, that during perhaps the most highly anticipated moment of their careers, the seven have chosen to turn the world\u2019s attention to their roots, the country that made them. BTS, after all, has always had the innate ability to sidestep the limitations of language and be thoroughly, emotionally legible to their countless global fans. \u201cI do understand that being idol groups and boy bands and girl groups in the K-pop industry, it might feel like it\u2019s a little bit restraining about the negative sides of life,\u201d says Suga. \u201cBut I think as artists and as individuals, you have to be able to express both the positive and the negative sides of life. I think we are slowly heading that way because this album has a lot of introspection and thoughts\u2026things have changed and we are still changing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an attempt to understand where the guys are at, sonically, I ask them what they\u2019re currently obsessed with. V shares that one of the group\u2019s collaborators introduced them to the music of the experimental rapper Jean Dawson. \u201cIt just impacted me so much because it flew in a totally different way than I thought it would,\u201d V says. \u201cIt gave me a lot of ideas on how music could flow and what kind of direction it could head towards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the very beginning of BTS, RM, Suga, and J-Hope held a makeshift hip-hop school at the BTS dorm, giving the other members a list of about 50 artists to immerse themselves in, highlighting canonical work by the likes of 2Pac and Nas. This happened after their actual rehearsals as Big Hit trainees. Some nights, the self-starting Bangtan Boys would come home from rehearsals at 11 p.m. and hold their \u201cschool of hip-hop\u201d sessions until 6 a.m., giving up sleep to nurture their musical education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That shared love for musical discovery is foundational to the band\u2019s dynamic and something that has carried on to the present. Even today, this is apparent on social media when several members of BTS will post music by the same artist at the same time. Last summer, for example, there was a span of a few weeks when J-Hope, RM, V, and Jung Kook all posted songs by the buzzy alternative R&B artist Dijon on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe tend to recommend music to each other when we like something. That\u2019s why we tend to like the same music at the same time,\u201d says J-Hope. \u201cWe do have different tastes, but we do have overlaps.\u201d (For his part, J-Hope is currently obsessed with Rosal\u00eda\u2019s avant-garde Lux.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before I know it, all this music talk inspires the boys to start whipping out their phones, in a round of \u201cI\u2019ll show you mine, if you show me yours\u201d\u2014Spotify Wrapped, that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m 24,\u201d Jung Kook says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwenty,\u201d says J-Hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m 77,\u201d Suga says. \u201c89,\u201d says Jimin. \u201cGrandfather!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe whole process was very liberating and free, so it was very fun.\u201d \u2013Jung Kook<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n BTS\u2019s own rise built on the strides made by the generations of K-pop acts before them\u2014the canny adaptation of innovative pop music from the West; the dense, striking visual storytelling that rewards repeat viewings; the strategic harnessing of technology\u2014but with an authenticity and relatability that were all their own. If previous K-pop stars impressed with a polished impenetrability, BTS made themselves knowable, the quality that\u2019s also allowed them to transcend the genre entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a 2024 interview with The New Yorker,<\/em> Hybe chairman and founder Bang Si-hyuk said that his strategy was \u201ctrying to figure out the most fandom-friendly thing to do and then taking it to the extreme.\u201d Instead of leaning on TV appearances, he established a YouTube channel for the band even before its debut, allowed the members to run their own Twitter accounts and be extremely candid in video blogs, vlogging through their lowest moments and live-tweeting drunken nights out on the town. \u201cI didn\u2019t want them to be false idols,\u201d Bang said. \u201cI wanted to create a BTS that could become a close friend.\u201d Last year, ARMY even sent a seven-year-old BTS song up the charts again, as a way of communicating a message to the members. The 2018 single \u201cAnpanman\u201d reached number one on Billboard\u2019s World Digital Song Sales chart and in over 75 countries. When I mention that feat to the band, they\u2019re visibly moved. \u201cI\u2019m very touched,\u201d says Jimin. \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to give all the love back because I\u2019ve received so much and the love is so unconditional. I\u2019m always thinking about how I could give back with better performances, better songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to even know how big the love is because it\u2019s just so vastly huge,\u201d Jimin continues. \u201cI think it\u2019s mutual. We impact the ARMY, but ARMY also impacts us\u2014it goes both ways. And when we feel these things happening, then I really do think deeper about what message we should convey out there as a team because whatever we say reverberates and it means a lot to the ARMY and we want to make sure that it makes a positive impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Early in the band\u2019s success in America, a patronizing, dismissive portrayal of members of ARMY seemed to take hold in Western coverage of the band, as if only youthful frivolity and raging hormones could explain the culture-bridging success of seven boys from South Korea. Truth is, ARMY is an incredibly diverse group of people from different countries, different generations, and different gender expressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know this firsthand, looking at the ARMYs in my life: from a Manila-based visual artist and sound designer, whose work in film has won acclaim at Sundance and the Venice Film Festival and whose art has been exhibited everywhere from Singapore to New York, to a Seattle-based tech executive who routinely brokers