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BTS members to embark on solo careers

by Ruel J. Mendoza /

06.15.22
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Photos: @bts.bighitofficial

BTS leader RM explained the group has struggled to center itself following the release of ON. If it were not for the pandemic, BTS would have gone on hiatus after the release, but COVID-19 prompted a new wave of comebacks such as "Butter" and "Permission to Dance". Now, the group is ready to pursue solo activities and expand their reach as individual artists. But BTS made it clear the group is not disbanding permanently.

BTS shocked ARMY fans all over the world by announcing that they are ready to shift on having their own career as solo artists.

After nine years together, the Bangtan boys sat down for a livestream and announced the group would be taking an indefinite hiatus.

The announcement came in a special video for their 2022 Festa, the name for BTS’s annual anniversary celebration period, which is usually accompanied by numerous events and releases.

The hour-long clip, dubbed the “real BTS dinner party,” featured the seven drinking and eating while sharing their thoughts about where the group is at, and why they feel it is necessary to take some time off to work on individual efforts.

BTS promises to use this time to regroup and also pursue individual projects that have been tabled time and again these past few years.

The update went live from BTS itself as rapper Suga opened the topic with their bandmates. The group at large is going on hiatus as each member is preparing to pursue solo work.

Currently, several members are in the process of recording solo content including Jim, V, Jungkook, Suga, and J-Hope. Jin is also working on a solo debut but said his album will likely be the last to release.

After nine years together, leader RM explained the group has struggled to center itself following the release of ON. If it were not for the pandemic, BTS would have gone on hiatus after the release, but COVID-19 prompted a new wave of comebacks such as "Butter" and "Permission to Dance".

Now, the group is ready to pursue solo activities and expand their reach as individual artists. But BTS made it clear the group is not disbanding permanently.

RM stressed this break is temporary and will end with BTS reuniting as a seven-member group someday down the line.

Right now, there is no telling when that comeback will happen, but fans of BTS can look forward to it as they support the members' solo projects in the near future.

The members of BTS have focused on solo projects more so as of late and furthered their individual profiles online with separate Instagram pages. When the group announced its first anthology album PROOF, rumors began to circulate that BTS would go on hiatus ahead of its tenth anniversary.

Now, those reports have been proven true, and fans are reeling from the emotional announcement.

From Suga: "We're going on a hiatus now. It’s not that we’re disbanding, we’re just living apart for a while.”

From Jungkook: "We're each going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things. We promise we will return someday, even more mature than we are now."

From RM: "I always thought that BTS was different from other groups, but the problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don't give you time to mature. You have to keep producing music and keep doing something."

From Jimin: "We can't help but think of our fans no matter what, we want to be the kind of artists that are remembered by our fans. I think now we're starting to think about what kind of artists we each want to be remembered by our fans. I think that's why we're going through a rough patch right now, we're trying to find our identity and that's an exhausting and long process."

From J-Hope: "I think it's change is what we need right now. It's important for BTS to start our second chapter."

The members also offered insights into their struggles with creating music over the past few years, saying that this period of focusing on solo projects would help them grow as individuals and regroup refreshed – to become an even greater BTS.

RM said that, following the releases of On and Dynamite in 2020, he had felt like BTS’s direction was less clear after the COVID-19 pandemic set in and disrupted their plans.

“I realised the group has definitely changed. We have to accept that we’ve changed. For me, it was like the group BTS was within my grasp until On and Dynamite, but after 2021’s Butter and Permission to Dance I didn’t know what kind of team we were any more. The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature. You have to keep producing music and keep doing something … there’s no time left for growth."

BTS also shared that the members will no longer all live together as their joint apartment’s contract is up.

BTS released their first anthology album, PROOF, which is said to reflect on the band’s past, present and future, and open a new chapter of the band’s career.

The single, “Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment),” promises that the group’s best moment has yet to come, fitting with BTS’s promise to return as a united team.

BTS started forming in 2010 after Big Hit Entertainment founder Bang Si-hyuk recruited RM followed by Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, with the band officially debuting in 2013. Since then, the artists have gone on to experience dynamite success, including two Grammy nominations, six no. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and an ARMY of fans who troop to their sold out concerts.