Friday bonus: Which solo BTS project was best?
This is maybe the most controversial thing I've ever done...
Ever wonder what that little superscript “7” means in the bio of the BTS fan accounts you run into on social media? Or perhaps you yourself have been asked before if you were OT7. These are BTS ARMY bat signals - you can have a bias, sure, but at the end of the day, when you call yourself ARMY, you are agreeing to love each of the seven members of BTS equally.
ARMY are not afraid to go to bat for this rule, and their battle cry is the quote from BTS member V: "Please love all 7 of us, without leaving any member out." The primary targets of their wrath are so-called “solo stans” who flagrantly flout V’s directive by only supporting one member.
All that being said, I’m gonna go out on a very large limb here and say Mr. Kim Taehyung would probably be ok with you saying you like his album best out of all the BTS solo releases of the past year.
So please forgive me (I promise I am 100000% ARMY) as I dive into the inevitable boy band post-breakup debate (just a break, I know, they’re coming back in 2025, I know!) and rank the BTS members’ solo releases. I’m going to be brutally honest here, so click away now if that is going to upset you. It’s coming from a place of love!
Right off the bat, I want to say we need to distinguish between the releases from the rap line and the vocal line. The rap line have always been the beating heart of BTS, writing, producing and featuring heavily especially at the beginning. They had each released solo projects prior to hiatus and have strong visions of their own artistry. None of the vocal line had released solo projects prior to hiatus, except for OST songs. They also each came into BTS much less experienced than their rap line counterparts. So, in general, we can say I was expecting more from rap line than vocal line releases.
Let’s get to it! I want to put Jin’s The Astronaut (105 million views) at the bottom of the pile for a few reasons. First of all, I don’t think he would mind. Kim Seokjin, the brilliant mind between Super Tuna, is not someone who has a track record of taking his solo music super seriously. Second, he only released a single, not an album. The downside of being the oldest and having the least amount of time before having to enlist! And finally, I think it’s kind of cheating to release what is basically a Coldplay song! Of course it’s going to be fantastic!
With that out of the way, I’ll get into the harder stuff. This is controversial, but honestly outside of Seoul and Winter Flower, I’m not a huge fan of RM’s solo work. Many very serious artists collaborated with him on his debut studio album Indigo, released in December 2022. The lead single was Wild Flower, not to be confused with (and not as good as IMO) Winter Flower. The album was a Very. Important. Album. that got a lot of acclaim and Billboard called it the best Kpop album of 2022, but it just didn’t do anything for me.
Moving on! Coming in at number five then is Jimin, who released Face in March 2023 with lead single Like Crazy. Park Jimin is a precious human being, and I found the thought process behind this five track album really moving. Check out his interview with fellow member Suga for some real insight - apparently, around the time of the Permission to Dance tour in Las Vegas (Spring 2022), Jimin was really struggling mentally and self medicating with alcohol. The fact that he was honest about this and used the creation of this album to confront and process his feelings is remarkable and I admire and appreciate him so much. However for me personally, most of the album is not to my taste.
Next up, J-Hope - I really really really loved the incredibly cool Arson and On the Street with J. Cole. I have so much respect for the vision J-Hope had for his solo career and how well and quickly he was able to pull it off. Album! Lollapalooza! Paris Fashion Week! Bam bam bam and then surprise early enlistment! My sense from both the hiatus announcement luncheon video and the body of work he’s put out since is that he was a strong voice in the pro-taking a break camp. I wouldn’t be surprised it he was a bit desperate to take his J-Hope persona in a different direction than the BTS version of J-Hope which all sunshine and rainbows. However, Jack in the Box as an album (released July 2022 with lead single More) was not as strong throughout as the several singles that I loved. But I have faith in his creativity and am excited to see what he puts out in the future!
Ahhh the top three is so hard for me! And this is also where I have some serious complaints about management and promotion.
I’m going to put Jungkook in third only because of these top three albums, his is the most generic. It is an incredible achievement nonetheless - a full length studio album completely in English that is stuffed full of great pop songs. The only downside is that it’s not particularly personal or innovative. But pop music doesn’t have to be diaristic or intensely personal to still be fantastic. Jungkook released some amazing singles over course of 2023 until the magical Standing Next to You. The sheer star power that this man has. I mean he has been the center of BTS since he was 15 years old, so what did we expect, but still. If you were paying attention to his chaotic livestreams throughout late 2022/early 2023 you will know that he actually really struggled with direction and purpose after the hiatus was announced. So it’s really impressive that he pulled himself together and put out this little slice of pop heaven. And the fact that the album dropped in November 2023 and then he enlisted in December 2023? HYBE has some explaining to do. Only one month of promo for an all English album? I mean they just released an Usher remix of Standing Next to You. You’re telling me a guest appearance at the Super Bowl was never discussed? Listen, if this man has missed his shot at becoming an international superstar and by 2025 his window has closed, I will never forgive HYBE.
I’m putting Suga in second. I think Min Yoongi is a freaking genius and he’s so flipping talented. Of the three albums he’s now released under the name Agust D, I don’t think D-Day (released in April 2023) is my favorite, but I still think it’s extremely good. Lead single Haegeum is the sister song to my beloved Daechwita, aka the song that made me go “wait this guy is in BTS? This is what BTS is?” There are so many other excellent tracks on this album, including thesis statement Amygdala during which Agust D finally addresses all the trauma he has stored in his amygdala and sets himself free, ending the trilogy of albums. As always, Suga’s creative vision and talent really shine.
Finally, and this was a surprise to me, but my favorite BTS member solo project is Layover by V, released in September 2023 with lead single Slow Dancing. I already talked about it a bit in my post about jazz and Kpop, but the success with which V mixed his appreciate for jazz with pop here is really fresh and I think has already had a strong influence on other artists. It really shouldn’t have surprised me, V’s OST singles are incredible (all hail queen Sweet Night) and he partnered with the creative director of NewJeans to deliver this album. However, I have to echo what I said earlier about Jungkook, because I think V was let down by the promotion of this album. It genuinely could have been a really huge success. Not that it wasn’t successful, but any true ARMY knows that V is chaotic. I think in the packaging and promotion of this album, they let V get a little too chaotic and all over the place so it really appealed only to ARMY when it could have had a much more universal appeal. Of course ARMY loves Yeontan (V’s dog) so the album cover and appearance at the music show was loved by ARMY but to an external viewer, it’s a distraction from what was a really excellent album!
OK so there you have it - my thoughts on each BTS member’s solo projects. It seems like we have a few more projects in the pipeline while they are all enlisted, and there are less than 100 days until Jin completes his service! 2025 gets closer with every day, and if this hiatus has demonstrated nothing else it’s that part of the success of BTS is the immense charm and unique talent of each member. It will be so exciting to continue to watch what they create as individuals and as a group.
Please don’t kill me in the comments :) Borahaeeeee