Switched on Pop - BTS goes solo together

Episode Date: April 18, 2023

The South Korean idol group BTS is one of the biggest musical sensations in history. They're constantly breaking records and they have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the world known as Army. Their hit singles like “Boy With Love,” “Dynamite,” and “Butter” have been discussed on the show in the past for breaking through the US charts. But back in 2022, they decided to take a break from group activities and start releasing solo material because of their obligations to each fulfill mandatory military service in South Korea, precluding them from working together at the same time. Solo projects aren’t new for the group – BTS members have released mixtapes as far back as 2015 and countless solo singles – but this was the first time that BTS had ever announced a prolonged break. This moment, originally presented as a hiatus, has evolved into a whole new musical chapter for the group, with a seemingly endless array of new solo releases. Switched On Pop listens back to one track from each solo effort so far to introduce the casual listener to what is happening in this new era of BTS. Joining the show is Lenika Cruz, senior editor at The Atlantic, who literally wrote the book on BTS, simply called On BTS out on the Atlantic Editions imprint. Songs Discussed: j-hope, J. Cole - on the street Jimin - Like Crazy RM, Youjeen - Wild Flower Agust D - People Pt.2 Agust D - People Jung Kook - Dreamers JIN - The Astronaut BTS - Singularity, Inner Child Coldplay, BTS - My Universe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's free for iOS users. Welcome to Switched-on-Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. The Korean Idol group, BTS, is one of the biggest musical sensations in history. They're consistently breaking records and have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the world known as Army. They're hit singles like Boy with Love, Dynamite, Butter, all songs that we've discussed on the show in the past. have broken through the U.S. charts.

But back in 2022, they decided to take a break and start releasing solo material, partially informed by their need to each fulfill mandatory military service in South Korea, which would preclude them from all working together at the same time. Now, BTS solo projects weren't something new. BTS members had released mixtapes as far back as 2015,

but this was the first time that BTS had ever announced a break. This moment was originally presented as a hiatus, but has evolved into a whole new musical challenge, chapter for the group. What I want to do today, Nate, is introduce the casual listener to what is happening in this new era of BTS, and we're joined by Lenica Cruz, senior editor at the Atlantic, who literally wrote the book on BTS called On BTS as part of the Atlantic Editions imprint. Welcome, Lenica. Thank you so much for having me. Lenica, what background on BTS do we need to understand this new era? And why is this a new era for them? BTS has been a group since

2013, which means that they've been around for about a decade now. They've put out a number of albums over the years. And like you mentioned, in June of last year, on their ninth anniversary, they announced to fans that they would be taking a break from releasing music as a group, which honestly was something that Army was expecting. All the members have to enlist for about 18 months before they turned 30. And there were some delays in that due to COVID, but those delays. kind of expired. And so back in 2022, they said that they would be taking a break from releasing music as a group of seven and that they hoped to reconvene as a group in 2025. And so they're staggering their entry. We're expecting the second member to enlist any day now by the time this

episode comes out. He might have already enlisted. But at the same time, this second chapter, this chapter two, which is what BTS is calling it, isn't exactly a hiatus in the sense that there's nothing happening, that they're not releasing any music or that they're even taking a break from being bandmates together. Like, we've seen BTS going and supporting each other, doing guest vocals on each other's projects, going to each other's concerts and things like that. And so, really, this period is supposed to allow each member to showcase his own particular style. Some people say BTS are going solo. Like, that's how they're framing it. But I wouldn't say that that's necessarily the case, like the fact that even though they're releasing solo music, they're all identifying

themselves as, you know, RM of BTS. And a lot of their music that they're releasing in this new era also references the work that they've done as a group. And so it's been really exciting, I think, so far to see how the members have been choosing to distinguish themselves, the kinds of music they're able to make on their own, as opposed to when they're also trying to make music alongside six other people. And it's been very exciting, I would say. This is always a fabulous. moment in a band's progression for me because this juncture when you've established this certain level of fame and credibility and then the artists of the collective start to branch out is both exciting and like kind of nerve-wracking in a way because as you're just saying

