When the final four members of BTS announced their enlistment for December of 2023, the Admin Team kicked the plans for ARMY Project 529 into full swing, planning a launch for January 1st, 2024, with our blog (writing about BTS’ discography chronologically) set to last the 529 days between then and FESTA 2025. We had no clue as we began the AP529 journey that while we fulfilled our original plan, we’d ALSO be covering a slew of NEW content and releases that the members had all prepared prior to enlisting. Some of that new content included solo songs and albums. Early 2024 brought us releases from V, j-hope, and RM. Naturally we began to speculate about the others, Jimin included, as well. He’d released FACE before the military, and then the single “Closer Than This” shortly after enlistment, but… did he have more coming out before his return?

On March 24, 2023, Park Jimin released his debut solo album, FACE. The pre-release track, “Set Me Free Pt 2” had dropped a week previously, showing all of us a VERY different Jimin from the one we were used to. This Jimin was dark—determined, and maybe a little angry? The world was really just completely shaking off the weight of the Pandemic at this point, still not quite used to living life at a normal pace again. Unable to fully move past what had happened to us all. When he began doing promotions for FACE, Jimin said several times that the album was a reflection of himself, and his personal struggles and emotions, mostly stemming from the Pandemic. It made sense—as you listen to the album, Jimin’s words seemed to echo what many of us were feeling at the time. FACE is full of contradictory emotions—frustration, anger, and intense loneliness one moment, and then liberation and a profound sense of gratitude in the next. Writing the album was how Jimin processed and overcame his struggles. Thinking back to what RM told him when he was trying to write “Promise”, he let music be his solution. This week we’ll examine what that process looked like for Jimin, and how his search for freedom led him to peer at the feelings deep within himself. His first album let him “face up” to the shit going on in his life and broke Billboard Music records at the same time.

In 2018, BTS was riding a huge wave of success, but they were also struggling to regroup after nearly disbanding at the beginning of that year. Outside, it was business as usual. There were comebacks to produce and promote and a tour to rehearse and prepare for. Inside, the members worked on reconnecting with not only each other, but their passion for being in BTS. Jimin—throughout WINGS two years prior and then in the beginning of the “Love Yourself” era—struggled extensively with imposter syndrome. Logically, he knew he had talent but he still didn’t think it was enough. That he was enough. Determined to find more he could contribute, he turned his hand to songwriting. He knew he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to do it. So he went to RM for advice, who told him, “Music is the solution.” In other words, trust the process and just be honest. So Jimin got back to writing, defaulting quite simply to what he does best—encouraging others. When he feels lost and depressed, he reaches out to make others happy, whether it’s ARMY or his other members. Over the next few years, we’d see this play out time and time again, including throughout the Pandemic. While he often can’t see the forest through the trees, what Jimin really is to BTS (and to his fans)—more than his astronomical talent—is love. And that love is more than enough.

It was when he was in middle school that Park Jimin became interested in dance and started attending Just Dance Academy, where he learned popping and locking. He decided to audition for an entertainment company a few years later at the suggestion of a teacher at his high school. This led him to Big Hit Entertainment—he passed his auditions and joined the company in 2012. Jimin jumped into his training head first, waking up earlier and going to bed later than everyone else. It was this work ethic, which his dance teachers had noticed in him years before, that would earn him the final spot in the lineup of the group that would become Bangtan Sonyeondan. Over the years after BTS’ debut this drive would lead Jimin down a path of intense self-criticism, soul-searching, and self-realization. While he would begin his career desperate to live up to the image everyone else had of him, eventually he’d come to realize that the best person he could give to BTS and his fans was just himself…

In mid 2022, BTS announced an upcoming break from group activities. During the Festa dinner where this happened, j-hope explained, “We need time to focus on ourselves, and who we are outside of BTS. So we can come back together even stronger.” He took his own words to heart—releasing Jack in the Box the very next month. He then embarked on a whirlwind of promotions and appearances for the rest of the year, tapping heavily into the performer/entertainer side of j-hope, and put the dancing he’d gotten his start in on the back burner. By the time the year was drawing to a close and he was getting closer to his military enlistment date, he was feeling lost. He was proud of what he’d accomplished, but unsure of who he was anymore, and of what the future was going to bring. In the final few months before enlisting he was yearning to get back to his roots, and ground himself. It was time to rediscover Hoseok, the dancer who existed before BTS. It was time to get back “on the street”.

