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Q) I heard that your teams name meant to block out the worlds bullets Its unique; what
do each of you think of the meaning?
V: I first heard the name Bangtan two years ago and it was really awkward. I thought
What is this? and also Its probably temporary. Wed change it when we debut, right?,
but the more I heard it, the more I felt that it fit us the best.
Rap Monster: There were lots of suggestions but it was the best name.
Q) Im curious about the steps each member took to join Bangtan. I heard that eldest Jin was
a film arts student. You became a Bangtan member by being casted; what made you take that
chance of becoming a singer?
Jin: First of all, I like trying out different things. You can be an idol at a very young age.
Also, you can have an acting career while being an idol, which is why I chose to become a
singer.
Rap Monster: In 2008, I was briefly a part of a different crew (not DaeNamHyup) with Zico
hyung. We were kind of like the rising stars of the hip-hop community at the time. We were
friendly with each other and at my suggestion, we produced a song together. As that song
disappeared in the community I slowly forgot about it as well, so Im wondering how it came
back up. That song seems to be a hot topic amongst fans so Im quite surprised. I thought it
was really cool. (laughs) Because that means somebody had been keeping that song.
Q) I also heard that you were good at studying.
Rap Monster: Rapping was an escape from the stress I received from studying. I used to
study extremely hard. Truthfully, this connects with the lyrics of No More Dream - when I
was studying, I had no dreams. I had a possible path because I was good at studying, I didnt
specifically have something I wanted to do. So while promoting as Bangtan, Im sending my
past self a message.
Q) I heard that J-Hope was part of the street dance team NEURON.
J-Hope: While promoting underground with my street dance team, I did a lot of popping. In
popping, theres another sub-genre called Boogaloos and that was the one I did the most. I
got a lot of prizes and performed a lot while promoting. Rap Monster rapped underground; I
danced.
Q) The promotions you did back then mustve helped you a lot with promoting in Bangtan.
J-Hope: Yes. Of course, it helped a lot. We all came up with our own choreography for our
dance breaks in We Are Bulletproof Pt.2 Im working hard in filling the gaps that the
members have in dancing.
Rap Monster: When we were still trainees and were doing midnight practices, J-Hope
became our teacher and taught us the basics of popping. Hes the one whos strongest in
dancing. (laughs)
Q) Jimin and V got accepted into Big Hit after auditioning; do you remember what your
auditions were like?
Jimin: Of course. It was my first-ever audition so my hands were shaking a lot when I
opened the door. I also remember that my voice shook a lot while singing. But because I
started dancing at a young age, I danced very confidently.
(laughs) I hadnt ever learnt how to sing until then so I didnt really know what to pick.
Rap Monster: So the song he chose was the #1 karaoke song for middle schoolers, I Have a
Lover (laughs)
Q) V, what song did you sing?
V: I hadnt gotten permission from my parents so I wasnt planning on doing a private
audition. I was only thinking about looking around the academy. I went to look around but
ran into one of the rookie group development noonas. She told me to try auditioning, called
my parents, got permission, and I auditioned. When I checked later, I was the only one from
Daegu to pass the auditions. It was a sudden audition but I thought, Yay. Lets do it! and
wasnt nervous at all. (laughs)
Q) Jungkook, I heard that you got casted while auditioning for Superstar K3.
Jungkook: In 7th grade, I had dreams of becoming a singer after listening to G-Dragon
sunbaenims songs. Then in 8th grade, I got casted by Big Hit after leaving the Superstar K3
auditions and became a part of Bangtan.
Q) I guess you wont be able to go on Superstar K anymore since you got casted.
Jungkook: I got eliminated anyways. (laughs) Even if I had passed, I think I would have
chosen Big Hit.
All: Ooh~
Rap Monster: Yeah, you cant really say anything. Youve debuted now. (laughs)
Q) In the title track No More Dream, you gave the public awareness. As much as youre
hip-hop idols, please tell us your speciality as a group.
Rap Monster: I think the fact that we actively took part in producing and writing lyrics is a
really big speciality. Another speciality is that excluding me, everyone is extremely cute,
young, and boyish. (laughs) But unlike our outer appearances, we have a very tough image
and our message that we should resist societys suppressions is unique. In both music and
visuals, were quite dark. I think that these points appeal to females a lot. Another big point is
hip-hop. I think were a team that puts a lot of emphasis on hip-hop.
Q) The lyrics for No More Dream are very interesting. It talks a lot about dreams what type of music is Bangan aiming for?
Suga: With hip-hop - as well as other genres - wed like to produce music that people in their
10s and 20s can relate with.
Q) You guys write lyrics, too. Where do you get your inspiration from?
