[0:00]All right. Where are the cameras? You can tell. I love you, man. We're lucky to have him with us.
[0:27]Please, please, please. Okay.
[1:05]So excited. This means checking the pocket, what do you think? I'll probably just take this off and I'll put on the t-shirt. I'm going to take the jacket off. Okay, just I'm going to put the one that you have, thanks. I was very excited.
[1:54]Check. Yeah?
[2:01]Here we go. Let's go, let's go, let's go. It's so loud in here. Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. Yeah.
[2:26]오랜만이에요, 여러분! 잘 지내셨나요? Long time to see you. How are you doing? I love you, my man. How are you doing? How are you doing?
[3:09]Thanks for joining us today, guys. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Thank you Apple. Thank you Zane. Thank you. This is so exciting. Thanks for coming to Korea. It's a long flight, right? Yeah, but I love it here. I love it here. I I feel very calm here. I've I love the city. I love the people. I love the music. Is this your first time coming to Korea? No, no, no. And I want to say thank you to Jung Kook because when you were in the military, Yes, yes, yes, yes, he invited me out. A year and a half ago. 2023? Yeah. And we sat up there and we had a beautiful conversation. So it's been like, you know, years, right? Yeah. It's been a minute. But not as long as it's been for you and for army. because it's been a minute for them too. And, uh, you're here. I'm here. Army are all there. And they're waiting. And they've been waiting for this moment. They've been waiting for everything. We're back. Yes, We're back. We're back. How does it feel? I mean, that's a, that's a big question for everybody, but, um, who wants to just quickly jump in and try to put into words how it feels for it to be real for you to be together again after the time away. It's so exciting. I haven't felt this vibe in forever. Being in the interview with Zane made me realize that we're really about to start again. I feel nervous about meeting the fans again after so long. It feels comfortable, but also kind of weird. Do you know what I mean? There's so much to talk about and I want to thank you for giving us so much time today to try to get into it. We have a whole day. Which is beautiful cause I have a whole day's worth of stuff to talk. I have so many questions and and I'm do my best for you army. I think I'm going to start with 'World-wide Handsome'. 'World-wide Handsome'
[4:56]I wanted to ask you what you missed the most about this about being together with with your friends. It's been ages since we last lived together. So to live with the members in the U.S. for a prolonged period. It was all so enjoyable to do things together following the same schedule. It felt like going back in time. Waking up in the morning and having breakfast together. Going for a workout, having lunch and then heading to work, then coming back and having dinner, and finally going to bed, all smiles. Such routines made me so happy. It's funny you mention past times. I I wondered whether or not, you know, living together again after being away, whether it felt kind of like the beginning in a strange way. When the circumstances were very different. You were starting out. The room was much smaller. But did it did it feel a little similar to that? I think so. Because it was really strange to to live, you know, all together in in a in a same we we lived in the same house like that really. So we we rented it a villa. And then, uh, it was in like seven years that we have, you know, ever like lived actually like together and work together. So that the session in LA for two month was, uh, quite like a like a big transition. And, uh, it feels like a dream for us at the same time. You know, Jung Kook, when we spoke here, we talked about the idea of you all moving off separately to work on your own solo music. It felt natural to all of you. Didn't feel forced. Did this feel as natural coming back together? I know you said it was a bit strange living together, but when you all found yourself coming together even having that first meeting, like, how did it begin? In fact, to me the most natural thing is, I mean, I've always done more group projects than solo ones, so it felt only natural. And although we could have done our military service separately, we ended up serving around the same time so we could get back together as a group as soon as possible. It didn't feel like a big deal. It felt natural, like a given. It all came naturally. I always think that, you know, when artists take a break, it's a chance to look at it as a new sort of point-O or or a new era to some degree. You know, J-Hope, does it feel that way for you or does it feel like you sort of picked up where you left off? Well, the thing is, the members who were discharged earlier had already started working. In that regard, I could say I adapted a bit earlier on, as for our group activities, the U.S. session had a big impact. By doing everything together, we adapted quicker and after