BTS, the Korean boy band who have been busting charts and winning hearts across the world, spoke exclusively to NDTV's Rohit Khilnani about music, India, the BTS Army (as their fans collectively refer to themselves) and much more. BTS, who count music maestro A R Rahman among their fans, will drop their new album BE on November 20. They became the first Asian and non-English speaking music act to sell out Wembley Stadium last year and featured on the cover of TIME magazine in 2018 as 'Next Generation Leaders.' Here is the full transcript of NDTV's interview with BTS members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook.
NDTV: Hello and welcome to NDTV. I am Rohit Khilnani. This is a very special show because we have very special guests. For the first time, BTS on NDTV. Hi guys, annyeonghaseyo
BTS: Namaste, we are BTS. Namaste. What's up.
NDTV: So good to see all of you. I wish I was there to see you in person. You have a lot of fans in India. There are BTS armies in India, that's what your fans call themselves. What do you want to tell the BTS Army in India? They're watching this interview right now.
BTS: We miss you, India army.
We know that many fans in India send us lots of support and love. Thank you for listening and relating to our music. We think that we connect on a deeper level through music that transcends language and barriers. Even though we can't see each other at the moment, we want to tell you how thankful we are to you.
NDTV: Great. Your fans in India made your song Dynamite number 1. It was on a music app in India for weeks at number 1, for 50 days. They are the ones who make this possible. What do you want to tell them? What does BTS want to convey to the world through their music?
BTS: First of all, thank you for the love and support, even though we haven't been there. It's crazy days these days so. I think we can't say just one thing. If the time passes by, and when these crazy things all finish, then we want to be there and see all the armies in India, and have this energy together, dance together, sing together. So we want to really, say namaste, to really be there and just give our voices in person.
NDTV: Great. You have a special connection with your fans, through your music. Especially at a time like this, during the pandemic, the lockdown, music has been a very good healer, right? Do you agree? Do you think music heals the toughest times?
BTS: I think more than ever, during this global pandemic, music transcends barriers, nationalities and age. It's encouraging for us to hear how our music gave some energy through a difficult period. And I think that the way to overcome this is for all of us to pull ourselves together.
NDTV: Right. And during this pandemic you've done concerts, you've contributed to so many charities, that's wonderful. I want to ask you, I watched your concert and I really enjoyed it, online. How do you motivate yourself for a virtual, for an online concert, where the crowd is not really in front of you?
BTS: Our fans are of course the driving force that motivates us. We are here today because of them. For this concert, we were able to see our fans through screens and we could also hear their voices. It's been such a long time since we last saw them, so it was a very emotional and overwhelming experience. We were also thankful that so many fans joined us to enjoy the concert. With the help of technology, we could narrow the gap between us and our fans, which makes us feel comfortable with online concerts.
NDTV: Great. Guys, you've been on the cover of Time magazine. You have spoken at the UN. You've been on the biggest talk shows in the world. You've had four number 1 albums on Billboard. Since the Beatles that's never happened. And you are all young. How do you guys stay grounded? Because fans are screaming all the time.
BTS: They are all amazing things that we still can't make sense of. There could be various factors that contributed to us coming this far, maybe it's our effort or timing, but we truly believe that the love and support from ARMY made all of this possible. That's the most important thing that keeps us grounded.
NDTV: Fantastic. Guys, in the past few months you've been dropping some hints about your next album BE. Do you want to explain to the audience watching, what is the process of your band in making music? Who in this band does what exactly?
BTS: It depends on tracks by tracks, and case by case. For this album I can't say many, many things. But every member did their part, even lyrics, tracks, ideas. Or even fashion, covers, anything.
Our members were very vocal about their opinions while working on this album. So we talked about various themes and emotions, and incorporated all of that into this album. We put ourselves a lot into this project.
NDTV: Right. And the second part of the question was, are there defined roles, who does what?
BTS: It's quite difficult to say who has done what. It was a collective effort where all of us did their best. There isn't a set role, and for this one in particular, all of us had a lot of input so it's hard to say who did what.
NDTV: Right. Maybe that's the secret of your success. I also want to ask, you have filled stadiums in different countries where people don't understand the language of the music that you make. Do you ever wonder how you connect so well, even though language is a barrier? Music clearly has no language.
BTS: There is no language barrier when it comes to music. We also listen to songs of various languages that we don't understand. Music is a medium that connects people. And we thank ARMY for enjoying our songs even though they don't speak the language.
NDTV: The most important question for the BTS Army in India, when are you guys coming here? Give us some idea of when they will see you perform live, in front of their eyes.
BTS: We want to see our fans in India and show them our performances. We hope that day will come soon when this pandemic comes to an end.
NDTV: Great. You know we can't wait for that and I speak for all BTS fans. Before we go, I have a small video your fans have made for you with some messages.
BTS: Love you. So sweet
BTS: We heard that ARMY in India have shown us great love and support. We want to tell them that we are eager to see you too and hope that day will come soon enough.
NDTV: Thank you so much. We hope you continue to make this amazing music that you make and continue to hail the world with your lovely music. Annyeonghaseyo. Thank you so much.
BTS: Thank you so much. See you in India.
