The seven members of BTS: Jungkook, V, Jimin, RM, J-hope, Suga, and Jin are superstars in the k-pop industry. Everyone has heard of them and acknowledged them.  BTS has not always had a glamorous lifestyle.

 They started off as just normal people with ambiguous dreams. At least, in some of the member’s cases. Some members, instead, had no thought of being a k-pop idol.

 BTS has gotten many awards, in recent years, as their popularity spiked. BTS has been on many well-known reality shows such as Ellen, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and they even got invited to the Grammy’s! 

Jeon Junggeuk, or is more commonly known as Jungkook in the band, started off his musical career as a school student when he auditioned for BigHit entertainment. He was turned down by many agencies, even though the recruiters saw potential in him. Later, he got a lot of offers from big company’s but denied all of them. Although, he wanted to join BigHit Entertainment because he thought that RM, the leader, had cool rapping skills.

Jungkook joined BigHit as a 13-year-old trainee, a very young age. He was a good singer but was set to be one of the main dancers. So, Bang Si-hyuk, the company’s Co-CEO sent him abroad to take hip-hop classes. It is said in an interview, Jungkook has each of the 6 other member’s personalities in him. He has released multiple single tracks and has done covers of popular songs, such as We Don’t Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth. Jungkook has also released his own music, such as Euphoria. 

Kim Taehyung, or more commonly known as V, grew up with barely any money. His mom and dad are farmers. V played the saxophone in high school and played it for 3 years. One day, V went to his friend’s audition to Big Hit Entertainment to support him. Before V’s debut, Big Hit Entertainment decided to keep him a secret from the public for an extended period of time. 

Someone saw V because of his looks and encouraged him to audition. V was the only one who passed the audition that day. Big Hit kept V a secret from the public before BTS’s debut. Although, V has done covers before. He covered Adele’s Someone Like You. V has released many solo songs, having filmed one himself called Winter Bear.

Park Jimin attended the Busan School Of Arts, where he was the top student in his dance class. One of his dance teachers encouraged him to audition for Big Hit Entertainment. The teacher even helped Jimin pay the fee of being a trainee. Jimin has a contemporary style of dance and he flows nicely between moves. Jimin released a song called Lie and he hits high notes in a skilled fashion!

Kim Namjoon or RM is the leader of the band BTS. In middle school, he started a career as an underground rapper with the name Runch Randa. Later, he joined a rap group called Daenamhyup. This group consisted of some of the most well known underground rappers. As he developed his rapping skills, he became more well known.

 RM became the first member to join BTS back in 2010. He has an IQ of 148 but chose to pursue music instead of academics. RM has produced an album called Mono. He has also released many single rap songs.

Min Yoongi or more commonly known as Suga is a producer and rapper of BTS. He was also an underground rapper and a producer. He went by the name “Gloss”. He had produced tracks for many artists but the sad part was that he was often scammed and not paid at all. He at one point didn’t have any money. He had to decide if he wanted to ride the bus home or buy food, every day. 

 He wanted to make his music more well known so he auditioned for Big Hit Ent. He joined Big Hiit as a producer and trainee. He only wanted to produce songs, but he joined the group in 2010. Suga has produced an album called Agust D. Many fans are patiently waiting for Agust D part two!

Jung Hoseok or J-Hope started off as a dancer. He loves to dance to hip-hop and he joined a dance group called Neuron when he was younger. Since he loved to dance, he auditioned for JYP Ent. He passed the first few auditions but was later cut.  As a result, he auditioned for Big Hit Ent. J-Hope learns the choreographies for BTS and teaches the other members himself. 

 They practice at least 8 hours a day. J-Hope is known as the “Sunshine” of BTS. He is always upbeat and enthusiastic. HE has produced his own album called Hope World. He even remade a song with Becky G. It is called Chicken Noodle Soup and the song has become very popular.

Kim Seokjin or Jin was cast on the streets by SM entertainment. He was cast because of his visuals. Jin never returned their call because he thought it was a scam. He was later street cast again! A representative from Big Hit Ent. noticed him as he was getting on a bus. Jin did not have any experience in dancing or singing when he was cast. Since his major in school was acting, he auditioned to be an actor. But Big Hit wanted him to become a trainee. Jin had to teach himself to sing and dance. While he did this he also picked up the guitar. Jin has a single song called Epiphany and the emotions in that song are beautifully executed. 

As you can see, BTS did not know at the time that they would be one of the most popular boy band groups in the world. In fact, the group started off with no money and times were hard for them in the beginning. They had to print their own shirts out rather than having them made for them. 

 The band also had to use their director’s car for their MV ( music video) Run. In the music video, they had to spray paint his car’s windshield. Suga and RM thought at one point that they should leave the group, but because BTS is like family they stuck together and kept going through the tough times. 

My thoughts on BTS’s pre-debut lives are that although they may not have had glamorous lives in the beginning, they have blossomed into a famous group of people. I believe that even if we think we can not do things, we can. We just haven’t realized our potential. 

I interviewed BTS fans and this is what they thought:

Laiba Ali, from 9th grade, wrote, “I think BTS is the best thing that has ever happened to me. They truly make me want to love myself.”

Andi Whitbeck, from 11th grade, wrote, “BTS is beautiful and harmonious with each other and shows how we need to help everyone no matter what. Being selfless and showing love to everyone.”

Jessica Li, from 10th grade, wrote, “ I think they are talented and kind and amazing… and they deserve the world.”

Jonah Park, from 9th grade, wrote, “ I think as a korean there fame is definitely something that sends a positive message for koreans and other asians and sort of brings our culture out and shows it to the world.”

Samhita Ivaturi, from 10th grade, wrote, “ BTS has worked hard to reach the position they are. They went through loads of hardships to get there and they deserve it. Yes there might be good sides to their fandom but the thing I worry about is the dark sides like sasaengs. Those specific people are crazy. BUT there are the real ARMY who are by their side. I feel bad that some of the ARMY’s don’t support their decisions (fake ARMY). Like they are grown men let them be dude. Yeah other than that. BTS IS LIFE. I am happy that I met them or I would be 6ft under the ground right now. GO BANGTAN SONYEONDAN!” 

Pimmada Yanwisadsuk, an 11th grader, wrote, “ I love everything about it. hehehehehehhe”