Jimin Talks ‘FACE,’ President Joe Biden and BTS Bandmates: ‘We Keep in Touch’
It was a scream fest when BTS’ Jimin stopped by at NBC’s studios on Thursday night (March 23) for a chat with The Tonight Show’s host Jimmy Fallon.
The K-pop superstar looked relaxed in a trendy grey suit over a white t-shirt, as he smiled and waved to the noisy ARMY in the house. Straight off the bat, he thanked those fans for “their great support. I appreciate them.” That cranked up the decibels, again.
Jimin has a lot to smile about. His debut solo EP, FACE, has just dropped via HYBE LABELS – a six-track collection, which features the “intense” (his words) single “Set Me Free Pt.2,” a top 20 track on the midweek U.K. singles chart.
BTS was never far from the conversation. Though the band is on hiatus, a break to allow its seven members to fulfill South Korea’s mandatory military commitments, “we keep in touch,” he explained, “with J-Hope, Suga, everyone.”
They keep in touch, and they test music on each other. When a new song is “completed to some extent,” presumably including numbers from FACE, “that’s when we let one another listen to it,” he added.
Darting between Korean and English, Jimin discussed the “positive impact” of BTS meeting with president Joe Biden at the White House, and their talks with POTUS “about how more people should have keen interests in current issues.”
Jimin also revealed how he fell for song and dance during middle school, walked through his many and various nicknames (don’t call him “Jimin Fallon”), and gave a shout out to “Boy With Luv” collaborator Halsey — “she has a big heart and she has the talent that would make anyone starstruck. All our members love her.”
The new album, he explained in his native tongue, captures “the emotions I felt chronologically throughout the pandemic. So I would be happy if many people could relate to it.”
Watch the interview below.
Lars Brandle
Billboard