Calling themselves “exhausted”, the K-pop group BTS announced on Tuesday a “pause” so that each of the seven young men who make it up focus on their own journey, after the meteoric career of this boy band which generates billions of US dollars for the South Korean economy.
The group is so influential with part of the youth all over the world that it has just been received at the White House by President Joe Biden to denounce racism against Asians in the United States.
The sudden announcement of this “break”, which had the effect of a bomb on social networks, was made during a dinner broadcast on the Internet to mark the ninth anniversary of the group formed by seven artists from a twenty years. In a very relaxed and informal style, the members of the group, in jeans and T-shirts, converse around a beautiful wooden table, with bottles of wine and beer, surrounded by purple and blue balloons.
One of them, RM, 27, explained with tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat that after several Grammy nominations – the awards of the American music industry – they “don’t know what group they are anymore”. exactly, adding that some members are “exhausted”.
“No time to mature”
“I always thought BTS was different from other bands. […]but the problem with K-pop and the whole “star system” is that you don’t have time to mature”, continues the young man to the address of the millions of admirers and the global music industry.
BTS is considered a pump to generate billions of dollars in spinoffs for South Korea’s economy and in 2021 recorded record revenue of more than $1 billion, thanks to online content and album sales.
But according to RM, the band “needs to constantly produce music and do something”.
“In ten years, I have changed and I need to think and have time for myself”, blows the artist.
One of his partners, Suga, then announces that BTS “will now take a break”.
Another, Jimin, 26, adds that the septet was “little by little trying to understand” what was happening to them and “to think about the memory that each wanted to leave with their fans”.
Jimin, who spoke like his comrades in Korean and whose remarks were subtitled in English on the video, also recognizes that BTS “is going through a difficult period, [qu’il] look for [son] identity, a long and exhausting process”.
At the end of the dinner, the “pop icons of the 21st century” according to their record company Big Hit, authors of the hits Dynamite and Buttercrush a few tears and express their gratitude to their fans, recognized under the banner of “BTS Army”.
” Need for change “
BTS, which released an anthology album on Monday (proof), had already announced “breaks” in 2019 and 2021. But this time, the group “needs a change” and wants to “start a new chapter”, insists J-Hope, another member of the septet.
The South Korean artists, in dark tie suits and white shirts, were invited by President Biden to the White House on May 31 to denounce racism against Asians in the United States. The American presidency said it saw BTS as “ambassadors of youth who spread a message of hope and optimism” to the world.
The group had already been invited twice to address the UN, in 2018 and 2021, about climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.