Nine years after their founding, K-pop group BTS announced yesterday that they are taking a break for their members to focus on solo projects and for the group to find their identity.

The decision, which bled Aramis, came just three days after the release of his album Proof, an anthology album that includes three previously unreleased songs: “Run BTS”, “For Young” and “Yet to come”.

“The problem with K-pop and the entire idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature. You have to keep making music and keep doing something.

“After I get up in the morning and put my makeup on, there’s no time for growing up,” said RM member RM in a video that showed all the members celebrating their birthdays as part of BTS FESTA.

RM admitted that the group changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, when they released singles like Dynamite, Butter and Permission to Dance and now he “doesn’t know what kind of group” they were in anymore.

For his part, Jimin indicated that they would use that time to decide what kind of artists they want to be.

“We can’t help but think about our fans. I think now, finally, we’ve come to think about what kind of artist we want them to remember. That’s why we’re going through a tough time right now. We’re trying to find our identity and that’s a long and exhausting process.”

While J-Hope said that BTS needs to start a second stage. “I think change is what we need now. It is important for BTS that the second act begins.”

Suga said, “They insisted that this isn’t the end of BTS, because we’ll be living apart for a while.”

Among his solo projects, so far it has only been announced that J-Hope will be among the performers at Lollapalooza Chicago 2022 Festival, next Sunday, July 31, as he will debut as a soloist.

BTS’s origins go back to 2010, when Bang Si-hyuk, the founder of the Korean company Big Hit Music, offered a contract to RM, who at the time had the stage name Rap Monster. Then the rest of the members joined.

The band started gaining fame through covers and vlogs uploaded to their YouTube channel. Their debut album wasn’t released until 2013, O! RUL8,2?

He increased his global recognition in 2018 with his albums Love Yourself: Answer and Love Yourself: Tear. After this success which allowed k-pop to reach all corners of the planet, they collaborated with Coldplay, Halsey, and Ed Sheeran.

The band was distinguished not only by its music, but also by its youth-oriented messages. “Tomorrow can be dark, painful, and difficult. We can stumble or fall. But the stars shine more brightly when the night is darker,” was part of RM’s message, in full confinement.