BTS’ V let the ARMY in on some key details of his upcoming solo mixtape.
The K-pop group released a “BE-hind Story” teaser Thursday (Feb. 25), which shows all seven members interviewing one another about the recording process of their latest album BE, which earned them their fifth No. 1 studio effort on the Billboard 200 in November. They also released BE (Essential Edition)Feb. 19.
In the minute-long clip, V reveals there will be 13 tracks on his forthcoming project. And he’s not the only member of BTS who’s been hard at work on solo material. Jungkook’s new blue hair made fans jump to the conclusion that his own mixtape, which has been nicknamed “JJK1″ after his real name Jeon Jung-kook, would be dropping this year. Similarly, fans have been tagging V’s upcoming mixtape as “KTH1,” after his name Kim Tae-hyung.
During BTS’ MTV Unplugged special Tuesday night, V revealed the emotions behind their top 20 Billboard Hot 100 track “Blue & Grey.” “I tried to express my inner sadness and uncertainty, so I translated the feeling of burning out as ‘blue’ and the sadness of not being able to see the ARMY as ‘gray,’” he explained about his songwriting process.
Last fall, V revealed during a live broadcast that the BE track was originally supposed to appear on his solo mixtape, but the rest of the guys heard it while filming their variety TV show In the Soop and thought it would make for a great addition to their group album. V then started writing the lyrics in Korean, since he originally intended to sing the song in English. And during his interview with Weverse Magazine in November 2020, he confessed that he wrote “Blue & Grey” during his “lowest point.”
“I wrote ‘Blue & Grey’ when I was at my lowest point, when I was actually asking whether I could keep going with my work or not. Even the fun parts of work became a chore, and my whole life felt aimless,” he said. “‘Where do I go from here? I can’t even see the end of the tunnel.’ Those kinds of thoughts hit me hard.”
Watch BTS’ “BE-hind Story” teaser below.
