BTS’ RM opens up about the pressures of leadership in emotional video
- RM shared his struggles with the weight of leadership with fellow member Jimin in a candid conversation filmed prior to their enlistment last year.
- He explained that the theme of his latest album, “Right Place, Wrong Person,” highlighted feelings of being out of place.
- The pressure to constantly be a “good role model” and do public speaking contributed to his being overwhelmed.
- RM and Jimin, along with other BTS members, are currently serving in the military, with a planned regrouping in 2025.
- In a video posted on BTS’s YouTube channel on Saturday, RM confided in Jimin about feeling like he had to speak and represent BTS perfectly. He described himself as an “unimportant 29-year-old,” saying:
“I’m the one who says all the right things the nice things. I step up to represent the team. That’s what I always do, and people expect me to make speeches and do interviews in English… But actually… I’m actually just an unimportant 29-year-old guy living in Korea… living a slightly different life from others.”
- While he understood his role as the group’s leader, he had questioned his own identity and recalled moments of feeling like an outsider.
- He also said he “would want to die” if he continued thinking about what others thought of them. He told Jimin:
“We just had to be conscientious and different. I love BTS because of our music. But if I kept caring about what everyone else thought… If I kept going like this, I just… I felt like I would want to die.”
- RM’s second solo album, “Right Place, Wrong Person,” released on May 25, explores themes of alienation and the struggles of fame. A song titled “Groin” directly addresses his frustration with external pressures.
- He said he felt sorry for himself for never relaxing for the past 10 years, telling Jimin:
“Seeing myself like that for the first time I thought ‘Why was I so intense for the past ten years?’ I never relaxed. Whether on stage or behind the scenes I was always intense, on edge and always wary about everything. I felt sorry for myself seeing that. So, because of that, I wanted to turn off the switch for a while.”
