Thread by @cafe_army

Music Critic Kim Youngdae is live on YouTube and now talking about his interaction with @BTS_twt at the BBMAS 2019 (live translation)

He didn't have much time, about 15 min, and it was a large room with many people bustling about. Going into detail, he says there was a lot of fun things. Because they're superstars, it kind of felt like he was in a movie like 007 as her received the time & room no by text msg

He waited for about 2-3 hours and thought hard on what he should ask since he only had 15 min. After thinking a while, he was called up to the room. When he went in there was no one else and he said the members were behind him in a place he couldn't see. The members then came in.

Everyone greeted him really well but the members' first words, he remembers Hoseok's especially, who told him, "we finally get to meet you!". He found out later that they had read all his reviews and searched his videos. He got the feeling that they felt like they knew of his

existence but were finally meeting him in person!

Yoongi, Namjoon, Seokjin, Hoseok, Taehyung, Jungkook, Jimin = this was the order they were sitting in

Oops guys BBMAS 2018* SORRY hehe

He's going to talk about some behind stories on each member :)

Kim said although it was only 15 minutes, the members were SO focused. He had heard Yoongi wasn't much of a talker but he spoke and responded with respect. The interview ended up going over 30 min and in the middle, the interview was supposed to end but either Namjoon / Yoongi

(he can't remember who) asked for it to continue, so he felt very relieved.

On Namjoon:

Namjoon was taller than he thought. Just as a leader would, he was mature and was very thoughtful. When other members spoke, if he felt there would be a misunderstanding (on Kim's end), he would elaborate to clarify and really made the mood of the interview good.

And as the leader, he responded most to Kim's questions. On topics such the direction BTS's path must go, the path they have walked, their current states, the members' synchronicity - Kim felt that Namjoon had a great and confident perception on such things,

he really knew his place and he felt that Namjoon has been executing his role as a leader truly so well. "Just as we've been expecting" he says. Namjoon also knew a lot about him (the kinds of words, reviews he has written). Namjoon also explained the ARMY fan culture to Kim who

wasn't so familiar with such things. He repeats that Namjoon really felt like a leader, and he knew much about music.

On Seokjin:

Seokjin didn't talk much in the interview but he provided a lot of good reaction and responded when asked but overall did not speak as much so Kim wondered if he was reserved. But Kim says Seokjin's gaze was really intense. Seokjin sat directly across from him,

and apparently Seokjin, with the gazehe has when he's speaking or doing ments at concerts, gazed at Kim for the 30-40 minutes, continuously. So he felt a bit "flustered" (he said this 3 times LOL) "No, he didn't wink... Is his expression usually like that? A very intense one".

He says they exchanged a lot of words but he remembers the intense gaze the most. "He did not do a hand kiss either"

On Yoongi:

Once again, Yoongi spoke so much more than he thought and spoke passionately about music. Kim asked a wide variety of questions to Yoongi. He specifically things that come out in Yoongi's rap/mixtape, such as his him proving himself or his words against haters,

since he believes Yoongi holds an important role in BTS's artistry. Yoongi answered him very, very honestly, "almost to the point it would be difficult to publish". But in summary, Yoongi said in the past, at some point, he depended on and minded those types of external gazes

and received hurt from such things but at one point, he changed. "Why do I need the approval of someone else? Why do I need your approval?" and now Yoongi no longer cares about other peoples' thoughts. Kim says Yoongi is much younger than him but was so mature and relatable.

Kim was also able to feel the excitement/energy, that of a young artist. They still marveled at people they looked up to coming to them first for photos/signatures - from this Kim felt they still don't think of themselves as huge stars but are very modest.

Kim felt this a lot from Yoongi's responses.

Kim once posted last an abbreviated version of "why is suga good at singing?" (which kind of went viral). He heard "HER" and heard an unfamiliar vocal, then after researching he realized it was Yoongi.

And his immediate thought was "why is suga good at singing" and became known as the creator of this phrase LOL. Kim says when meeting Yoongi he suddenly thought of this and asked him, "do you know "why is suga good at singing?" - Kim said this was the highlight of the interview!

Kim says everyone burst out into laughter. At first, Yoongi was confused with an expression like "what?" and the atmosphere/mood FROZE. Then when Kim elaborated on the phrase, they all burst out into laughter. Seokjin or Hoseok asked "why do you know something we don't~!"

