Global superstars BTS held a press conference in Seoul, South Korea on August 21, 2020 just hours before their single “Dynamite” dropped. Due to COVID-19, the press conference was held online with a live stream to select invited press.

The seven-member boyband consisting of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook took to the press conference stage to talk about their single “Dynamite,” along with their upcoming album and life during the pandemic.

BTS Press Conference Q&A:

Moderator: It has been since February since I last met you for the press conference of your album Map of the Soul: 7. How have you all been?

RM: “It has been a while since we have said hello; we have been doing many things. Sharing what we have been doing, we have been working on new songs for our upcoming new album. We have also been spending our time doing our favorite hobbies. We also held our online concert ‘Bang Bang Con’ in June. Although we could not meet ARMY in person, we were happy we could perform. We also filmed a new reality show ‘BTS in The Soop’ that started airing already.”

Moderator: Anyone else?

Jimin: “We’ve been working on our new album and we really wanted to share how we worked on our album, so we revealed who is in charge of what and we also have shown us having meetings. We had a really meaningful time. While we were working on the new album, we came across this song ‘Dynamite’ and it wasn’t our plan, but we released this song as a digital single first.”

Moderator: Some of the members of the media emailed in some questions for you to answer. Which we will get to, but let me ask you, can you tell us about “Dynamite?”

Suga: “’Dynamite’ is disco-pop and it is a very fun, cheery vibe. It sends a message of happiness and confidence. It is very bright and disco so I’m sure many people can dance to it and it’s a fun song.”

Jin: “The lyrics are very fun and cheery and fit the melody. One of the lines goes, ‘I’m gonna light it up’ so I hope many people can gain energy from listening to this song. And I would like to say this is the song that we want you to hear.”

Moderator: I had seen the teaser and I can tell it is a very fun and exciting song. Can you tell us how you came to release it and why?

RM: “We mentioned this earlier, but it wasn’t on our plan at all. We’ve been working on our album from earlier this year aiming to release it the second half of this year and when we are preparing the album, we record a lot of songs and we came across this song, ‘Dynamite.’ As soon as we heard it, we thought it was really fun and exciting. It was a song we really wanted to try. We really wanted to share this energy. I wanted to release this fun song as soon as possible.”

Moderator: “Dynamite” is entirely in English, so it felt new. Is there a reason you sang it in English?

V: “As RM mentioned, when we first heard this song, we all liked it. It just made us feel excited hearing it. When we recorded the guide version, we felt that the English lyrics fit better and it felt new and different from what we have tried before. So considering the song and melody, we felt singing it in English would be better.”

J-Hope: “Yeah, that’s right when I first heard it, I really liked the vibe, I really liked the message. I felt the message fit the direction we wanted to go and when we were recording it made us feel good. It energized us so I wanted to share this feeling with many people. The release of this digital single is a new challenge, a new try for us, so I think it is more meaningful.”

Moderator: How about Jimin?

Jimin: “Everyone in the world is going through tough times right now. Nobody has expected this and we ourselves could not do a lot of things we had planned. We really wanted to be on stage and really wanted to meet the fans. As artists who wanted to meet our fans, we felt empty and we also felt helpless. We needed a breakthrough to help overcome this emptiness and helplessness and came across this opportunity to try something new.

‘Dynamite’ is a song that could lift anyone’s spirits. We gained a lot of energy singing this and prepared this song thinking about you, (the fans).”

Moderator: What kind of message does “Dynamite” have?

Suga: “’Dynamite’ sends a message of happiness and confidence. So, it says even though you are going through a tough time we will do what we can in our place to find freedom and happiness through dance and music. So, I would say it is a song dedicated to all the people who have felt like they have fallen down while running the marathon. There is a lyric ‘I’m gonna light it up’ and I hope everyone can cheer up listening to this line.”

Moderator: Through the teaser, we see “Dynamite” has a lot of flashy dance moves. What kind of dance does “Dynamite” have?

Jungkook: “Yes, there are some flashy moves and the dance also fits the song really well. It is very cheery and refined, and there are also some easy moves that you can try yourselves. I’m sure the fans can do some covers in their rooms. It is going to be really fun and you may look forward to it. There are a lot of moves that bring out our unique personalities and vibes. We also enjoyed practicing for this song, and I hope you really enjoy it.”

Moderator: “Dynamite” is going to be premiered on August 30, 2020 at the MTV VMAs. Is that correct?

