"Turning Into 30 Is Something Different In K-pop. That’s Really Sad, But It’s A Fact”, Says An Overwhelmed Kim Namjoon At The Art Basel Podcast

While BTS was on their tour to the United States and Europe in the year 2018, where the leader of the group needed something that will fill the empty hours between the show and rehearsals as he didn’t have friends abroad at that time. He went to an Art Institute in Chicago. In the art museum, he found many historic arts and started seeing his life in the world of art.

“They’re all dead,” he giggled on the podcast. he laughed slightly on the podcast. He also said that “But for now, in 2018, some outsider from South Korea in here, in this small room, me and his footprint or some pieces of his time just encountered, and it still gives me a thrill.”

These podcasts were recorded before the BTS group announced their new chapter where they will be doing solo projects. Namjoon in an interview provides more details about the things he is been doing lately, and how he is getting prepared for the next era of his life and not just the leader of the biggest band.

“I don’t like to divide the art world, but when I see the painters and visual artists, most of them get their fame after their death, their soul is a long time thing, a long period thing,” Namjoon revealed earlier on the podcast. He also kept saying, “Because somebody paints this in their 20s, changes their paintings in 30s, starts to make a sculpture in 40s. So when I see them, I could be brave, because I’m 29 in Korea, so when we turn 30 it’s a different thing. I’m still just a young man. But in a world of boy bands, turning 30 is something different in K-pop. That’s sad, but it’s a fact.”

BTS has a very rare connection with the soul but Namjoon’s story focuses on the career and struggle phase. Namjoon now wants to live what is like and wants to do the simplest things. He wants to carry his music and go along. While he end says that Soul is a long time thing.

You can hear his full podcast below.