massive deals for one of the world\u2019s biggest companies when she\u2019s not using her PTO to fly across the world to watch BTS concerts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there\u2019s my mother, a woman I\u2019ve only ever known to love the music of singer-songwriters like James Taylor and Carole King, who, out of nowhere, suddenly called herself a proud member of ARMY. Like a lot of people, she fell in love with BTS during the pandemic, when my grandmother moved into our house after suffering multiple strokes and my mother became her primary caregiver, focusing all her energy on round-the-clock care for the octogenarian. During that dark time, on nights when she would have to force herself to stay awake while keeping watch on my grandmother, who was breathing through an oxygen concentrator, my mother would watch YouTube videos of the Bangtan Boys on her phone (she knew to only watch on the official BTS channels so the views counted), their playful antics providing levity, their essential goodness allowing for hope. \u201cThey kept me company during those late nights,\u201d she tells me now. \u201cThere were so many problems, but I would watch their videos and, for a moment, they would make me smile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the band prepares to release their most mature and sonically ambitious album yet, I ask them if the Grammys still represents a pinnacle to them, if winning a trophy is still a goal. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d says RM, \u201cbecause time has passed. There are a lot of K-pop-related nominees you see in the general field and, really, I want to send big applause for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI mean, we\u2019ll try,\u201d he adds later. \u201cMaybe we\u2019ll submit our album to the Grammys again. But I don\u2019t know, we don\u2019t want to be desperately eager for it\u2026. We don\u2019t want to say anymore like, \u2018Ah, man, we want the Grammys.\u2019 I mean, it doesn\u2019t mean that we really don\u2019t want it\u2014but we\u2019ll try. But if not, then okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the band, at least, the goal was always less about the actual trophy and more about having a North Star for the group to work toward. \u201cTypically, a band is four, right? We\u2019re seven. For a team like this, sometimes we need such a goal to just go on,\u201d RM continues. \u201cThe Grammys was one of the goals that we haven\u2019t really gotten in the past, but I think now, the most important thing is just that we are here back together again, we\u2019re going to see the fans all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly six years after their last studio album, will their hot streak continue? The thing about an \u201cimperial phase\u201d is it often happens only once in a band\u2019s lifespan. When the Pet Shop Boys\u2019 Neil Tennant coined the term in 2001, in an interview with Chris Heath for a remaster of their seminal 1987 album, Actually,<\/em> he was looking back at a run in the late \u201980s where it seemed like the band had the golden touch, a time when their sensibilities met the moment and they could do no wrong. In a canonical essay for Pitchfork<\/em> that cemented the idea of the imperial phase (think Rumours<\/em>-era Fleetwood Mac, Faith<\/em>-era George Michael, and Michael Jackson from Off the Wall<\/em> to the start of the Bad<\/em> era) in pop discourse, the critic Tom Ewing wrote, \u201cThere\u2019s something double-edged about the concept: It holds a mix of world-conquering swagger and inevitable obsolescence. What do we know about emperors? That they end up naked: The phase always ends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow, the most important thing is just that we are here back together again; we\u2019re going to see the fans all over the world.\u201d \u2013RM<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n But of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. And time and time again, BTS have proved themselves the exception to every pop rule: They were the underdog K-pop band who weren\u2019t supposed to be able to compete with acts from the big three companies, the global breakout that some pegged as a novelty. If any hugely popular contemporary band were to defy the odds, it would be them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theirs is the kind of impact that can only be meaningfully compared to the Beatles or the Supremes. Just like the Fab Four, BTS was crucial in bringing the music industry of a whole nation to the center of global pop. And like Motown\u2019s lead girl group, the band\u2019s shiny packaging and catchy hooks have served as an effective Trojan horse for lasting social change, breaking down racial barriers and paving the way for more Asian visibility in mainstream culture. When comparisons between BTS and the Beatles started cropping up around their US breakthrough, it wasn\u2019t just because of statistics, it was a recognition that this, too, would be a true generational force, the closest thing to monoculture in our fractured times. \u201cI think we can only be here because we were very hardworking back then.\u201d \u2013Jin<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think BTS are innovators,\u201d Halsey said. \u201cI don\u2019t think they need to worry about what\u2019s happening \u2018now\u2019 because they\u2019re always going to trail-blaze what happens next\u2026. It\u2019s all sort of \u2018background noise\u2019 for a generational act of musicians who know how to take the noise that actually matters to the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In September 2013, when BTS hit their 100-day milestone, they marked the occasion with a special radio show, celebrating with cake, giddily singing \u201ccongratulations\u201d to one another. Watching the clip now, almost 13 years later, it\u2019s striking how much none of what followed seemed a given at the time\u2014not the massive hits in South Korea, the devoted fan base that helped them break through around the world, their current status as pioneers and superstars. The Bangtan Boys were just that\u2014boys\u2014dreaming of what could be, hoping for the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the program, Suga said in Korean, \u201cIt\u2019s been exactly a hundred days since we debuted. I think we\u2019ve been able to make it this far all thanks to our ARMYs.