RM: “We released through our promotion schedule image, we are going to do our first comeback stage reveal on a show we have never been on before on the VMAs 2020. We are really, really excited since this is our first time; we really wanted to be on it. We are nervous but also very excited. We really can’t wait to be on stage and meet many people. [Side note: Due to COVID-19 BTS will be performing virtually from Korea.] We will try our best to show our stage.

‘Dynamite’ is a new try, as we said before, so we are trying some new ways of promoting than we did before so we are going to show some new things. I hope you stick around and stay tuned.”

Moderator: You said this single wasn’t planned so are there going to be any changes to your album schedule?

Jimin: “Nope. We are still working on our album. It is still a go and our goal is to release it the second half of this year. This album has the highest participation rate that we have done on an album. We are trying really hard and we are working really hard. We can’t say the exact release date yet, but as much as ARMYs is waiting for us, we really want to see you too, so we are going to work harder.”

Moderator: You talked about participating. Can you tell us how you are working on the new album?

Jimin: “I am the project manager of this album and V is in charge of visuals. We have taken part in planning stages in the past, but it is our first time of who’s in charge of who. I’m not sure if I did a good job, but the members are doing a good job.”

V: “Jimin did really good and worked on our schedules.”

Moderator: Can you tell us of any goals you are looking forward to?

Jungkook: “On September 10th we are releasing a movie that follows our stadium tour, ‘Love Yourself Speak Yourself.’ Break the Silence the Movie is going to come to the theaters, and I hope you enjoy it.”

Press Member: We are all curious about the Billboard chart rankings for this new song because it is a single. We are curious how it will rank on the Hot 100. What are your hopes and goals for chart performance?

Suga: “I’m actually wondering that myself. The chart rankings are always something we watch with a lot of nervousness and a lot of excitement. Of course, if they are good results it is always, always a great honor. But rather than have some sort of result that we have as a target, it is better to do our best so that we can repay the love and attention that our fans show us.

I think for our new single ‘Dynamite’ our goal is special. Everyone is going through hard times and we built this song to give a little bit of strength to people who listen to it. So our goal is for as many people as possible to hear it and get a little bit of healing and reassurance from it. We hope this song will be meaningful to the fans and us.”

Press Member: Why did you choose “Dynamite” and what were some of the behind-the-scenes preparations for this song?

J-Hope: “We felt rather than have the single in the new album we wanted to enjoy this right now with everybody. That’s why we decided to release it now. It was kind of a last-minute decision. The schedule was very tight, but we all worked together recording, making the jacket, and making the video.

Throughout this whole process, we really had a lot of fun. For behind-the-scenes for my part my key was pretty high – very high, actually – so it was a little bit difficult for me when I was recording this song, but I think it will be very good. For the music video, it was fun and free, a lot of improvising.”

Press Member: Recently BTS appeared on I-Land. It has been a while since BTS has appeared on a Korean program and you were able to spend some time with the trainees. A lot of their role models are BTS members so what did you get out of this? How did you feel? And do you have a message to all the people who want to become K-pop artists?

J-Hope: “We visited the set of I-Land. It really reminded me of the way it was for us when we were trainees. A message for them I would like to say even if you are doing your best, I know as well as anyone else you still have this anxiety and nervousness and so I want to cheer you up and I want to encourage you.”

Jungkook: “When I saw them I learned a lot of things about not resting on my laurels and remembering this time that I actually experienced and how I should keep going.”

Press Member: How has this pandemic affected BTS’ music?

V: “Right now, not just us but everyone is going through a very difficult times and we did not plan to release this song. We have a situation that nobody predicted. We also had a lot of plans which did not happen so it naturally allowed us to think about music and we love music more than anyone. And I can say we are passionate about singing and dancing as anyone else but it was more important that we have people inspired by our music and heal people through music. So, I think that is the reason why ‘Dynamite’ came into this world. We learned throughout this whole process that we will be more open towards our attitude to music.”

Press Member: Why do you continue to stress the importance of you, I and us together?

Suga: “Because of COVID-19 things have become very difficult all over the world. Our world tour concert had to be rescheduled. When this happened it made us feel very powerless. These were things we couldn’t change, even if we tried. It was sad we couldn’t see our fans and perform on stage, so we prepared this online concert to make up for a little bit of these feelings. We realized we really belong on stage and when singing and dancing BTS can really be BTS. Even though it was online it was a time to come together and engage with our fans. We felt very thankful, grateful, and happy.”