13 Outtakes from Our Winter Cover Shoot With BTS
13 Outtakes from Our Winter Cover Shoot With BTS
While making our Winter 2020/21 cover with BTS, photographer Hong Jang Hyun shot a ton of photos—a ton. More than we had space for in the magazine and in the cover story on Esquire.com. And so because we know you, like us, could never get enough of RM, SUGA, j-hope, Jin, Jimin, Jung Kook, and V, here are 13 photos of BTS you didn't see in the issue.
13 Outtakes from Our Winter Cover Shoot With BTS
"There is something about complete world domination that can really cement a friendship," writes Dave Holmes. "What jumps out at me as I connect with the members of BTS is their level of comfort with one another."
13 Outtakes from Our Winter Cover Shoot With BTS
Though the new rules of COVID-19 mean they can’t come here and promote Be, its first single might not have happened in the first place but for the pandemic. “ ‘Dynamite’ wouldn’t be here if there was no COVID-19,” says RM. “For this song, we wanted to go easy and simple and positive. Not some, like, deep vibes or shadows. We just wanted to go easy.”
13 Outtakes from Our Winter Cover Shoot With BTS
Since the start of their careers, BTS have shown a certain confidence in their aesthetic, their performances, and their music videos. It’s right there in the name: BTS stands for “Bangtan Sonyeondan,” which translates to “Bulletproof Boy Scouts,” but as their popularity grew in English-speaking markets, the acronym was retrofitted to mean “Beyond the Scene,” which Big Hit has described as “symbolizing youth who don’t settle for their current reality and instead open the door and go forward to achieve growth.”
13 Outtakes from Our Winter Cover Shoot With BTS
“We and our ARMY are always charging each other’s batteries,” RM says. “When we feel exhausted, when we hear the news all over the world, the tutoring programs, and donations, and every good thing, we feel responsible for all of this.”
13 Outtakes from Our Winter Cover Shoot With BTS
BTS fans offer a fascinating inversion of stan culture: Rather than bullying rivals like many other ardent online fan bases do, ARMY have put the positive message of the music into action. Their activism goes deep. Through micro-donations, they’ve regrown rain forests, adopted whales, funded hundreds of hours of dance classes for Rwandan youth, and raised money to feed LGBTQ refugees around the world.
13 Outtakes from Our Winter Cover Shoot With BTS
“Dynamite,” their first English-language single and their first American number one, is pure, ecstatic pop. Shiny and joyful. What sets them apart from many of their peers, and many of the pop acts who achieved worldwide fame before them, is what came earlier. Beneath the sheen and the beats has always been an unflinching examination of human emotion. Their lyrics seek to challenge the conventions of society—to question and even denounce them. BTS’s first single, “No More Dream,” unveiled at their debut showcase in June 2013, concerns the intense pressure South Korean schoolchildren face to conform and to succeed.
RM
“I don’t think this album will have any songs that criticize social issues. Everybody is going through very trying times right now. So I don’t think there will be any songs that will be that aggressive," RM says of their new album, Be.
Jin
“I was just going to school,” Jin says. “Someone from the company approached me, like, ‘Oh, this is my first time seeing anyone that looked like this.’ He suggested having a meeting with me.”
Jimin
“Jimin has a particular passion for the stage and really thinks about performance, and in that sense, there are many things to learn from him,” J-Hope says. “Despite all the things he has accomplished, he still tries his best and brings something new to the table, and I really want to applaud him for that.”
Jung Kook
We asked about dating, broad questions like “Are you?” and “Is there time?” and “Can you?” and the answer to all of them is pretty clear: “No.” “The most important thing for us now is to sleep,” Jung Kook insists.
SUGA
“There is this culture where masculinity is defined by certain emotions, characteristics. I’m not fond of these expressions,” Suga says. “What does being masculine mean? People’s conditions vary day by day. Sometimes you’re in a good condition; sometimes you aren’t. Based on that, you get an idea of your physical health. And that same thing applies mentally. Some days you’re in a good state; sometimes you’re not."
V
“We’re outsiders—we can’t really express what we feel about the United States,” says V. But their actions speak volumes; in the wake of the George Floyd murder and subsequent protests in America, the group made a $1 million donation through Big Hit Entertainment to Black Lives Matter, one that was matched by BTS ARMY.
j-hope
“Season two is when we officially underwent hard training,” J-Hope says. “We started dancing, and that’s how I would say our team building started.”
Because we know you, like us, could never get enough of RM, SUGA, j-hope, Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, and V.