J-Hope: I think we get a lot from our daily lives. There are lots of things we could write
about even here, and we get lots of inspiration while going to the practice room and while
were eating. We tend to write about small things. We have a song called (Like)
and its about someone checking their ex-girlfriends SNS account and pretending to be cool
about pressing the like button. Like this song, we write lyrics about small things.
Suga: Depending on the situation, an object wed normally dismiss carelessly could be a
great source of inspiration. Sometimes we also get inspired by something random.
and No More Dream were created when we thought, What if we made lyrics out of this
[topic]?
Q) The lyrics to are in satoori. Im guessing that the members from different
provinces came up with that idea?
Suga: In 2010, I was selected through a rap audition called Hit It There were plans to pick
another Bangtan member through the same auditions in 2011. was created to
promote the auditions. Since its a nationwide audition, I used Gyeongsang-do satoori, JHope Jeolla-do satoori, and Rap Monster standard Korean. Lots of people seemed to like it.
Q) I heard that all the members write lyrics and compose together. What type of music do
each of you want to make?
Rap Monster: I want to have hip-hop as my base. I like the fact that hip-hop can flow with
other types of music easily. So if I can have hip-hop as my base, Im interested in trying out
different types of music.
Suga: I want to make music that tells our stories. Music aimed for people in their 10s and
20s is disappearing these days. I believe that an idols role is to send out messages, so I want
to make music that people can relate with.
Q) Are there any role models or figures who influenced your dreams of becoming a singer?
Jin: Big Bangs T.O.P sunbaenim. I think of him as a good model as both an idol and actor.
Jungkook: G-Dragon sunbaenim. From Western artists, I like Justin Bieber. His voice is so
good. I find his tone attractive.
J-Hope: Beenzino sunbaenim, who is currently promoting underground. Western artist
A$AP Rocky is my role model. I find him amazing because he influences not only my music
but my fashion style as well.
Suga: I started music after listening to Stony Skunks Ragga Muffin and Epik Highs Fly
These two artistss music made me feel a lot of things during my teenage years. I also got a
lot of influence from T.I and Kanye West. I really admire them.
Jimin: I really idolize Big Bangs Taeyang sunbaenim and Chris Brown. Both their
performances and vocals are amazing and Id like to be like them.
Rap Monster: I received a lot of influence from NAS while rapping. 2 years ago I was
greatly influenced by Kanye West. I think of Kanye West as an icon. Steve Jobs also was
very important in fashion and as a realist. I want to become a person like Kanye West;
someone who makes trends.
V: The Weeknd is my role model. He not only has an attractive voice but gives me a sense of
groove and rhythm and is fresh.
Q) I heard that you spend 24 hours together at the dorm. Are there any fun or memorable
episodes?
Jin: This happened recently. We all sleep at different times but according to the other
members, I talk in my sleep a lot.
Suga: Hope-y and I were awake together but we were tired so we were about to sleep when
Jin hyung started singing (Like). (laughs) I thought we must practice really hard
[for him to even sing in his sleep]. Turns out, it was just him talking in his sleep. After that I
thought, Ah. That hyung practices even in his sleep. Of course.
Jin: I usually sleep really quietly but I think talking in my sleep is a new habit.
Rap Monster: I recently had a dream set in a hotel. I was sleeping but the door opened and
someone chased after me with a knife. I opened the window and jumped out and woke up. I
wondered how close we were sleeping to make me have such a dream. (laughs) Maybe I love
the members too much? I sometimes think that when I have bloody dreams. Because they say
that dreams are the opposite of what you think, right? (laughs)
Jin: We eat lots of fruit with our meals. Because of this, we have a lot of fruit flies. Each fly
creates about 4-50 more flies so we cant control them. We tried to spray something but
couldnt because of the dishes. In the end, Jungkook got rid of them with a vacuum cleaner.
Rap Monster: Wow. Thats skill. (laughs)
Jin: So because of that, a lot of them have disappeared. Only about 10 of the original 50 are
left now. (laughs)
Jimin: After my midnight practice ended and I had come out of the shower, someone was
using the vacuum cleaner. (laughs)
Jungkook: We dont have any insecticide in our dorm and even if we did, we wouldnt be
able to spray it because of the dishes so I looked around, spotted the vacuum cleaner, and
thought Ah, this is it.(laughs)
Q) What do you think of each others personalities? Who do you think is the strangest
member?
All: V!
Suga: Everyone says this but people with blood type AB are either a complete genius or a
complete idiot. Hes both.
Rap Monster: In my opinion, hes 10% genius and 90% idiot. (laughs)
Suga: Sometimes I think, He thinks of things like that? while other times I think, Why
would he think of that?
Jimin: Sometimes hes worse than the maknae. (laughs) Its fascinating.
Suga: But sometimes he comes up with really good ideas and surprises us.