In the “Intro” to Jack in The Box we learned that j-hope sees himself as the ‘hope’ left at the bottom of Pandora’s Box. He sees it as part of his destiny to combat all the negativity in the world. But in mid 2022, as he was getting ready to release the album, j-hope found himself reflecting on what else its theme meant. Aside from representing ‘hope’, he also felt that he was the doll (the “Jack”)—previously trapped inside the box, making music from inside. But now that the box was opened, he was able to spring free and make a different kind of music—one that allowed him to express his feelings more freely. It was something he’d been working on for years. His image he had cultivated as j-hope of BTS was one of laughter, positivity, and bright music. But as the group announced a break in their activities during that year’s FESTA, so the members could focus on solo efforts for a while, Hobi knew it was his time to step away from that image, and show his fans that there was more to j-hope than meets the eye. He wanted to show us that his ‘hope’ had evolved.

2018 was quite the year for j-hope. Not only did it mark the release of his first mixtape, HOPE WORLD, it also saw BTS negotiate an early (and very beneficial) contract renewal for the group. They had spent the previous year burning their collective candle at both ends, resulting in some very serious burnout amongst the members. The next few years saw monumental growth for BTS—both in artistic achievement and in global popularity. Though the COVID-19 Pandemic forced them to cancel a world tour and pivot all of their plans for 2020 and beyond, the way they used their time and platform during the lockdown to help their fans cope was nothing short of heroic inspiration. They gave us hope—which, after all, was j-hope’s entire mission statement. But the amount of energy he (and the others) gave away during that time was not without a price. The Pandemic caused both frustration and inspiration for j-hope, leading ultimately to the creation of his next solo project, JACK IN THE BOX.

Dance Leader. Rapper. Producer. Songwriter. Sunshine. Mood-maker. Happy Virus. Hob-ah. Jung Hoseok, the most mercurial member of BTS, is known by many names. He’s a man full of contradictions—unpredictable, yet steadfast… unfailingly cheerful, yet focused and deliberate… infinitely cool and swaggy, yet afraid of bugs—the list goes on. He was born on February 18, 1994 in Gwangju, South Korea, where he lived with his parents and older sister where he began studying hip hop and street dance at a young age. His foundation in dance instilled in him both fluidity and discipline and these qualities, plus his natural desire to work hard, helped him to quickly adapt to life at Big Hit Entertainment after joining in 2010. There, with the help of fellow trainees, he honed his voice, learning the fundamentals of rapping and songwriting, and adapted them to his own style. Over the next few weeks, we’ll watch Jung Hoseok become j-hope—continually leading the way and adapting the world around him to fit his own style, and inspiring his fans and fellow BTS members to do the same. From the early days all the way through revisiting his roots through the NEURON dance team, though he’s presented the image of an ever changing chameleon, his message to all of us has never wavered even for a moment: “I’m your hope, you’re my hope. I’m j-hope.”

From the moment he decided he wanted to be a Rapper, Min Yoongi began fighting to prove himself—whether it was to his parents, fellow musicians, or even himself—he was determined to make his mark on the world and show everyone exactly what he was capable of. He faced opposition time and time again, and over the years, SUGA poured his feelings of anger and frustration into writing his music—both in BTS and on his solo albums. By the time Yoongi was well into the creation process for D-DAY, he had learned from all the obstacles placed in his path, and turned them into lessons for moving forward toward the future. His determination became no longer driven by pride and anger, but rather by acceptance, gratitude, and love. At the outset, D-DAY, much like Yoongi’s previously released solos, comes in fast and hard, hurtling us down a familiar path. But as the album progresses, it becomes increasingly obvious that Yoongi, while creating it, not only found his dreams again, but that he wanted to help others do the same.