The K-pop superstars tell ET about their upcoming album, 'Love Yourself: Tear' -- and why it might be their most personal project yet.
Over the last year, BTS has toured the world, released a mega-successful EP, Love Yourself: Her, scored two record-breaking singles, rocked a history-making performance at the American Music Awards and premiered their YouTube series, Burn the Stage. Now, they're ready to do it all over again.
The K-pop boy band's new album, Love Yourself: Tear, drops on Friday -- but this time, they're getting deep. ET's Denny Directo sat down with RM, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, J-Hope, V and Suga in Los Angeles on Tuesday, where they got candid about their "dark" next chapter and why it might be their most personal work yet.
"This time around, it's about honesty and love," RM explained of how they're following up their 2017 EP, Love Yourself: Her. "Sometimes we just turn away from some sort of situations, because in love and life, it's not like a fairytale. We always have a dark side, so we want to talk about like, the dark sides of love."
"[It's] kind of deep," he added.
BTS' legion of fans, A.R.M.Y., has been following their storylines since the band made their debut in 2013. "This album, [the storyline shows] if you're not too sure of yourself, your love won't last. You will see it in the choreography and the lyrics [when the album] releases," RM shared, before revealing the theme's personal significance.
"My final goal of my whole life is to love myself for real. It’s always the hardest. We sometimes compare ourselves to others. Sometimes we get really depressed," he admitted. "But in love, we should take off the mask and be true to who we are."
"I read a text online [that] said that the best way to love yourself in reality is to grow our self. It could be like exercising, like working out, or it could be in the mind. To watch our self-growing, it’s like the best way to ourselves," RM continued.
One of the ways the group learns to grow is through their show, Burn the Stage, which J-Hope said was created to truly let the fans in on what goes on "backstage."
"When we burn something, we always have the ashes left... there's always the ashes," RM expressed. "I know some say it's really hard to watch the pain, the sweat backstage. We wanted to share many more things, be really closer [to the fans]."
At the end of the day, the band said everything they do is for their fans -- each and every one across the world. "Sometimes we really feel like we are getting like, more than even we deserve, so all we can do, all we can give back is that we focus on our choreography [and] music," RM explained. "That is all we can do."
Follow @etnow on Twitter, where we'll have an exclusive Q&A with the guys on Friday at 1 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT! Love Yourself: Tear releases Friday, and their new Love Yourself tour kicks off in August.
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