Lenica it's like how do you navigate your identity as a solo artist versus you know you're a member of the group so I I'm really curious to hear some of these solo efforts and hear how they late to BTS, because I just think it's a really compelling moment as a pop music phenomenon. So how about this? Why don't we listen closely to one track from each solo project release so far? Letica, where should we begin? Yeah, so I think we should probably start with Jay Hope, who was the first of the seven members to announce a solo project back in July of last year. and his solo album was called Jack in the Box, and he had put out a debut mixtape back in 2018

called Hope World. And that's important context for the song that I think we should listen to, which is actually not a song from Jack in the Box. It's the most recent single that he's released, which is called On the Street, featuring the rapper J. Cole. Every time I work,

every time I move, as always, Lenny's in the air going to get a him from made up your love in your face for double high Let me see

Oh, hell The mighty survivor of hell Plop down from heaven to sail Holy water that I scoof in a well Falk tooth in a nail Just to prevail Must a goofley says I moved to the field Feeling worried

In a hurry like a- Can you say about how This collaboration came together With J-Hope and J-Cole And what about this song resonates for you? The thing that is so satisfying for people who have listened to to Jayhope for a while is that they know how much J. Cole has influenced him. Both, as you can tell, their names are similar.

And so J. Hope kind of was inspired by J. Cole to take that name. We heard J. Cole say, Cole World and J. Hope named his first mixtape Hope World. And he also, J. Hope used to listen to J. Cole's music as he was first starting out as like a street dancer, which is his origin. That's how he became to be part of BTS before he became a rapper. And so last July, when Jay Hope performed at Lollapalooza by himself,

he was one of the headliners announced. Jay Cole was also there at the festival, and they got to meet each other backstage. And there's a really fun video of the two of them meeting for the first time where Jay Hope, who is so used to having fans dissolve when they meet him, does the same thing when he sees. sees J. Cole, he just can barely get his words out. And that's where this collaboration got its origins. I think that's part of why the song wasn't included on Jack in the Box, J. Hope's first studio album.

But this was released several weeks ago, and it's considered what's going to be his last single before he enlists in the military. And so this song is both a kind of a goodbye to his fans. And also, I think, it's an homage to people like Jay Cole who have inspired him, you know, American hip-hop artists in particular. What stands out to me about this song is how much more space J. Cole has on it than J. Hope. Yeah, definitely. I'm sure you noticed, right? It's a long verse. Very, very long. And it feels very intentional in that way. Again, I refer to this song as him paying homage to the people that have inspired him. Now that he himself is this huge global celebrity, being able to acknowledge his roots as an artist, both as a dancer and as a rapper.

And there's the whistle hook, obviously, that sticks in your mind. And that's actually Jayhope himself. He was just playing around. He whistled that recorded it and liked it enough to use it in this song. And yeah, the fact that Jayhub has this English chorus. Every time I walk, every time I run, every time I move, always for us, which is a message. to his fans and he's said as much. And it's just a very sort of classic hip hop sound with the record scratching and all that. And I think it harkens back to some of his earlier days

because people who only know BTS through like butter and dynamite wouldn't know that BTS started out as more of a hip hop-focused idol group. They do have three rappers and Jayhope's one of them. But I would say that this is evocative of a lot of the music they've released as a group that is more, that's more clearly hip-hop inspired. So this feels like a full circle song for Jay Hope. And it's clearly working. It went to 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the South Korea Circle chart, it went to number 36.

And it even performed even better on the US Hot R&B slash hip hop songs where it went to number 14. So that collab and the hip hop homage is definitely working for them. Nate, what spoke to you about this trick? Something that stood out is the contrast of light and heavy. elements and what I mean by that is like heavy elements the drums are processed in this kind of rough way they're like classic new york boom bap hip hop drums jhope's voice is kind of rough and a little bit raw around the edges but then there are these light elements that whistle that lenica was talking about that kind of just floats on top these like lush guitar chords being

played or I don't know if it's a guitar, some kind of string, acoustic string instrument. So there's like a contrast here and I wonder if that supports the message of the lyrics. There's like a tenderness, you know, he's talking about us all sticking together in this way. But there's also a determination. It's like, but I'm still going to do what I came here to do. There must be some sort of German word for this, the feeling of wistfulness for the present, even while you're in the moment, because things are about to change. I'm sure there is. Weltzmersch.

