bts memeories⁷@btsmemeories
🐨: First of all, before going into that...Right around the time Jin-hyung was discharged from the military—which was a year before the rest of us would be discharged—everyone’s mental state wasn't very good. So, when Jin-hyung got discharged, and around the time I played the saxophone... after his discharge, we all gathered together. I can’t quite remember if it was at Jimin’s house or my house... wait, I think it was Jimin’s house. We all gathered at Jimin’s place, and ah...
🐨: At that time, Jungkook was also going through a really tough period. Well, we were all having a hard time since we were all still active-duty soldiers (private first class). Jungkook was crying his eyes out, saying that as the older brother, I needed to work harder to hold the team together. We talked about things like that, and we had a lot of deep conversations among ourselves.
🐨: So we said, 'Alright then, since everyone is waiting for us, let's make an album as soon as we return and repay those who have been waiting.' I think that's when we roughly decided on a plan.
And since all the members' discharge dates are clustered in June, the timing lined up well. I think we started setting up the song camp from the end of that year. Then the question became: who should be the 'captain' of this song camp?
🐨: To be honest, the term 'song camp' is a bit of Konglish (Korean-English). In English, it's usually called a 'session.' I was very used to sessions because I had done them with about 30 to 40 people within HYBE during my RPWP (Right Place, Wrong Person) album. I'm sure Jungkook and Hobi have experience with them firsthand too.
🐨: When it comes to sessions, there are sessions where the artist themselves participates, but in this industry, there are also 'pre-sessions' where the singer isn't directly involved—creating things that fit that specific musical world.
🐨: So, we decided that we would go to LA in July and August, gather together, and hold those sessions. I think we made that decision around the turn of the year, though I don’t remember the exact timeline. I remember I was really looking forward to that time, wishing it would come quickly.