RELEASE REALIZE REAL ME
The experience of realizing oneself, breaking and being broken. It's kind of a manifesto for RM to exist as his real self, who wants to be liberated from freedom
Are there moments when you felt like your daily life is shining? When I am true to myself. When I am working, or when I work out and keep my daily routine, I think to myself that I’m doing well. Also, when I meet and talk to people I like. There are moments when you don’t want to waste a second to even look at the time because you don’t want the time to go by. Those are the moments that shine.
Your lyrics are like a landscape. It’s not just a landscape to look at, but I feel like I am standing in that ce ain landscape.
Most of the painters I love do exactly the same. They let viewers have a spiritual experience. When I stand before their works, they take me to the moment. There’s a blank space. As I keep looking and following the things I like, I become more like them. I image-train the musical texture in different senses and try to realize them.
Let’s take love as an example. There are many themes within love. Instead of making music that is squarely straightforward, shouting, “This is a song written by a heartbroken man who wants his love to come back,” I want to extract something abstract and give it a shape. Abstract may sound like something murky, unsure, and vague, but if you think about the history of painting, abstract followed figurative painting. I think abstract is the compressed essence of only colours and shapes extracted, because even figurative art cannot express everything. One plus one may be two, but there can be a parenthesis or an inequality sign within… Letting the imagination free in the blank space is getting more interesting for me.
This is why your music has many different faces.
There was a period when I used to use strong words like, I want to be powerful, I will prove myself, I will dominate. Spitting those words does blow off some steam. But in my
mind, I think more about the details now. So how am I going to dominate? Am I really going to dominate? What does it mean to dominate? I think about what comes after those words.
Louis Vui on was what brought us together. For you, clothes seem to be something more than what you wear. A er you created the playlist Mono, you said, “I used to wear only achromatic clothes, and there was a moment when I picked a colou ul one, an impo ant change happened. It was a moment to mark.” Fashion is a tool that helps me express myself, without myself having to express it. How to present myself matters to me, and that’s why fashion is important to me. There was a time when I used to follow all brands, shows and menswear, like I am digging fine art now. Now my fashion has been refined, and all that narrowed down to a few styles and brands I like.
What kind of fashion do you like?
A style that’s so natural to the wearer that unintentionally, or even intentionally, it feels like a part of him. No matter how ridiculous the style is, if I act as if I’m comfortable in it, I believe I can convince people that I’m confident. Establishing a solid self.
In the documentary Break the Silence, you confessed about your fear. Always is a song you made with lyrics based on what you wrote about your feelings going through a hard time. Why is it impo ant for you to acknowledge, embrace, record and share your fear?
It’s an ongoing dilemma because I don’t want to look weak. But I think it would be right for us to share with our fans our pros and cons, and the shadows over our growth as human beings. From the outside, the BTS stocks may seem to be continuously rising, but that is not always true. We may not need to talk about how we even thought about disbanding, but sometimes confessions make people even stronger. But I don’t talk right at that moment. After the feelings have gone by or have been filtered, I look back at them and extract the essence, refine, and share it. Fans will see that artists are humans too and feel closer to us.
After flipping one card, it’s easier to flip the next (laughs). But the confessions should be made in a mature and professionally ethical way. Through a book, documentary, interview, or music... Music would be the best. Just like I did, the listener can get something out of it, and apply it to their lives. I am imagining a lot about a good way to make these confessions.
If you search for “BTS Jin” in a search engine, “Coldplay” comes up as a related search. The news was sensational.
I’m a huge fan of Chris Martin. It still feels so amazing that we got to collaborate with Coldplay. It was a precious moment. I love Viva la Vida and Fix You, and we got to cover Fix You! I was overwhelmed.
How did you get to meet with Coldplay?
At first, we talked about many things over video conferencing. He asked us what kind of styles we liked and what kind of stories we wanted to tell, and we made this song together. When Mr. Martin later came to Korea for recording, he would always ask, “Is there anything you guys want to try?” We came up with many ideas, and one of them was for him to sing in Korean and for us to sing in English. He thought it would be so much fun, so we even recorded it. Though it didn’t make it into the album in the end, it was one of the most memorable moments from our collaboration.
Chris Ma in gave you his guitar, right? A gi from your idol, how happy you must have been!
I was so happy. After the collaboration, we had another chance to meet him in the US. One time, it was just the two of us in the studio, and I said to him, “I like your guitar.” I’d been a huge fan of him, so to me, everything about him is fabulous. But then, he offered me that guitar! I didn’t mean I wanted it so I wasn’t sure if I should take it but at the same time, I was exhilarated.
Where is that guitar now?
I keep my treasures at the entrance to my place. When you open the door, you face a two-meter-long “RJ” standing tall. The guitar is beside him. I actually asked Mr. Martin where I should keep the guitar. He said right beside the RJ is good, so I didn’t have to think too much.
Can you pick one single pe ormance that’s most memorable? Yes, I can! It was during “IDOL” in France. We replaced the last part of the original song with a funky rhythm. Our fans usually face us during concerts. But during that last part of the song, they began to face each other, not us, and dance. They were having so much fun! I was happier than them while watching that video.
How are “Jin of BTS” and “soloist Jin” different? You’ve mentioned that your solo songs seem to emphasise the emotions more deeply.
As BTS, all seven of us become one in harmony for our songs, so setting the keys or interpretation of songs cannot be done for anyone in particular. But it’s possible to do so in solo
Again, January. Here's Jin's New Year's Greetings to everyone preparing for a new beginning
songs. The song can be made just for me, in the style I want to try, and in the best notes to capture the pitch that works the best for my voice. Same for the lyrics and the melody. As a vocalist, I think I would be closer to something more emotional and sentimental rather than genres that require fancy skills.
What messages do you want to convey in your solo songs?
I’m a bit cautious. I wouldn’t be able to write about things that I don’t deeply relate to. The environment, for instance. I want to talk about it in songs, but I ask myself, “Am I qualified to talk about this? Have I cared enough? Have I been really active about this issue?” These are some things one needs to think deeply about.
Creating music sounds like a very tough job.
I usually try to get rid of my thoughts. When a message comes to mind, I need to take note not to forget. I’m more of a spontaneous writer. Lately, I was writing and erasing some lyrics over and over for three or four months, and then one day, an idea came to my mind, and I finished the first verse in 10 minutes.
Can you pick one album or song that resonated the most with you? Personally, it was Burning Up (Fire). The lyrics, “Live your life,” opened my eyes. “Those who hate me will hate me no matter how hard I try, and those who love me will always be there for me.”
Another New Year is upon us. What would you write in your New Year’s greeting card?
I’m not sure if I’m qualified to say something like this, but I want to say to young people ringing in the New Year: You’ve done great, and you are still doing great. If you feel burdened to start anew, let the burden go a little. Let go of things a little and enjoy this new start.