Recently, Bang Si-hyuk sat down for an interview with TIME where he opened up about his perspective on BTS' creation as the mastermind behind the septet's worldwide success.
He said, "One of our producers, Pdogg, brought RM's demo tape to me and said, 'This is what the young kids are into.' RM was 15 at the time. I signed him immediately."
He explained, "I had considered putting together a hip-hop crew, not an idol group. But when I considered the business context, I thought a K-pop idol model made more sense."
He continued, "RM, SUGA, and J-HOPE stayed back, and they remain BTS' musical pillars. From there, through auditions, we discovered and added members that had more of an idol-like quality to the group," saying that JIN, JIMIN, V, and JUNGKOOK were later added to the group.
He added, "This was also a time when many around the world were saying the only replacement for the demolished music industry is live performances. If a performance-based model were to be created in South Korea, I thought, it would be a K-pop idol group."
(Credit= Big Hit Entertainment, SBS)
(SBS Star)