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[TRANS] 170220 10asia BTS Q&A: Behind ‘WINGS’

Source  KRN - ENG © ktaebwi

10asia (10). Your new song ‘Spring Day’ dominated the digital music charts on the day of releasing. 

JIMIN: Every time we release an album, we always have the same feeling of excitement and expectation. This time our members all listened to the new songs at 0 o’clock together too. We’re really touched that our song ‘Spring Day’ ranked #1 on the chart for 24 consecutive hours starting from the 1AM chart. Our previous album ‘WINGS’ received such good responses so we felt the pressure too. We think of our fans a lot and we’re thankful to them too. 

SUGA: You may think it’s different from the usual BTS style. ‘Spring Day’ combines British rock elements together with electronic sounds. I wrote the lyrics based on my personal experiences, it’s about missing your friends. I thought many could sympathize with this. Thank you for loving it. 

10. ‘WINGS: YOU NEVER WALK ALONE’ exceeded 700,000 pre-orders. 

JIN: We were very surprised. These days online music sites are used a lot but people still buy physical copies that much, I think it’s thanks to their love for us. We’ll repay by making and bringing you even better music. 

10. Last year ‘WINGS’ set the best records among Korean artists by entering the US Billboard 200 Chart, England UK Chart and more. 

V: We received so much love around the world to the point of making us think if we could even receive this much love. We only had happy moments. If there’s a personal goal for me in 2017, my big goal is to enter the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It’s something all artists dream of. 

10. What’s the secret to your popularity overseas? 

SUGA: We write the songs & lyrics by ourselves and participate in producing. We keep in mind the kind of sounds that overseas fans would love and work on it. We also actively participate in the final stages like mixing or mastering. I think overseas fans are interested in our music because it doesn’t have big differences to the kind of music that they usually listen to. 

RAP MONSTER: BTS always pursue trendy sounds. Another thing is that as the K-pop community becomes more active, our lyrics in Korean are quickly translated by overseas fans, therefore the stories of the youth we’re telling can cross the borders and be sympathized by the youth in other countries too. Our powerful performances in music videos and such also play a part in our popularity. 

10. Recently many new boy groups picked BTS as their role model. 

SUGA: It’s an honor for us and it also feels amazing. It has already been a few years since we debuted and talked about our role models, the sunbae singers we want to be like with excitement. I want to say to our hoobaes that there’ll be lots of ups and downs and worries. It’d be a time when you would be so worried and anxious that you can’t sleep, but eventually good days will come. Everyone is really cool and there are a lot of good singers. I hope they will, too, become sunbaes and become cool singers. 

JIN: The most important thing is the relationship between members. It’s important to work in harmony with each other. 

10. BTS is quite active in communicating with fans. 

J-HOPE: Yes that’s right. I enjoy watching MV reaction videos of international fans. I relate to the fans a lot while watching their reactions. Like “J-hope is freaking handsome here.” (laughs) 

JUNGKOOK: I watch MV theory videos a lot, there’re quite many clever people. There’s also a lot of those who got it correct to the point of making me think “How do you know about this?”, and some even make new interpretations that even we don’t know about it. 

V: There’s a scene in ‘Spring Day’ music video where Jungkook runs and the members gather together. I’m the only one who didn’t appear in it so there were various theories raising up. Actually it’s because when we were filming it I forgot so I couldn’t go in. (laughs) 

JIN: The scene where V covers my eyes in ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears’ music video was originally given to Suga. Suga’s acting was worse than we thought so it was changed to V, but our fans made theories about that.

SUGA: I think the creations made from the creators’ point of views are open to various interpretations by the audience. 

10. There are opinions saying ‘Spring Day’ is reminiscent of the Sewol Ferry tragedy. 

RAP MONSTER: We should be careful when talking. As citizens of this country, we feel the responsibility for the Sewol Ferry tragedy and with the thought of expressing our feelings/our hearts, we donated together. The music video for ‘Spring Day’ places emphasis on expressing the lyrics visually. Of course it can be interpreted differently depending on the beholder’s thoughts and point of view. I want to leave it to those who are appreciating it (the song/music video). 

10. A part of the lyrics ‘break the glass ceiling’ from another new song ‘Not Today’ stirred up controversy. 

RAP MONSTER: I’m aware of that. I have read related articles and posts several times. First of all, I’m grateful because it’s thanks to many people having interest towards the stories we’re telling that there can be talks around. ‘Glass ceiling’ means an invisible but unbreakable barrier and it started from the oppression towards women advancing onto higher positions in the 1970s. It’s mainly used in issues about women’s rights and recently expanded into being used with minorities of the society. It’s not true that the meaning was misused like in part of the lyrics above. Someone questioned whether or not BTS, as successful male idols, have the right to use the word ‘glass ceiling’. If you take a closer look at other lyrics, it starts with the story of ‘us’. Our music making staffs, including us, put it in the music with the meaning that we won’t stay quiet about the problems or the negative parts of the society, and we will break it and join in even if it stirs up troubles. Especially these days we always talk about the social issues. Personally, I’m reading books and meeting with experts while concerning over it. It’s true that we’re still lacking, but I believe that as we take concerns, receive opinions and rectify, we can grow up. We will humbly receive the opinions and criticisms. 

10. ‘THE WINGS TOUR’ have been receiving heated response. 

J-HOPE: I saw the heated response from South America through newspaper and TV. There were people who had to line up overnight for days to buy the concert tickets, I want to come find them quickly and perform for them.

SUGA: We have prepared the most props ever. We really prepared a lot, you would be astonished. Those with weak hearts should be careful. (laughs) There are many special effects too. Our concerts always have a story inside, this concert will sort out the stories told by BTS’ music. 

10. Do you have any new goal in the future? 

JIMIN: My goal is to receive the Daesang again. I think there’s nothing as meaningful as receiving the award after working hard for a year. 

RAP MONSTER: AX Hall in 2014, SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in 2015, Olympic Gymnastics Arena in 2016 and this year we reached Gocheok Dome, we should work hard for the next venue to be the stadium in the US. (laughs) The current lineup for ‘THE WINGS TOUR’ includes 19 concerts in 11 cities from Asia, South America, North America to Australia. There’ll be more to be added in later, and we’ll show the wings of BTS spreading across the world.