Veldschmerich is like the wound of the soul. So maybe that could work here. We'll accept that. What about the very first thing we hear in this song? I'm interested in that little sound effect. Could we run that back, Charles? One more time. I know that sound.

It's like, is it a jukebox or is it a... I think it's a cassette tape. It's a cassette tape. Yeah. Being put into a boombox and then shutting it closed. Okay, that's it. It's like somewhere deep in my anales. memory is that sound. And it's cool that they started because I feel like they're trying to

communicate like, hey, this is like, we're paying homage like old school hip hop here. I feel like there's an authenticity that is communicated by hearing that sound effect of a cassette tape at the very beginning. And it works because the video for this song is J. Hope walking through the streets of New York City. So it feels like, yeah, putting the cassette tape into the boom box, walk around, classic old school boom bap song. It's really fun. Lettinga, where should we go next? I would say we should then chronologically go to Jin,

who released the single The Astronaut. Wow. What a change in vibe to go from 80s New York hip-hop to 80s sort of power ballad. Who is Jin and why is the astronaut significant? Yeah, so Jin is the oldest member of BTS, which is why he was the first to enlist. And so of the members that we're discussing, he is the one who wasn't able to release a full album before he had to go into the military last December. But the astronaut, I feel like, is a really good encapsulation, both of his voice, of his sensibility and also some of the,

metaphorical imagery that is present in some of the work that he's done for BTS. So he's one of the four vocalists, and this probably wouldn't surprise you, but the song was written actually by Coldplay. Yeah, heavy Coldplay vibes. What? And sort of gifted to Jin, who wrote the Korean lyrics? That is so crazy, because literally when the song started, I was like, wow, it sounds

like he's really influenced by Coldplay. and I was thinking it in my head. He is. And I wish I had said it out loud because it would have given me so much credibility, but you'll just, you'll have to believe me.

That was, what was going through my head? I completely believe you. So that's fascinating. Okay, cool. Coldplay was also, we just talked about Jay Hope and J. Hope and J.Koll.

Jin was a big fan of Coldplay and through BTS was able to eventually meet them. And so when this song, Cole had written this song, They thought of Jin for it. And the collaboration came about. Jin wrote the Korean lyrics for it.

And I think it suits his voice really well. He does have this kind of powerful, like, rock ballad, friendly voice. He also didn't actually have any training as a singer before joining BTS. He didn't really have much interest. He was sort of recruited because he is very good looking. And he just happened to have be super talented as singing. It's amazing. that's exactly what happened with this podcast.

No one can see us, but that's exactly how this podcast started. I can't sing. Nate is not impressed. I was going to make the joke that that's the only reason Charlie was invited to be on this five guests. You're the visual of the podcast. That's what we say when you're the face of the group. Oh, thank you. Thank you.

There we go. Okay, back to Jen. I actually really like the upper register of his voice. There's both power and vulnerability in it. Totally. And I really love the way that has, voice sort of builds in this song. And toward the end, he showcases how powerful and sustained his voice can be. But it's also very, you know, it's very sentimental as well. And the song is called

the astronaut. And it's sort of, if you watch the music video, you see that it's about someone who has been like away from home for a long time and promises to never forget the people that he's met while he was on that planet. And so, you know, again, another. sort of goodbye song from a member who is leaving to join the military, but he also had a song called Moon. And there's just a lot of planetary metaphors in BTS's music in general. And so this very fitting. Also in the Coldplay discography, you have the song My Universe featuring BTS. Yes, right. Very astronomical. Cosmic alignment. Charlie, I agree with your assessment of how different this song sounds. And it's also, I think, the kind of arc of the song, this is a song that builds.

