BTS's Jin has just released his first solo album Happy worldwide today (15th) at 2 PM KST. The album dives into his personal journey of discovering "happiness," with Jin sharing his emotions of love, excitement, and courage through his music. He describes himself as a "ray of sunshine" aiming to spread positivity and hopes listeners will feel happiness when they hear his songs.
Happy features the title track "Running Wild" along with tracks like "I'll Be There," "Another Level," "Until I Reach You," "Heart on the Window" (with Wendy), and "In My Feelings." The album highlights Jin’s vocal abilities across a variety of genres, all centered around band sounds. Jin also played a big role in the album's production, even writing the fan song "In My Feelings," which reflects his musical talents.
Ahead of the release, Jin sat down for a Q&A with his agency Big Hit Music to share his thoughts on Happy.
Q: How do you feel about releasing your first solo album Happy?
Jin: "I’m honored to have my own solo album, and I really hope the fans enjoy it. This album reflects a lot of my personal opinions and tastes, so it’s really special to me. If people say 'The songs are great' or 'I want to listen again,' that would make me really happy (laughs)."
Q: What should we focus on while listening to Happy?
Jin: "I based the album on band sounds that I love. They sound especially exciting when performed live, so I recommend imagining how the songs would feel at a concert."
Q: What did you think when you first heard the title track 'Running Wild'?
Jin: "It gave me a sense of nostalgia. I thought listeners would feel comfortable and familiar with it, so I chose 'Running Wild' as the title track."
Q: Tell us about your collaboration with Gary Barlow from Take That as a producer.
Jin: "I had to work on my pronunciation a lot while recording. The American and British pronunciations are different, so I had to correct myself many times. It was challenging, but I tried my best (laughs)."
Q: How did you approach recording 'I’ll Be There,' a rockabilly song, which is uncommon in Korea?
Jin: "I thought about how I would sing it from the beginning, so it wasn’t too difficult. But there’s a part where I needed to sing 'One, two, three, four' with excitement, and I had trouble getting it right, so I recorded it several times."
Q: What’s the story behind your fan song 'In My Feelings'?
Jin: "After becoming a trainee, I wrote down some feelings like 'Fans are waiting, I need to sing, I need to perform.' It was a record of my honest emotions at that time, and I used that to write the lyrics, hoping my fans would feel that connection."
Q: What makes you 'happy' now?
Jin: "I’ve been doing a lot of activities recently, and seeing fans enjoy them makes me happy. I thought to myself, 'This is why I work.'"
Q: Lastly, any message for ARMY worldwide?
Jin: "Thank you so much to all the ARMYs who waited for this album. Happy was released because of you. I’ll be showing my face a lot more, even for the other members, so don’t feel lonely! I love you!"
Jin will also hold a special comeback live stream titled Jin Comeback Live: What is 'Happy'? on Weverse at 2:30 PM today. He’ll connect with fans and share more about the album. Plus, he will have a fan showcase, Jin 'Happy' Special Stage, at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul on the 16th and 17th.
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