It’s been seven years since BTS began their ascent to the top of the music, and their new album, Map of the Soul: 7, ruminates on the past and what it means for the historic act’s present and future.
On release day (Feb. 21), the seven members of BTS sat down with Billboard while in New York City to discuss the album’s release and meaning, with RM alluding to the way the new LP is a love song of sorts to the band’s career.
“Love is not always about the good things,” he reflects. “When we love something or somebody, it’s like admitting, recognizing all the history that someone or something’s got. It could be shades and shadows, maybe some dark sides. So yeah, it’s basically a love song for our career.”
According to him, the lead single “ON,” also released that day, is about how “we might face some shadows or maybe disasters even from now on, but we already admitted these as part of ourselves. It’s like a big statement and a manifesto that we’re going to carry on.”
The members of BTS also discussed what they’ve learned over the last seven years, with V saying that he “learned the importance of what’s actually important and what’s really precious,” he says. “I learned that [BTS] are really important and precious people. I didn’t know any of these people, but seven, eight years that we’ve been living together, we’ve been together, I’ve learned that these are very important and precious people for me.”
Check out the video of BTS discussing Map of the Soul: 7 above.