\u201d Looking at his bandmates, he continued, \u201cWhether it\u2019s a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand days, let\u2019s stay together.\u201d With no hesitation, his bandmates responded in unison: \u201cLet\u2019s stay together!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sitting down with the band now, shortly before their grand return, I ask Suga if it still feels that way, if the next hundred, thousand, and ten thousand days still feel promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe reason why I said that was because in the earlier days of showbiz, there\u2019s so much going on and your lifespan can be pretty short in the business,\u201d Suga says, reflecting on that time in their life together. \u201cI was worried, \u2018Until when we would be able to do this?<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut now, I ask the same question under a positive light. We\u2019re still very good friends. The fans still love us\u2014they want us, they support us. If we can keep this going, then maybe we can be dancing in our 60s…. As long as we\u2019re willing\u2014I think maybe into our 50s, into our 60s\u2014we can always be together as a band.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, looking at the six bandmates he\u2019s already lived a few lifetimes with, Suga smiles and says, \u201cMaybe it\u2019ll be a little bit hard on our knees. But I think we can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photographs by Dukhwa Jang In the nearly four years since they went on break for mandatory military service in South Korea, the members of BTS have grown as artists and men, launching distinct solo careers to huge success. Now, the biggest band in the world is reuniting with a fifth studio album, a massive global tour, and a definitive answer to whether they\u2019re stronger alone or together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":48370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2380,2379],"authors":[2378],"class_list":["post-48436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight-eng","tag-bts","tag-gq-cover","authors-raymond-ang"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/gqhongkong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GQ0326_BTS_01_cr-1024x683.jpg\")
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Through all this, Jung Kook, the youngest, feigns ignorance. \u201cI don\u2019t really remember,\u201d he says, with a laugh. \u201cBut everyone was there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat I really loved about working solo is that you get to learn more about your taste, especially when you\u2019re collaborating with these music legends,\u201d says J-Hope. \u201cAnd you get to learn more about yourself, you get to learn more about your own colors, what kind of taste you have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/gqhongkong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GQ0326_BTS_05-1024x683.jpg\")
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\u201cI know we\u2019re here because we are a team and we started as a team and we very much acknowledge that,\u201d Jimin says. \u201cAnd also, we have a lot of fun together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\u9019\u5f35\u5716\u7247\u7684](\"http:\/\/gqhongkong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GQ0326_BTS_06-683x1024.jpg\")
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Early in BTS\u2019s career, it was the rap line\u2014RM, Suga, and J-Hope\u2014who led in terms of songwriting and producing, crafting the bulk of some of their hits themselves. Through the years, though, the other members have grown into songwriters and producers in their own right, now boasting several songwriting and producing credits. The group\u2019s artistic maturity, honed further during its time apart, had an exciting effect on this album\u2019s sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their solo work, the members have been unafraid to tackle the darker aspects of contemporary life. Take Suga\u2019s work as Agust D, an angstier, more raw alter ego that saw him grapple with mental health and societal pressures, or RM\u2019s album-length meditation on self-acceptance, Right Place, Wrong Person.<\/em> In this next chapter of their work as a band, it\u2019ll be interesting to see how they can marry that ripened maturity to the sound the world expects of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m 88,\u201d says V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/gqhongkong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GQ0326_BTS_09-683x1024.jpg\")
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That constant dialogue with their followers helped birth ARMY. In contemporary pop music, the stan army is all but a given. They\u2019re devoted and intensely supportive, often serving as a pop star\u2019s street team and sometimes spending thousands of dollars to see multiple shows on the same tour. But ARMY takes that to a deeper, more intense, even altruistic level (they regularly organize charitable drives, including for BTS\u2019s collaborators, like Halsey).<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/gqhongkong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GQ0326_BTS_10-1024x683.jpg\")
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And the members of BTS have known how fickle fame can be from the very beginning. Starting out in K-pop, a music industry so competitive and transient that every release following a debut is called a \u201ccomeback,\u201d regardless of how much time has actually passed, they knew not to take anything for granted. Making it past the 100-day mark is not easy. Every single, every comeback, must be a smash, in order to make financial sense to the company and for a group not to be disbanded. (In this way, the customs of the court are similar to aughts-era UK pop, where even generational acts like Sugababes and Girls Aloud lived single to single for a surprisingly huge swath of their careers.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\u9019\u5f35\u5716\u7247\u7684](\"http:\/\/gqhongkong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GQ0326_BTS_12-683x1024.jpg\")
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Styled by Mobolaji Dawodu
Hair by Naejoo Park, Hansom and Hwayeon Kim
Makeup by Dareum Kim and Shinae Lee
Set design by Minkyu Jeon
Lighting Direction by Hyunjung Go
Produced by Nuhana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"