returning, we made progress on the new song. Through this process, we were able to settle in well. And it was fun. Doing all these activities with them again after a long time, so I didn't really feel burdened about what we should show in the future. I had a lot of fun. It's such a unique situation to take a break from being a band and go on a the commitment to your country, to military service. You know, but you're still a musician, you're still creative. You know, SUGA, were you thinking about music? I mean, can you, can you honor that commitment and do service and still thinking about songs, melodies? Did any of them make it onto the record while you were serving? We wanted to try something totally new, we wanted to shake things up. We discussed at length about doing something very new especially for this album. When you started out, RM, you became leader of of the group. You know, you're now in a situation where you've grown so much as people, not just as a band. What was that perspective like for you when everyone came back together and you could sort of take a look and go, okay, these guys I've known since we were kids in some case teenagers, you know? Um, how does your role as leader kind of evolve now everyone's growing up and have become, you know, men? Um, yeah, that's, that's the, um, trickiest point. And, um, I don't know, like sometimes I I put like too much weight on myself, like, oh, you're the leader, so you have to do something. You have to, you know, like just, uh, get your ass off just to sofa and just like say something to the label or like, to the people, or, or, I don't know, music-wise, um, um, people-wise. But it's like, you know, like, like, you said, um, we're all kind of grown up. We're all like 30s right now. And we all got back from the, um, the unique experience, which is, you know, like very unique. And, um, but I think, uh, you know, through the process, uh, from the LA session, it's been almost like, like a half a year, like seven, eight month. And, um, I think there's still something that I can do for this team. Like, maybe just to communicate with the, with the label, or, you know, could, um, could represent, um, could say some words, um, that could, you know, uh, bring the team, bring the whole team to, uh, better level. And I'd imagine also with, with the touring and whatnot to come and, as things get busier and busier, though, those roles will all start to feel a little more comfortable again of like, how we support each other. Yes. And they are, you know, we, we, we've been together for our half of our lives, like 15 years. That's a long time. That's like a family. So, you know, as we see just like each other's eyes, we just understand, we just get it. Like, oh, now you, you've been through your hard times, bro, then I'll do some more. I'll I'll take care of you. Like, we we could just do that without any like words or something. So, it's, I'm still figuring out what, uh, what is a good leader, you know? Good leader. Good leader. Good leader. Good leader. Good leader. Yeah. Thank you, bro. Thank you for amazing English. Words.
[11:52]This is a celebration. I mean, we're going to talk about the music. We're going to talk about touring. We're going to get into it. We're going to try and fill in some of the gaps everybody wants filled. Um, but we're here celebrating. And I would imagine that probably the biggest celebration so far was when SUGA finally came home. Because that was the last member of the band. So, can I ask you guys how you celebrated as a band when SUGA finally came home and, and how you, how that happened? We all got together. But whose place was it? Was it Jung Kook's place? It was my place, I guess. Mine was being worked on. Was it my place? Was it your place? Anyway, it was someone's place. We had to go straight to the U.S. to work with no time to celebrate. That's right. But we had been getting together often even before being discharged. At my place, too. Not on that exact day, but after being discharged things got even crazier. So we met up often before that, discussing future plans. It was toward the end of SUGA's leave. Yeah, it must have been really special for you, SUGA, and for everybody. And, you know what, I I saw this thing on, on social media the other day when you showed up on Weverse for the first time with your cat. And everyone went crazy in the theater. It was amazing. Why did you take some time to come back and say hi to ARMY and how did it feel when you came back and realized that everyone was so happy to see you streaming for the first time? What was it like? I wasn't deliberately taking my time. I had been doing something all that time. My cat appearing on Weverse was just because my cat happened to be there then. It just happened. I don't really remember how often I communicated before going to the military, but I think it's just my style. Rather than chatting constantly, I tend to pop in at certain moments to talk, then spend some time alone as well. I guess everyone has their own