On May 29, BTS held a press conference in commemoration of its winning BBMAs Top Social Artist award at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul. You know, BTS certainly made new k-pop history by becoming the first ever k-pop idol group who's awarded at the Billboard Music Awards. At the press conference, the members looked so happy, and they expressed their gratitude to their fans. Check out what they talked about at the event.
Q. When your team name was announced at the BBMAs, how did you feel?
J-Hope: I just want to thank our fans. I still can't believe it.
Jimin: It was just an honor to attend Billboard Music Awards. I can't believe it, and I thank A.R.M.Y for their great support.
Rap Monster: We could win the award thanks to our fans.
Jungkook: It was just an honor to attend the awards. I was very nervous, but I was happy that we could enjoy the festival with so many famous artists.
Jin: I want to thank our fans, and I think we could win the award thanks to many senior idol groups who have introduced k-pop to the whole world. We'll try our best to help junior idol groups too.
Suga: I was dazed for a moment. I was happy that I could see many famous artists, and especially, it was great to see Drake.
V: I thank A.R.M.Y for their great support. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest on the red carpet.
Q. Did you expect to win the award?
Rap Monster: It was just an honor to walk on the red carpet of Billboard Music Awards. There were so many cameras, and I couldn't even stay focused. It was like a festival for everybody including artists and medias. There were more than 100 medias and we were interviewed by more medias than expected. And it was really hot because it was over 35 degrees.
Jin: I was very surprised because there were so many medias. And I was also very surprised because famous magazines such as Rolling Stone commented about us.
J-Hope: We appeared in a special show and taught the choreography of "Fire". My heart was filled with pride at that time.
Q. Are you planning to collaborate with foreign artists?
Suga: The Chainsmokers invited us to their rehearsal. I think will have a good chance.
V: I love Celine Dion and she invited us to her show. Even though we couldn't attend the show due to our tight schedules, it was an honor to be invited by her.
Q. Are you going to make an official debut in the United States?
Rap Monster: We're not thinking about it, but we'll steadily communicate with our fans in the country. As we're a Korean group, I think it's better for us to sing in Korean. This is our style, and we're confident in it.
Jimin: Frankly speaking, I envied Rap Monster when he have a speech in English because there's so much I wanted to talk about. But, my heart was filled with pride when I said in Korean too.
Q. You know, it's notable that you won BBMAs Top Social Artist award, beating Justin Bieber, who's won the award 6 years in a row. What makes BTS better than Justin Bieber?
Rap Monster: Well, we have 7 members.
Jimin: I think it's our consistency. We always try to post our new photos and videos for our fans.
Q. Tell me about 2017 BTS FESTA.
Jin: It's our festival, and we've prepared so many contents. Please look forward to it.
Suga: Yeah, we've prepared a lot of things, and I hope you will enjoy them.
J-Hope: We made a lot of efforts. Please look forward to it.
Q. What do you think is the difference between you and PSY, who's achieved great success on the Billboard chart years ago?
Rap Monster: I think he could create a sensation because his music video became so popular all over the world. It was a dramatic case. On the other hand, we could win BBMAs Top Social Artist award because we've been constantly trying to communicate with our fans on SNS. And we sang and danced with all our heart and soul. Of course, we're not to be compared with PSY. We're still in our infancy.
Q. Tell me about your tough times.
Suga: You know, we're a boy group of a small agency, and I was really happy when I had only 1,000 followers even though I have more than 2 million followers now. We had many worries, and we couldn't sleep well due to our anxiety about the future. However, I think we could become one because we had tough times.
Rap Monster: A year before we debuted, Jimin and I walked on a bridge and I told him "Let's come back her after achieving success". I went to the bridge yesterday. And before we debuted, J-Hope and I talked about our worried about the future at a convenience store.
Q. Why do you think you became so popular?
Jin: We tell about our own story through our music, and we show powerful dance performance. And I think our fans like us because we started at the bottom of the ladder. We have great team work too.
Suga: Yeah, team work. One day, I just took a breath in the bathroom. By the way, Jungkook noticed that it was me, haha.
Q. What's next for you?
Rap Monster: We'll hold our concert in Japan. And we're currently working on our new album. We'll make a comeback with great music and performance later this year. I promise we'll work really hard.
<K-pop Secret Vol.1: 40 Korean Stars’ Real Personality>
K-pop Secret Vol.1 contains stories about the real personality of 40 Korean stars. The author, who has interviewed more than 100 Korean celebrities since 2010 tells the story of famous Korean stars including G-Dragon, Baekhyun, Nichkhun, IU, Suzy, Kim Soohyun, Lee Kwangsoo, Song Joongki, Jun Jihyun, Park Shinhye and more.
iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1225053074
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y12BM3D