Yeah. I was waiting so long for the drums to come in in this song. I was like, it was, I really felt a little anxious almost. I was like, are they, is it ever? Is the beat ever going to drop here? You go to the whole chorus before the drums come in. It makes sense. You know, it is produced by Kygo. And I think some of those EDM sensibilities of knowing when to find. finally hit the drop, we're hearing some of that here. That's interesting. I mean, it's a bold choice, but it makes the song stand out in a way because you described his voice as like vulnerable.

I think that's also a kind of vulnerability is to just not really have any rhythm behind you just to be kind of floating there. That really puts the spotlight on you in a way. Floating out in space. It occurred to me as I was re-listening to the song that it actually fades out. Ah, the fade out. The fade out is also definitely. a throwback vibe. Yeah. It was a whole thing to be a producer and be able to slowly fade the

master fader all the way down as it printed to tape. People love showing off those skills in older songs, but as music digitized, fewer songs fade out. It's not a very common thing we hear anymore. So both with J. Hope taking us to this throwback 80s hip-hop thing and now here with Jen doing an 80s power ballad vibe, we're definitely in the world of nostalgia. I'm curious to hear where else we're going to go with the rest of the group right after the break. Maria, you have a podcast now and you need to start acting like it. What's the first step as a podcaster? Well, you have to ask lots of questions.

I'm Maria Sharpova and I'm hosting a new podcast called Pretty Tough. Every week, I'm sitting down with trailblazing women at the top of their game to discuss ambition, work ethic, and the ups and downs that come on the path to achieving greatness. I have a few pretty tough questions for you. Okay. Ready? Ready. Do not sugarcoat something for me. No, no, no.

We'll dive into their stories and get valuable insights from top executives, actors, entrepreneurs, and other individuals who have inspired me so much in my own journey. Pretty tough is your front row seat to the women who have demonstrated the power in being unapologetic in their pursuits. I hope you'll join us. New episodes drop Wednesdays on YouTube or in your favorite podcast app. All right, Lettica, so we've heard Jay Hope, we've heard Jen. We have a number of members we need to get to. Where do we go next in this new era of BTS? I think the next place we should go to is the song Dreamers by Junkuk.

So we wrote this for the FIFA World Cup. All right. This has such World Cup FIFA theme song vibes. It's kind of making me laugh. It's a very sweet song as well. It definitely feels like this was so cool. clearly written for this massive world celebration. They're like, let's make this really appealing, won't offend anyone, catchy.

It's like, it hits all the marks. Yeah, he understood the assignment for sure. Exactly. So this is, I think, a little bit of a, maybe I don't even know if you could call it necessarily a preview of what to expect from Junkuk eventually with his own solo, solo project. I do feel like it is his way of flexing as a global superstar. Like, hey, I can. make a song for the biggest, you know, sports competition in the world. So here I am. And I think

it's exciting to be able to see BTS members get opportunities like that. And he's also very comfortable singing and rapping in English and all that kind of stuff really comes through. It's fitting because if you're going to invite somebody to try to write a stadium hit that is going to be sung in stadiums, you should invite somebody who tours in stadiums. And so I think to Nate's point, this song, it works. It is something that anybody could, you could do the drumline along to, you can chant along to the big AOAO kind of moments. It's a lot of fun. But this is not quite in the new era.

It's like a little bit of a tag, an extra thing. It's not a full release or considered part of a single release from Junkh. Yeah, yeah. It's definitely, you know, he participated in the songwriting and all that. But it's just one of the many things that he's dabbling in. on the side while he's also building up to his own debut album. Okay, so let's keep moving with the big official releases. What happens next? So next we should go to RM, the leader of BTS, and his song Wildflower, featuring Eugene.

Yeah, so this is the lead single from RM's solo album called Indigo, which was really, released in December of last year. And I feel like this song is like a wonderful showcase of, I think, his strengths as the leader and one of the main songwriters of the group. He's like the only member who's fluent in English. And when you just look at his lyrics, if you take the time to look at both like the English lyrics, the Korean translations as well, he does so much wordplay. He's very poetic. He is also a student of hip-hop. He's very philosophical, loves art. And the album that this comes from, Indigo, is almost entirely collaborations with other artists. So there's the rapper Tablo from Epic High, a Korean hip-hop group.

