I think we're always doing something for teenagers and youngsters because BTS originally performed itself as a socially conscious band. We always wanted to sell our performances like we did with our debut.
I taught myself English. My English teacher was the sitcom 'Friends.' Back in the days when I was, like, 15, 14, it was like a syndrome for Korean parents to make their kids watch 'Friends.' I thought I was a victim at that time, but now I'm the lucky one.
In 2014, I knew my English was not so bad, but I had no confidence in talking directly to an English-speaking reporter. I had to do a short interview with, I think, Reuters from France. I was so nervous. I practiced memorizing three sentences for two hours. But, I think that these kinds of interviews make me develop a lot, and that helps me.
I get free life lessons from J-Hope and Jimin; sometimes it's like they're 10 years older than me.
My grades put me in about 5,000th place in all of South Korea. If I kept going down that path, I would've become a successful man with a regular job. However, I was positive I'd be number one in the country as a rapper. So I asked my mother whether she wanted to have a son who was a first-place rapper, or a 5,000th-place student.
I wake up. If I have a rehearsal, I go do that, and when I come back to the hotel, I sit down and turn on the laptop, 'cause I've got nothing to do without that!
I like learning. I've been studying Japanese for years now, but it's really hard.
I loved writing lyrics for rap when I was in junior high. I loved studying, but somehow I wanted to be a rapper who can write and rap.
In Korean, the word 'future' is made up of two parts. The first part means 'not,' and the second means 'to come.' In that sense, 'future' means something that will not come. This is to say the future is now, and our now is us living our future.
Music really transcends languages, and it means so much.
I've had to accept that - that everyone cannot love me. Because when there's love, there's hate. When there's light, there's dark. But it was really hard to accept as an artist that there's a lot of people that hate me, but on the other side, there are many more people who love me. I think everyone goes through that.
If you want to love others, I think you should love yourself first.
When I wrote the lyrics, melodies, and the first themes of 'Serendipity,' I tried to come up with some rare things you find in life, something very special, like the calico, three-striped cat; things that have extraordinary meanings in people's lives.
Our lyrics deal with real issues that face all humans: choices in life, depression, self-esteem. And the fans know that we are there for them, and they are there for us.
I'm always afraid of making mistakes. I think I was born with that.
Came from a song that I made from, like, 2012 - there was some phrase like 'Rap Monster', and I just, I thought it was so cool. But as I grow up, and as I came to America, I think it felt like too much. So I just abbreviated it to 'RM', and it could symbolize many things. It could have more spectrums to it.
In many countries, when I gave the name 'Rap Monster,' I often heard that it was 'too much.'
When we're talking about our title tracks, 'DNA' is about the expression of a young, passionate love.
We're on some path that's set since we're born, but I still believe we can change some things. So I believe in my faith, but I still don't believe in my fate.
We are so lucky because all our fans from around the world are great. We love all our fans from everywhere, and they want us to visit them. We will try! They are really the best fans we could wish for.