When Yoongi heard the question he put his head down and was all like "ah~" then naturally they went onto the next topic. Then Namjoon asked "isn't that like the min (butt) incident?" and when Kim asked what that was, the air froze again as if neither side could communicate LOL

Kim said after this he feels like Yoongi avoided talking a bit LMAO

On Hoseok:

Through reviewing Hoseok's mixtape, Hoseok was a member he grew much interest in. He really likes his positive feelings. And when they met, Hoseok was the one who greeted him most warmly and happily. Hoseok also told him he had read Kim's review for his mixtape.

Kim thought people could possibly think "what is he saying/talking about?" and asked to Hoseok, "wasn't the review foolish?" and Hoseok laughed REALLY big and asked why he would say such a thing! Throughout the entire interview, Hoseok really brought up the mood.

What was most memorable of what Hoseok said to Kim: Lately, he truly recognized the importance of communication. To speak and express himself - in the past, I hadn't thought deeply about these things and he regrets them. And he posted on fancafe around this time.

Hoseok felt really sorry that although he is aware that you must express and speak constantly to understand one another's feelings, it's often difficult to say so. Hoseok said this to Kim with hopes to deliver this to the fans, which is why Kim is telling this message to us.

Kim said Hoseok is very well aware of his gratefulness for the fans and emphasized that he will communicate with fans. Hoseok also said that no matter how much BTS succeds and as BTS grows and reaches higher peaks, all the more, he will communicate even more with the fans and

will express his gratefulness to the fans. This left such an impression for Kim that he really wanted to publish this in the interview but since he wasn't able to, he is telling us now.

On Jimin:

Kim says Jimin was very shy - though he believes he himself may have not been an "easy" presence to be in front of as a music critic, etc. Jimin listened throughout most of it and sat there shyly hehe. But there was something Jimin said that really left an impression.

Kim asked about Burn The Stage and the scene where Jimin talks about his concerns on his vocals to Jungkook and is confiding in him. Kim said this scene was one of the scenes that left the biggest impressions on him and was very curious about this part so he asked,

"Within the group and relationships with the members, do you see anyone as a competitor despite the different vocal styles, etc.?" Jimin replied, that just because someone is younger than him, he does not feel unwilling or ashamed to ask for assistance. And although we had only

seen this part in Burn The Stage, Jimin said this actually happens very often and he exchanges this kind of conversation with Jungkook a lot. Jungkook also spoke to this, that there had not been a single time he saw the other vocal members as competitors.

Kim saw the importance in this attitude/manner of Jungkook, and that despite being a main vocal, he didn't place so much significance in this "label" but rather, put meaning on the skill behind it. Through these interactions, Kim really felt he could have faith in this group.

And he believes that us, listening to him speak about this, we should have complete faith as well (yes, we do!)

On Taehyung:

Around the time when Tear came out, Singularity have been revealed it. Kim personally really liked and in terms of musicality, left such a deep impression on him. He wanted to make sure to tell Taehyung if he ever met him so he felt glad to have the opportunity:

That it was so good to see Taehyung's growth in his vocals, that he was able to see various colours including a low-pitch voice ranging to a falsetto (something he doesn't see much in idol music). Taehyung acted really, really modest and said things like "no it's not that great!"

Kim said Taehyung was in the place to have so much pride in his accomplishments but his modesty really left an impression. While talking about such vocal topics, he remembered something Namjoon said. First, Kim said that of all their albums so far, while keeping their colours,

the album was created with such professionalism and it was the best yet. Namjoon to this replied: the reason you felt these things is because the vocal line's growth was the greatest.

The emotions Jin has in his vocals or his high notes, Taehyung's vocal colour and wide vocal range. Jimin's unique vocal colour and singing abilities, Jungkook's skills as a main vocal. Namjoon said all this came together and filled each song so that there were no lacking parts.

Namjoon believes that this harmony/balance was most perfectly accomplished in Tear and really placed the vocal line's growth as the root of the album's success.

Kim emphasizes that the members don't think of each other as competitors but rather, give one another positive stimulation and motivation.

More on Jungkook:

Kim in the past had talked about Jungkook's vocals separately when he covered Roy Kim. At that time he said he thought Jungkook would sound nice if he sang Michael Jackson's "She's out of my life". Kim had complimented Jungkook's vocals, colour, emotions,

and said he was an amazing singer. Kim says when someone hears these kinds of grand compliments, people may feel shy. Jungkook replied with only: "Really? Thank you" and laughed shyly. And that's how his conversation ended with Jungkook.