Been on the show before. Erica Badu. Not been on the show before. I love to talk with Erica. Anderson Pak. And so, you know, I actually spoke with RM last December ahead of this album coming out. And the way he described this album was sort of as a, he's creating almost like an exhibition of his 20s of his youth and sort of referencing all the different people and sounds who have inspired him. You know, it's sort of a showcase for his different stylistic interests and sensibilities. And with this song, you can tell he's interested in being like a pretty technical rapper. It's sort of this epic hip-hop ballad. It's very narrative-driven, very insistent, sincere.

And he collaborated with Eugene, who is a vocalist from the Korean rock band Cherry Filter. And I mean, her voice, like the contrast between their two voices is so, is I think, like, the focal point of this song. And in addition, the, I think the song is called Wildflower, but the central image is the, what he invented, something called a flower work, which is sort of like fireworks, but with flowers where, you know, referring to when you throw the petals of flowers into the air and emphasizing a beauty that's more delicate and meaningful and quiet in contrast to the spectacular fireworks, which someone like him who's used to performing in stadiums is so used to. It's all about loud, bright, big. And I think in this album, he's really taking a step back into a more kind of contemplative mode, which I think is the place that he's really comfortable with. And at the same time, this song does feel sort of immersive and all-consuming

as you're listening to it. The production of the song then is really fitting for this metaphor flower work because there are moments that are over the top and explosive, and then there are other times where it is really quiet and pulls back. Yet through it all, you have R.M's flow. We've done a whole show on The Art of Flow on Switched on Pop. And he is a rapper where you, even if you don't understand the Korean, you can immediately identify his style.

There's such a percussiveness to how he raps. I agree, Charlie. And I was also pretty blown away when Eugene appears in the song about halfway through. It's like there's no, I feel like whereas R.M. kind of builds up over the course of his flow, like introducing more polyrhythm and singing. Eugene just arrives and she's like, here I am. Let me just like sail into these crazy upper ranges of my voice. And you're like, whoa. And I have to say, this is not my style of song. Like I don't really vibe with the hard ballad, heavy rock drums, hip hop combo thing.

It's not my thing at all. But I like this track. The emotional vulnerability, even through translation, is evident that it pulls me in. I would listen to this to get like pumped up for a basketball game or something in the locker room. Right before going into Dreamers. Speaking of which, where should we go next? What else were we hearing from the BTS solo releases? Yeah, so I think the next place we're going will be to Jimin and his song Like Crazy.

Jimin is the first vocalist in BTS to put out a full studio album. It's fairly short. It's only about five songs long. It also includes a hidden track. But Like Crazy is the title song. He also has a version in English and they've dabbled in synth pop before. but this is just so like 80s weekend vibe. Yeah, heavy the weekend, blinding lights kind of thing.

Mm-hmm. It just goes so well with Jimins, very central, breathy, and his voice floats above all the stuff that's going on. It's so distinct. Like, he has one of the voices, I think, in BTS. He can go the highest. And I think that just fits so well with this song, which is really about losing yourself.

And I think that's very clear. Even, again, if you don't understand Korean, He says, like, I'm falling. Don't try to save me. I'd rather be lost in the lights. It's all about being on this journey with yourself. The post-chorus has the lyric, Give Me a Good Ride. And I feel like this song really does take us for a ride.

It looks like even through the visuals. But we can't capture it on Switchdown Pop. You have to hear the whole song. By the time you've gotten through the end of the very first post-coris, you've heard eight distinct musical sections. There's an intro. The first and second verse are their own thing. There's a pre-chorus.

There's a chorus. There's a post-chorus. After the post-course, there's two instrumental sections. There's like an interlude, followed by a second interlude with this sort of like acid house baseline. Before we finally come back around to our third verse. So you really do go for a musical ride. It is fitting to be in this synth wave sound, his voice floating high. You feel as though you're riding through the streets of Los Angeles in a really great sports car at dusk.