style. It's funny about that is whether you mean to or not when you become a person of mystery, it makes people go even crazier when you show up. It kind of almost backfires a little bit, maybe in purpose. Jimin, I wanted to ask, what do you think you learned about yourself during the time away and in particular during military service? What did you learn about yourself? Yeah. I did a lot of thinking there. I realized how valuable it is to have time to work and pour my energy into something I care about. Not only that, you know, most Korean men go to the military at a very young age and seeing young men giving their all into everything, even there, I constantly thought that I should work harder too. I worked on my craft a lot with Jung Kook even in the military. That's how my time in the military went. We're glad you're back. We're glad we're back. And off to Los Angeles you went. I mean, I get it. It's music town. There's a lot of places to work, but most people come to LA to go and find people to work with. You already kind of figured out who you wanted to work with and how you wanted to get to at least start. Why did you choose to go to Los Angeles and and have that time there? We all knew that LA is a, you know, truly it's a true music town and but I was even surprised after we got to LA. We met like tons of like hundreds of songwriters and like players and, uh, producers. And like, most of them actually had a had their home in LA. And they just, you know, they advertised to us like life in LA is so great. So, we have never lived, uh, in LA for for that long. And we also, you know, had a kind of consensus that, you know, the weather and the creative energy and the people, uh, in LA is really so, you know, great. And, um, I think it's always the best choice, you know, you have a one to like a real, like a musical base camp or a or a session. You should go to LA. Maybe. Yeah. So, I think that's why. V, when did recording start? Like, how did this album begin? We started right after being discharged. After the discharge. Right after. The last member to be discharged was SUGA, and right after that, was that in July? No, it was like three or four days after I was discharged. Since early July, we all began living in LA and started working. At first, we couldn't communicate. Say that in English. You want me to say that in English? So, the first problem, first thing first, the conversation was impossible because they they can't speak English. We're still learning. That's right. I think it was fun. I think it was fun. We could barely understand. Like a baby animal, you know? Wow! What? I think it was fun. Oh, it was fun. Well, I think it was fun. It's kind of like. Yeah. It was fun. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was fun.
[25:39]Yeah. So, throughout the album, I think I looked back on what kind of work I have been doing all along. What identity we want to show as BTS. When I reflected on why we are creating this album, it was all about showcasing who we are, our identity and our roots. And as Koreans, there were parts that we wanted to highlight, so I think all of that worked out well. It came out very honestly and candidly. And there was a lot of rapping. As that came along, I think each of our styles actually meshed and blended cohesively throughout the album. What's amazing about J-Hope is that, me and SUGA, we started from, we started as a rapper. Like, from from a Seoul street. But he's he was a, he used to be a dancer. A street dancer. And my favorite rap verse from this whole album was like his his his verse from two called song called 2.0. Wow.
[26:51]Wow. It's so so addictive. '2.0'. '2.0'. Like he goes like and the and the like, you know, like it's a, uh, going to come up on the next song. Oh my God, it's so addictive. I'm telling you. It's like one of the, like, the, the craziest, like, verse. I swear to God. So yeah. It's got. That's like the main, like, uh, uh, focus on the rapping wise.
[36:33]Yeah, so throughout the album, yeah, all seven of us were on the same page on what we needed to do moving forward, which allowed us to do what we are doing now, without having to say it out loud. And there was a lot of synergy bouncing off of all of us. I feel that the effort you put into practice, how much effort we each put in comes through on stage very clearly. That's why I believe practice is so important. If we want to be truly free on stage and look awesome for the audience, such process is necessary. I think that's what professionalism is. We need many practice. Responsibility. It's impossible to say for sure, 'This will last forever', nor can you say for sure, 'This won't last forever'. It can happen if we all agree on it. What's good is good. I think we can make it happen. If we wanted, even when we're 80 or 90. We just have to put in the effort to be together for a long time. Yeah. Wow!
[47:38]Thank you. That was really fun. Thank you, V. Thank you, RM. Jimin, thank you. Jin, thank you. SUGA, my guy. Thank you. See you next time.
