[INTERVIEW] 140824 - Rap Monster: “‘Dark & Wild’? It’s what the group is”

Although BTS, who chanted “I want to become your oppa. I’m starving for your love” in ‘Boy in Luv’ have succeeded in love, they have come back as boys who are worried because of love. As much as it is their official full album after a year and 2 months of debuting, their looks have become one step more matured.

Through this album, BTS is not only talking about love. As much as the members have personally participated in this album, they set up the album title 'Dark & Wild’, as a base and expressed a lot of thoughts as a singer and men in their 20’s through songs.

MBN Star met BTS’ leader Rap Monster who participated a lot in this album and heard the behind story to the 'Dark & Wild’ album.

Q: What was the reason you chose 'Dark & Wild’ as your main title?

A: 'Dark & Wild’ came out as we talked with Bang Sihyuk PD. At first, it was kind of hard to place the words of 'Dark & Wild’ to BTS. However, I thought a lot about it, and our music criticizes the bad points of society and pokes fun at it a lot. I thought that that side of us was dark. And we also always wore dark clothes. That’s why we decided to express 'Dark & Wild’.

Q: You participated a lot in this album, but did you place an emphasis on a certain spot?

A: I think it’s always the same. I think I pay the most attention to the lyrics. There’s a lot of things to prioritize. There are the beats, lyrics, and raps, but compared to other groups, our group is quite heavy on the lyrics. We also have a lot of rapping to. Since there are a lot of things we can say and want to say, I think I pay most attention to the lyrics.

Also, another thing that I really paid close attention to during this album was the sound parts like mastering or mixing. In order to show off a true American feel, I also worked in America personally as well. In order to create a good sound, the song traveled from Canada to America to France and it just went all around the world. It probably cost a lot too, but the company put in a lot of money since it’s our first full album. I’m thankful. (Laughter)

Q: I heard that there’s something you want to request towards the audience that will be listening to this album.

A: Yes. We created the album tracklist from the start to the end with the thought that you would listen to it from start to finish in mind. There’s an interlude in the middle, so you can see that interlude as a midpoint where the 'dark’ would be the songs in the middle and afterwards it would be 'wild’.

To be honest, when an album comes out on a music site, people tend to listen to the title song and just pick out a few songs they enjoy, but I hope you would feel that “the music that they want to do is this”, while you listen to it. The things we want to say are all included in this.

Q: Then what’s the thing that BTS wants to eventually express with this album?

A: I wanted to express the thoughts of men in their late 10’s and early 20’s. Also there’s 2~3 tracks that talk about love. There may be people who say that 'love stories aren’t hip-hop’, but we put it in because we believe that it’s an important keyword for those in their 10’s~20’s.

Q: You worked on this album in America. What are some differences from working overseas and working in Korea?

A: Honestly, when writing lyrics and composing, it’s all the same. I just have my cellphone or the laptop in front of me and I work hard. However, the difference is that as I was finishing the title song, I couldn’t organize the lyrics even though the melody for the title was complete. So I sat in front of the garden in front of our work studio in America, and turned on the song and the lyrics just suddenly came to me. Should I say that I received a new influence? At that time, I thought that 'I could probably write 10 songs a day’ if I sat there. Since the mood is different through the atmosphere, I think there was that.

Also, we did our recordings in one of the top three places in the world, but it was really good. But somewhere inside, it felt uncomfortable. I think working in front of my $100 microphone in my own work studio is the most comfortable. (Laughter) Korea’s the best.

Q: When you worked on this album, was there a difference from the route Bang PD-nim wanted to go and the route you wanted to go towards?

A: Many people think that, but there isn’t a certain type of music that Bang PD wants to do. There’s music that he wants to show through us, but he doesn’t enforce it. He entrusts the music to us. He always throws the questions of, “What’s the music that you guys want to do? What’s the topic you want to use?” He also gives us advice next to us, so that we can improve. Since whatever comes out that was is the best.

To be honest, 'Boy In Luv’ wasn’t a track that was supposed to go tha way. It wasn’t supposed to give off a childish vibe and the whining of “why are you shaking my heart”, but as I worked on the lyrics, it came out that way. However, thankfully the reactions were good. Maybe that’s why, but he gives me a lot more freedom.

Q: Then as you worked on this album, what were the fun points and difficult points?

A: When I participated in the vocals? At first, Bang PD honestly said this. Do I really need to sing. However, I pushed towards it. I participated in the song Suga hyung made, 'Let Me Know’, as well as '24/7=Heaven’. If I were to pick a difficult point, it would have to be the everlasting enemy of idols, sleep? I think that’s it.

Q: You made this album while going on an overseas tour. So I feel like the time part of it may have been the largest difficulty, but it’s unexpectedly not?

A: This full album wasn’t something we started after saying 'Let’s make a full-album!’, but something where we organized and drew up the songs we made since we debuted, so we didn’t work on it intensely. Ah, I had a lot of trouble due to the Cypher track though. Since there are many people who show interest in it normally, I save that till the end. I had no choice but to go against it. Since I need to write it desperately when there’s nowhere else to run to.

Q: Then where did you write the Cypher?

A: Although we went around the globe, I ended up writing it in Korea. I tried writing it in the plane, but I almost got kicked out while trying to write it there. Because of the noise on the plane, I thought I would be okay and rapped, but everyone around me started staring at me. I immediately wrapped it up. So then, I came to Korea, turned off all the lights in my studio and did it as I yelled 'Cypher!!’. J-Hope finished the cypher work first, but I was more jealous of that than anything else in the world. Suga hyung probably thought the same too.

Q: The music work is basically done by the three of you, Rap Monster, Suga, and J-Hope? Are there any collisions musically?

A: Rather than say we collide, there are times when our opinions split. We each have our own colors and personal tastes. J-Hope is the type to collect information while Suga hyung and I just kind of go towards it. But we still always find something good musically. If two of us collide, then we first write the songs separately. Then we allow the members, producers, and Bang PD-nim to listen to it. Then we set a vote.

Q: When all the songs come out, how does the producing for BTS go overall? Is Bang PD the main producer?

A: No. Suga hyung, J-Hope, Pdogg hyung and I do most of it together. Pdogg hyung is the hands-on worker. He’s the real main producer, while Bang PD is the coach. Supervising the entire album? There’s a song called 'Blanket Kick’, and he only participated in that album. He normally comments by saying, “I like this, I like that.”

Q: Then you’re personally participating in the producing, but is there a member whose future you anticipate the most?

A: It’s Jungkook for me. Although I don’t know how much more Jungkook will improve, he’s good at various things, and doesn’t lack in anything. He’s good-looking, and he has a lot of greed, so he’s proficient in instruments and sports. He’s good at everything except being funny. To be honest, when it’s just us, Jungkook is the funniest. But he freezes when he goes out on broadcast. (Laughter) I feel like in the future, if Jungkook just cracks one last thing, he’ll be able to improve a lot, so I anticipate Jungkook the most.

Q: Is there something you want to hear from the public through this album?

A: “Their music is really good”, I want to hear this. To be honest, there’s a large divide between liking or disliking when people hear our group name, so when the public thinks “these kids with a funny name are trying to do hip-hop”, and listens to our songs with repulsion, I hope that they can be like, “After listening to it, it’s good.” We also worked really hard on each and every song, so I feel confident too. I hope that you would listen to all the tracks and not just the title song.

Trans cr; Hyejin @ bts-trans

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