Has it ever crossed your mind that the BTS we see today could have had completely different members?
BTS went through several line-up changes from 2010 to 2012. Some of them were not even signed to be an idol at first. Therefore, in this seventh year of their debut, it’s a great time to look back at how Big Hit found each of the BTS members.
RM
Bang Sihyuk would have never thought about the idea of debuting a boy group had it not been for a rapper named Sleepy who informed him about a talented third-grader Kim Namjoon. The rapper discovered a young RM at an underground crew audition. Although he lost the audition, Sleepy saw talent in him. He also contacted RM and encouraged him to sign with Big Hit. According to SUGA, RM was famous in the underground scene. RM — who had been writing poetry since elementary school and later transitioned into writing lyrics after listening to Epik High’s “Fly”— immediately got accepted, which marked the beginning of BTS.
A poem by young RM
SUGA
SUGA was the second to join in 2010 after being the runner up of Big Hit’s “Hit It” competition. He moved from Daegu, leaving his underground team called “D-Town” and also Gloss – his moniker – and signed into Big Hit. He originally signed as a producer with his lyric-writing and MIDI skills that he learned from the age of 13. But later, he joked that Bang Sihyuk tricked him into joining BTS, a hip-hop group with no choreography that eventually transformed into an idol boy group.
SUGA’s interview with Japanese Fanclub
SUGA had experience in B-boy but had to stop when he got into an accident during their debut days, after which he revealed that Big Hit decided to pay for his tuition to help him continue on.
Burn the Stage Episode 3
J-HOPE
Starting with joining a dance academy when he was 10, J-Hope won the 2008 National Dance Competition in Seoul and became the youngest member of Neuron, an underground dance team in Gwangju. He auditioned for JYP Entertainment but got cut out and decided to audition for Big Hit instead. He was accepted not only because of his dance skill, but Big Hit saw a rap potential in him.
J-hope pre-debut dance video
But, not long after, he left Big Hit when BTS’ future didn’t seem promising and may have never returned, had it not been for RM who convinced BTS, Big Hit and J-Hope that they needed him.
JUNGKOOK
Getting eliminated from “Superstar K” was not the end for Jeon Jungkook. Seven agencies saw talent in him and scouted him immediately, but in the end, it was RM’s rap skills that made this Taekwondo black-belt holding athlete sign the contract with Big Hit. During his training days, he almost gave up and returned to Busan due to homesickness, but Jin took him under his wing and made him feel comfortable and more at home. Nearing his debut date, Bang Sihyuk sent him to Los Angeles to take dance classes.
Jungkook’s trip to LA for dance lessons
JIN
Could you imagine a college-student Jin just wanting to take a walk in peace but getting street-casted by Big Hit instead? And it wasn’t his first experience either. A representative of SM Entertainment had street-casted him before, however, he thought it was a scam and turned down the offer. Majoring in acting, Jin signed as an actor with zero dancing and singing experience. But Big Hit had another plan for him and took him as a part of BTS.
V
Growing up in a farming family, V always had a dream of being a musician that led him to learn saxophone for three years. One day he accompanied his friend to Big Hit’s Daegu auditions to support him, but the staff there encouraged him to audition as well and later turned out to be the only one who passed that day.
JIMIN
Jimin was encouraged by his dance teacher to audition for Big Hit. Once he got accepted, he moved to Seoul from Busan and attended the same school as V. As a top contemporary dance student, it was hard for Jimin at first to adjust to the hip-hop dance style and was almost kicked out from the group multiple times. But his determination saved his position in the group.
Jimin’s Contemporary Dance performance
BTS also participated in other Big Hit artists’ projects during their debut preparation: Jungkook and J-Hope as dancers with Jin, SUGA and V as cameos for Jo Kwon’s I’m Da One music video; Jimin, J-Hope, SUGA, and Jungkook as dancers for GLAM’s Glamorous stage; J-Hope rapping in Jo Kwon’s song Animal, Jimin as a cameo in GLAM’s PARTY (XXO) music videos, and many more. RM was also spreading his wings in the underground scene with a crew called DaeNamHyup.
Now that you’ve read their pre-debut stories, what do you think? Was their encounter simply a coincidence or destiny?
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Written By: RAM
Edit By: Mheer
Checked By: Ash
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