Kim also talked about their "growth" and how one of their charms was their growth and the positive feelings people feel when they hear and see these things. To this, Yoongi said, if everyone, RM, j-hope, vocal line, are all growing, he can't be the only one paused here.

And he explained that this was a source of motivation for stimulating their growth.

Something else that left an impression on Kim that Yoongi said. Many people look at the external things - who composed what, who sang how much.

Yoongi said that personally, the credits that can be seen externally, who contributed more, the credits, or who holds more rights, etc. Yoongi doesn't pay much attention to such things because "music is not only about what is visible to the eye" that things from behind-the-scenes

such as the discussions that happen, the process of making the sound, each and every one of these decisions although not visible on paper, all come together to become good music. "If I can play a part in this, that's enough for me, regardless of how many parts I get or how much

rap goes in compared to the past, rather than such things, I would just like to focus on making good music."

Yoongi said there could be music people like & he could definitely make such music, but just because they like it, he can't always do that. In order to be safe, they could always dance/prepare stages moderately, but they didn't want to do this. They want to always try new things.

Kim said because it was their first time meeting, people like Seokjin/Jimin/Jungkook/Taehyung mostly just nodded along and showed reactions, and he wasn't able to speak with them much, but he hopes the opportunity to speak more will come again.

Kim told them that he had not come to this place to "ask them questions". He wanted to tell them that not as a music critic, but as a human, and also as Korean person who loves music, he really respects and has come to cheer on for their overcoming of struggles, and successes.

Kim told the members that he felt so proud, and felt such respected, and he had come to this place to say this.

As they were saying their goodbyes, Namjoon said "I think we'll be seeing each other soon?" but Kim says unfortunately they haven't been able to.

Kim also said during the BBMAs, he received many DMs and mentions, and a lot of them were about how a lot of people hadn't slept because they worried BTS might be nervous or might make mistakes. Kim doesn't know much about the hearts of fans so through this he understood more.

Namjoon replied to this "isn't that kind of like a motherly heart?". Kim had posted/tweeted after BTS finished their rehearsal and many of the fans had felt relieved to hear this. He told this to Namjoon who said "these people who have "brought us up" or have the heart of raising

kids - these are the fans." They also said that they have the kind of thought that although they receive so much cheer on stage,when they come down, they almost think "do these fans really exist?" but with the use & presence of recent social media, they receive much energy.

"Did I only say good things? Were there any bad things...? Nope, there are none."

Kim has a funny story to tell. Before he left from Seattle, he went to 2 Targets near his place but were sold out. He had to go "across the bridge" to buy one and took it with him to Las Vegas. He had this in his bag and towards the end of the interview, Kim took it out and said

"I'm going to do a cosplay of John Legend!" (John Legend brough CDs to BTS to get them signed). The members laughed a lot, then signed them one by one. Apparently this was the FIRST Tear album to be signed by everyone. "I'll take care of this well" says Kim.

Kim also said he took a photo with them which is his phone background, but he cannot show us ! :(

Important note ... Before he went into talking about each member, he said this about the interview with BTS and why it had not/was not being published anymore. It was the same when he requested for the interview and as it was done, but he did the interview with the goal of

improving his critiques, his words, and his perspectives. He did not want to make the interview viral, but more for his self understanding of music. Therefore, he did not want to use this information to "promote" the book nor did he think this was correct. He said this was mutual

and therefore, although sad to say, this was not an interview conducted to "show". This interview remains only on Kim's phone as an audio file and in a document he organized, and that revealing it would be difficult.

However if we read his book, we will be able to tell which parts are onthings he heard from the members, or which parts inspired him from their conversations. He asks for our understanding, and then decided to tell us a bit about each member :) which ended up being a lot.

That is it for today! There was a LOT said, but I tried to cover all the things he spoke on in his interactions with the members. Thank you for your patience and for those who kept up with this long thread!

And thank you, @toojazzy25 for sharing so many great things with us! Can't wait to read the book :)

I will work on a full translation/transcript this weekend on the above content! Might take some time so I hope to come back with the completed version soon :) but for now, bed time! Sweet dreams everyone, have a good day everyone, 💜