It’s been about half a year or so since BTS announced that they’d be focusing more on solo projects while each of the seven members fulfill their mandatory military duties in South Korea. When BTS was fully immersed in their group activities, the content was non-stop, for years. Albums came in quick succession, they filmed multiple reality shows, they went on multiple tours – there were new videos and choreography and looks and award shows and etc etc etc… it was relentless. The fans were well fed. As a fan myself, I never felt like I was caught up. And that hasn’t changed. Because the solo work just keeps coming and coming. 

 

Jimin is up next. It was announced yesterday that his debut solo album, FACE, will drop on March 24th. 

According to the press release, the title of the album is a reflection of where Jimin is now as an artist, “facing himself head-on as he gets ready for his next steps”. There’s also a note in there specifically about dance – which likely means that along with the album, the visuals will include performance and choreography. 

 

The dance element totally tracks for Jimin. Jimin was the last member of BTS to join the group and he was studying dance before he entered the industry. He’s a versatile dancer – he can seamlessly go from contemporary to classic to pop to hip-hop and he makes it look effortless and he adds a lot of his own flair. It’s one thing to nail the choreo, it’s another to put some steeze into it and it’s not easy taking your eyes off Jimin when he’s moving with the music. 

So the fact that they made a point of including the dance detail in the announcement of his album sets up some expectations about how his music will be presented visually. We’re already getting a sense of what the rollout will look like as the label today shared the promotional schedule for FACE: 

 

First of all, I love the colour scheme here – which I mentioned a few weeks ago: pink and brown is my thing, and out of all the members of BTS, pink and brown suit Jimin best. The softness of the pink-brown combination, however, is offset by the disconnected lines in the logo. It’s an interesting choice and I’m curious to see how it matches the vibe of the music and the side of himself that Jimin will be showcasing for his first time out as a soloist and what his personal, individual style will be. 

But to go back to the pace of the content, Jimin’s not the only member of BTS on promotion right now. V is starring in a reality show. Jinny’s Kitchen premieres on Amazon Prime. This is V joining an existing franchise, previously called Youn’s Kitchen, named after Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, that features Korean celebrities working in hospitality around the world. V’s good friend, Park Seo Joon, has been part of it in previous seasons. His other good friend, Choi Woo-shik, joined last season. And now they’ve recruited V for a new season in Mexico running a restaurant that serves Korean street food. 

 

 

This is wild to me. And it should be wild to you. Like imagine Justin Bieber or Harry Styles doing this?! Imagine walking into a pop-up restaurant on holiday and one of the members of the biggest band in the world asking you if you want hot dogs?! 

So Jimin’s got his album, V’s serving hot dogs, Suga is heading out on tour soon and could also release his own album around the same time, and that would mean that V and Jungkook will be the last two on deck for their own solo releases, if that’s indeed what they want to do. And if that indeed is the plan they’ll all be enlisted within a year, or less…and meanwhile they’ve banked all kinds of content that should be rolling out in due time. Again, it’s the pace and the planning. The content doesn’t stop. Before we know it, it'll be 2025 and they’ll be reunited. And I will STILL be behind on my BTS homework.