The lights popping up in the city. That's what I'm capturing from it. I know we have one more artist to listen to, but at this point, I'm feeling some admiration for the way that each of these solo efforts, really carves out its own musical lane, its own kind of stylistic home that doesn't really step on the toes of anything else that the other members are doing. I have to imagine there's some sort of central planning involved in that, but it doesn't feel overly calculated to me.

It sounds like these artists are kind of expressing what they want to say and leaning into that in a way that creates these separate musical identity. entities and ensures that no one is like, wait, you're doing, you're also doing like a lo-fi New York throwback hip-hop sound? That's awkward. I'm doing that too. It's like it's very, it's very successful in establishing like, here's who we all are and we're each doing our own thing. Yeah, I think we were smart in how we chose the songs to highlight, but I would also say that, you know, each of the records, if you listen to them as a whole, they are very sonically diverse. And there are some times where like the sounds might be a little bit more similar or like some of the genres might bleed into one another, which I think is like kind of a lovely thing about again being able to see BTS just go and follow their own interests.

But I think you're right in that the title tracks at the very least, they all do. You're not going to get them confused for one another. Back to Jim in for a second with like crazy. This song is also notable because it's the first solo Korean singer to have a number one debut. on Billboard Hot 100. And that's a very exciting moment, but it's also the fastest for this song to fall from number one. Will you tell us a little bit about how the campaign to get this song to number one happened

and what the fallout has been? Because I've been seeing this making rounds and new cycles. We could honestly have a whole hour to talk about the historical sort of way that the fandom has interacted with charts and built the Billboard charts specifically crazy, got to number one on the Hot 100 debuted there and someone who has a lot of Army friends who are very involved in coordinating things, organizing.

A lot of the chart rules have changed over the years as especially BTS is in their solo era. Now, I think there were lower expectations for what we could achieve in terms of getting one of the

members up to number one without any radio play, which is what happened with Like Crazy. And so I would say, They, fans would dispute the language of it was the fastest to fall, and they would say that it was more pushed down. Because, like crazy, was so heavily physical sales driven to the top. Yeah. In addition to some streaming, but mostly physical sales. And that has been where Army's strength has been as an organizing tactic for getting BTS to the top of the charts,

which was never really the goal in and of itself. it was always just a tool to get them more attention from the mainstream. And I think what's unfortunate is that when I listen to Light Crazy, I hear an amazing radio song as well. I can see this playing everywhere. And fans tried really hard to request the song and the English version at radio stations across the country and didn't really get those spins.

And so I think there was both the elation and like the high of saying, like, wow, Jimon broke this record. And then the following week where there were some rule changes that are kind of vague. And so fans didn't really know how to anticipate them, how to prevent the song from going down the charts. And so, yeah, I would say it's pretty complicated. My understanding, there's long-running criticisms as well as to how Billboard continues to emphasize radio play. And radio has historically not included Korean language music. Also within streams, how streams get counted, sometimes super-suffer.

streamers get discounted from the actual overall volume of numbers. And so, like, there's all kinds of ways in which the actual listening and fandom may not be captured by the ever-changing bean counting of various charts. Okay, so at this point, I'm very curious to hear what sort of lyrical and musical profile we're going to hear from our last remaining member we're going to listen to today. So what's the next song? Who's it by? And what's it all about? Yeah, so the last song that we'll be talking about a new song from the new era is from Sugar, and the song is called People Part 2. Sugar actually released this song under his solo persona August D, and this is off his forthcoming album, D-Day, which is out April 21st.

So this is the only song that has been released so far from it, but it's the pre-release track. It's going to be his first studio album, but his third record overall. And actually, this album is going to be the final record of a trilogy that kind of traced his emotional and psychological arc. He's known as a, he's one of the rappers. He's known for being very, very personal, deeply introspective. And it's really interesting to listen to him in comparison to someone like RM, because they're both rappers.

