The K-pop group BTS, one of the most influential on the planet and which was recently received by the American president, Joe Biden, announced, Tuesday June 14, a break so that each of the seven young men composing it focus on his own career.
The announcement, which had the effect of a bomb, was made during a dinner broadcast online to mark the anniversary of the boy band formed by seven South Korean artists in their twenties, considered as ambassadors of a part of the youth of the whole world and extremely popular, in particular in the United States.
In 2021, BTS recorded annual revenue of over $1 billion, driven by online content and album sales. One of the seven, “RM”, 27, explained that after several nominations for the Grammy Awards, the awards of the music industry, they “did not know which group they were forming” exactly, adding that some members were “exhausted”.
“Youth Ambassadors”
“I always thought BTS was different from other bands. (…), but the problem with K-pop and the whole star system is you don’t have time to mature.”, continued the young man to millions of fans and the global music industry. “RM” pointed out that as a group, BTS “had to constantly produce music and do something”. “In ten years, I have changed and I need to think and have time for myself”concluded the artist.
One of his partners, Jimin (Park Ji-min), 26, did not say anything else, saying during this dinner that he and his six young co-artists “trying little by little to understand” what happened to them and “to think about the memory that everyone wanted to leave to their fans”.
The group had been invited on May 31 by President Biden to the White House to denounce racism targeting Asian people in the United States. The American presidency had said that it saw in BTS “youth ambassadors who spread a message of hope and optimism” in the world. The septet has already been invited twice to address the United Nations, in 2018 and 2021, in particular on climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.