BTS has taken a break from their group to pursue solo projects, the K-Pop group announced on Tuesday.
The enormously successful band announced the news in a video during their “Festa dinner,” which marked the band’s ninth anniversary.
Artists RM, Jin, V, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, and Jungkook make up the group.
“We’re going into a hiatus now,” Suga stated. “However a representative for the group told CNN, “To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats.”
“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. And after I get up in the morning and get makeup done there’s no time left for growth” RM, a member of the group, stated.
“In the past, I could still balance working on music alone and doing our group promotions but now I cant do them together. It’s impossible, it just won’t work. I can’t be doing group stuff and then suddenly turning the focus to my own work like flipping a switch,” RM continued. “I realized I need time on my own.”
He also noted that during the Covid-19 pandemic, when BTS launched big singles like “Dynamite,” “Butter,” and “Permission to Dance,” he noticed that the group had evolved.
“I think 90 percent of our fans would root for us no matter what kind of music or direction we choose,” V said. “J-Hope told me this before, we could focus on our solo work this time and later when we gather again as a group that synergy will be like no other.”
“We can’t help but think of our fans no matter what. I think now, finally, we’ve come to think about what kind of artists we 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” Jimin continued.
“I think that change is what we need right now,” J-Hope said. “It’s important for BTS to start our second chapter.”
With their albums “Love Yourself: Answer” and “Love Yourself: Tear,” the group’s international recognition expanded in 2018. They’ve also had massive successes as a result of successful collaborations with Coldplay, Halsey, Ed Sheeran, and others.
J Hope outlined the group’s approach to their professions in a CNN interview in 2020.
“We don’t try to set our standards to define success because if you set those standards, it is very tiring physically and mentally to reach those goals,” J-Hope said. “Instead, just trying hard at what we do in our lives and emotions and staying true to that. And this eventually leads to a lot of success. That’s what I’m trying to do. And by doing that, trying to stay true to ourselves .”
BTS has been compared to The Beatles on numerous occasions, and has even broken one of the English rock band’s milestones by having three Billboard No. 1 albums in a single year.
When the trio was shut out of Grammy nominations in 2019, their passionate fan base dubbed itself the “BTS Army,” and they used social media to promote their songs and defend them. They’ve been nominated for two Grammy Awards, one for best pop/duo performance and the other for best pop/duo performance.