They're both like students of hip hop. They, you know, you can tell they have different flows. They have different styles. And at the same time, I guess I would say that this song, he has talked about it being written during early in the pandemic. And so this song is very much about loneliness, about being just with yourself, and about maybe arriving at a place of sort of resignation or acceptance after years of turmoil, of overthinking of second-guessing yourself. And its first mixtape, August D, was very,

I mean, he's even described it as being very angry, very raw, very painful, you know, very hard rapping, very explicit from the perspective of being a really young person who was very angry at a lot of things in the world. And so in contrast, this song is so measured. It's really just the voice of IU, who is maybe the biggest solo. in female soloist in Korea. She opens the song. This is the second time they've actually collaborated together. But really, she's, you know, she's there for the chorus and other little parts.

But the focus is on his voice. And he's just kind of in this confessional mode. I like how you call it confessional, because we're leaning so heavily into a sort of 90s R&B vibe, and that style wants confessional kind of lyrics, usually maybe more romantic than personally introspective, but you can feel the vibe of what he is rapping about embedded within that very, again, throwback, nostalgia kind of thing,

but to a different place than other members have taken us. You almost expect like a spoken word. interlude at some point where it's like, here's what I've been feeling. Let me break it down for you. You know, in the music video for this, it opens with a scene of him like going and sitting in a director's chair. And then at the end of the song, it's like him explaining sort of like the context of when this was written, which is very unusual for him. Like he doesn't, I don't think he likes to over explain his own lyrics. But I think it was helpful context. And also just like the way he's presenting the song feels very, like,

auteur-ish. It's like, you know, this is me finishing a trilogy, defining myself, and I'm sort of telling you how to interpret it, telling you the context of how I wrote it. And then also, you notice that the song is called People Part 2. The first song, People, came out in 2020 as part of his second album or his second mixtape,

which was called D2. And that's maybe my favorite, sugar solo song ever. And it's actually, I think it's a very meaningful song for a lot of fans. It's just very, it's a beautiful song. It's also very emotional in a way that this song isn't necessarily. This song is a little bit more restrained. And so again, you can see that growth in him as someone who was at a point where he's still still in his feelings or he was still in his feelings and trying to figure out what it means to be a famous person that so many people listen to. And I think in this song, you can really feel some more comfort with that place, comfort with himself.

And I think that comes through again, even if you don't understand the lyrics. And I think I should also mention that you probably notice that the chorus is not a very straightforward chorus, even though it's in English. It feels kind of like Zen koan-esque, where there's like the double negatives. and you have to kind of sit with it like it's poetry for a little bit. So time is yet now right here to go. I know you know anything does know. So time is yet now right here to go

nobody doesn't know anymore. Okay. And now Charlie will explain what that means to us. Be here now in the present moment and contemplate the profundity. of everything. I like the line nobody doesn't know. It's like, yeah.

Who holds knowledge and expertise? It's like we all do. Exactly. It's one that you can both contemplate seriously, but it is also one that sings really well. A lot of nice vowels in there. Yes. This is so much fun to listen to all of these effort.

What is next? So first of all, I can count. We've discussed six songs. and there are seven members of BTS. So part of me is like, okay, there's someone's missing. I want to know about them. And then I also want to know like what's next for all of these members, Lenica. Yeah.

So we cannot, we cannot wear an OT7 podcasts. We have to talk about all seven members. And as I mentioned, saying that for everyone to know, I mean, when we were talking about Junkook, I did mention that Dreamers wasn't, you know, it's not part of his debut solo album or record. And we're still waiting for that from him. And we're still waiting from that from the member V,

who is the second youngest. He's also one of the vocalist. I wish we were listening to him because he has such, he has the most distinctive voice in BTS. He has this like beautiful, soulful baritone that's also capable of hitting some of those higher notes. He actually hasn't come out with a new solo song in a little bit. He had a couple of OST original soundtrack songs for different K-dramas.

I'm just really excited to hear what his solo project is going to sound like. I think he's someone who's been constantly working on it, but then he'll spoil songs or like just start playing them during his live streams with fans. And then he's like, yeah, I'm cutting that song because I've spoiled it for you. So he's like, yeah, I guess I wish I had more. to say about what we're going to hear from him. But he's someone who, I think his voice can work really, really well with both, like, sultry R&B songs. Like, the song's Singularity is one of the first songs by him that I heard.

