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sk all of BTS which member can hit the highest notes, and they’ll point to one man: Park Jimin. “Jimin’s range is vastly superior,” says V. But Jimin himself isn’t yet satisfied with his voice, or any other aspect of his artistry. He was the final member to join BTS, with a background in modern dance, not singing: “I feel that I wasn’t fully ready and confident when we debuted,” he told Rolling Stone in 2021. Despite a long list of indelible studio moments with his band and in his history-making solo work — his 2023 single “Like Crazy” made him the first Korean solo artist to top the Hot 100 — he still acts like he somehow needs to catch up. “I’m not sure if I’d call myself a perfectionist,” says Jimin, in a February interview conducted in Hybe’s Seoul, South Korea headquarters.. “Everyone has the desire to do well, and I have that as well. So, to let go of that desire feels to me like wanting to quit altogether. So I don’t know if I’ll be able to let go.”
How are you feeling right now, a month before Arirang comes out?
Very nervous. I’m super nervous. We’re getting close to release, and it’s been so long. The whole time, I’ve been feeling excited, but also scared. I really want to do a good job.
You turned out to be a big solo hitmaker. I don’t know if you expected your solo career to become so big, and so quickly.
Oh, I didn’t expect it at all. I’m truly so thankful for the response. But through that process, I learned that I still have a long way to go, and I plan to continue working hard to improve in the future.
OK, I’ll bite on that. What do you want to improve, when you’ve already had these big singles right out of the box?
First off, I want to improve my singing … I’d like to learn, practice more, and grow from there. Beyond that, I also want to write better. I want to make good albums with a good concept. And I think that’s it. My job is to write good songs and sing them well, after all.
Do you think you’re too hard on yourself, though?
Not really. Now, I’m just having a great time with life. It’s a joy to practice with the BTS members. We’re having so much fun in rehearsal. I can’t wait to get on that stage.
In the military, you won all sorts of awards. Why do you think you were such a good military member?
I don’t know how you heard about the awards and stuff, but in the beginning, well, everyone in the military knows that we’re celebrities, right? So, I worked hard so that I could make a good impression. But later on, I just worked hard to get more vacation days.
Watch the video interview below
I thought maybe being a trainee was so similar that you were prepared for the military.
Well, it’s true that we dance a lot and have been keeping up physically. So I do think we were kinda prepared for military service. But there was still an age gap with the others, so I felt some limitations there. I was about 10 years older than most.
So you didn’t want to do a foot race with the other soldiers?
Oh, so, I actually did race! Jung Kook and I enlisted at the same time, and he got first place and I got second.
How did it feel on the first day out of the military, knowing that you would get back to your life?
It was such a strange feeling. I thought I would just be happy, but it’s not as simple as that … It’s hard to put it into words. I thought about everything I experienced in the military. I thought about the friends I trained with, and the officers as well. Then I wondered if this means I can be onstage again. All of these disparate thoughts hit me all at once, so it’s tough to describe what I felt.
When we spoke in 2021, you said you couldn’t imagine yourself apart from the group. Since then, you did so many things apart from the group with great success. I wonder how that changes the way you think about your role in the group.
My thoughts haven’t changed. If there’s any way they have changed, it’s that while BTS, and doing well as part of BTS, remains my top priority, I want to be a better singer as an individual as well. My teammates are all so amazing, so I feel the need to improve my worth as a fellow member and not be overshadowed.
When I listen to your solo music, songs like “Be Mine,” or “Who,” I can hear your background as a dancer. I feel like it plays into the rhythms of the songs, and the way that you sing. Do you see that as well, that interplay?
When I was working on those songs with my producers, we did make them thinking they would be great songs for me to dance to. Especially with “Be Mine,” we even made a dance that I wanted to share with fans, but since I had to go to the military, it was a rough time.
The way you sing is very distinct. Sometimes it feels like you’re less R&B-influenced than other members. It’s very unique. How do you see that style?
Well, my voice is just … I was just born with it. Beyond any influences, I just got it from my mother and father. But I’m so thankful for your kind words. Honestly … I think the BTS members might have been my biggest influence. Because they’ve been hearing my voice all the way back since I was a trainee. They’re the ones who told me I have a great voice and recommended songs for me to sing. Those recommendations have been very influential for me.
What kind of songs would they recommend? Because even when you’re singing uptempo songs, there’s a bit of a balladeer in you.
Justin Bieber and Chris Brown … There are many different singers, but, yes, I used to get mostly R&B recommendations. Like Trey Songz or Tory Lanez, who were popular when I was a trainee.
A big moment on Arirang is “They Don’t Know ’Bout Us.” Tell me about your involvement in that.
RM and I were talking one night after work, and the phrase came out of that conversation. The initial wording was actually “You make me weak,” because that’s what I wanted to tell the fans. You shape us. You always treat us like we’re such amazing people. But because of that, we don’t have room for growth. I wanted to try expressing that feeling that they might be making us weak. And “They Don’t Know ’Bout Us” came out of that discussion. Initially. Since then, it’s expanded to include our other members’ thoughts in there, but in the beginning, it came from the idea that nobody knows how weak we are.
The process of the album was very different this time.
When we were working on the songs, we operated kind of like a factory. Each producer would occupy one of four recording booths, and we would divide ourselves into groups of two or three. We switched around daily, working with one producer all day, and then someone else the next. That went on every day for almost two months. We made over 100 songs working together with that process.
How did your solo music affect the way that you worked on Arirang?
What I learned through my solo career is a certain mindset. I think I learned to be less afraid with my songwriting. Thanks to that experience, when I got to work on this new group album … Not that I did a great job or anything, but I wasn’t afraid to ask questions, and I did my best to keep trying.
Production and Clothing Credits
Styling by YEJIN KIM. Hair BY HANSOM, HWAYEON, and HYUNWOO LEE. Makeup by DAREUM KIM and SHINAE. Set design by YEABYUL JEON. Produced by NUHANA. Executive Producer SOOH HWANG. Producers SEBIN PARK and KALY NGO. Line producer: CHERRY LEE. Digital Technician HUIJIN KIM. Photographic Assistance SOOJUNG OH, MINHYUK LEE, MINJUN KIM, JIHYUN OH, JUWAN KANG and JUNHYUNG YANG. Set Design Team SOHYUN WON, YUNSEON CHOI, JUNHYUK SIM.
CLOTHING
Outfit and jewelry by DIOR.