It's, it's like, it's a stunning song. At the same time, you can also hear him doing more, like, stadium rock songs, like, like inner child. I think he's also. personally taste-wise drawn to jazz and kind of more old school music. So that would have been an interesting way to round out this if he had come out with

a new solo song during this era. I know, because I know another baritone who really enjoys jazz, and I'm looking at him right now. That would have been... Yeah, my ears definitely perked up with a mention of the J-word. That's intriguing. Okay.

But where does this maybe even go beyond Vee and Junkh's next release is, what's happening for BTS as a group where where are things going? Yeah, so I think right now, again, as I said, we're expecting the second member to enlist any any day now. And that means that two of the seven are going to be not able to release new music for a while. And so right now we're just in this, yeah, we're just in this phase of waiting for for each member to kind of have his time in the sun to really focus on what his musical kind of like self-definition is going to be. And that's how it's been so far. It doesn't mean that we're only hearing from one member at any given time. They're

all kind of working on things constantly. And in one of the jokes that Army has is like when they first announced this, you know, quote unquote hiatus, we were like, oh my gosh, what are we going to do without any BTS music for for three years? It's going to be terrible. Like we're going to have be able to get all this other, we're going to have to get all this other stuff done in our lives. And actually, it's been so busy, they're constantly coming out with stuff that it feels like as soon as one member has sort of finished promotion cycles, the next one is starting up. And so it has been, it has been, it has been busy. And I think in terms of the future, we're going to get Shugga's, or Shugas Auguste studio album, then also Junkh and V.

And then I think beyond that, like everyone's going to enlist. And there's going to be a period, potentially where all of them are in the military and we won't be getting anything new. But then potentially by that point, Jin might get out and maybe he's going to work on his own full solo album. I think that's all we can expect right now. It's a notable moment because it's very unusual that a group will announce a hiatus and then collectively work together to promote and grow the profile of said group. because every hiatus has a comeback tour, right? And whenever this comeback tour is going to happen, whenever the next big BTS release will happen,

it might be three years or more. Surely they are setting themselves up for one of the biggest comebacks in history, no pun intended. It's also rare to see a group of this stature navigate the transition to solo artist status with such kind of grace. Usually it's like someone is pissed off

and they split off and like do their own thing and everyone has to like scramble to like figure out how they're suing each other. Yeah, are we going to stick together without them? Are we all going to break? Like what are we going to do? This is like very managed, very adults, I might say. It's like, so it's a very grown up transition they're doing

and I think that's pretty cool. If you're someone who is getting into BTS more through their solo work and you're intrigued by a particular member, I would say also to check out BTS's. work as a whole, like both the solo music that they've released and then also their group work because I think what's so special is like seeing how their individual strengths also work together. And so, you know, certainly you can listen to whomever you like, but I always have to plug for for BTS as a whole. You're egging us on from being casual listeners to just going

full on into the rabbit hole. There's not going back. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So we'll be hanging on listening to these releases and seeing what's to come. Lenica, thank you so much for joining us. It's been an absolute pleasure getting to dive into this music with you. This was truly the best, and I loved hearing both of your insights on BTS's music. Thanks for having me. Thanks. We learned a lot.

We have only scratched the surface of BTS solo recordings. So sound off at Switch on Pop on Instagram and Twitter and tell us what we miss that you love from the solo efforts of BTS. We are here for us. And also make sure to pick up Lenica Cruz's book on BTS. You can read her writing in the Atlantic and follow her at Lenica Cruz on social media. Switched on Pop is produced by Raina Cruz, edited by Art Chung, engineered by Brandon McFarlane. Illustrations by Iris Gottlieb, Community Management by Abby Barr.

Our executive producer is Nash-Kirwa. We're member of the Vox Media Podcast Network and a production of Vulture. You can find more of our episodes at switchedonpop.com and on social media at Switchdown Pop on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. We'll be back again next. week when what are we talking about next week? We have a musical detective story trying to answer a gripping question. Who killed the key change in pop music? Oh, cool.

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