BTS’s J-Hope Shared He Used To Fear “Growing Numb” To Performing On Stage

For the book “Interviews With K-Pop Stars” put together by journalist Park Hee A, BTS‘s J-Hope discussed the group’s success, their unending cycle of stages and award ceremonies, the inevitability of growing used to that kind of spotlight, and his confrontation with such emotions.

 

He mentioned that at a certain point in his career, he did notice that he was growing more numb to each stage, with the countless number of performances he had done.

With so many award shows and performances, I did start to feel a little confused about how I can possibly make each one different… or how I should be treating each stage. It was impossible to not grow somewhat numb to the spotlight, especially after all the awards we had won over the years.

— J-Hope

 

J-Hope admitted, after the realization came fear.

That really scared me though. As soon as I realized that I felt numb to it all, the first thought that popped into my head was that I’m terrified.

— J-Hope

 

In the end, it was a moment of clarity for J-Hope. He confronted his fear, figured out what scared him, and found himself a solution.

Fans will pick up the signs and know immediately when their artists aren’t 100% there. So had I kept going in that kind of mindset, it would have been very obvious to my fans too. At least that’s how I saw it.

— J-Hope

 

J-Hope learned that only when he is “genuinely passionate and completely happy about the stage, the fans also receive that energy” from him.

So now, I’m more focused on not bringing any negative energy on to the stage. I try to make every single performance as fun as it can be, so that I don’t even get the chance to think about anything else. I look at each stage as a brand new performance.

— J-Hope

 

Thus came the wide variety of performance concepts that ARMYs have seen from BTS. This is why ARMYs get to indulge themselves in the abundance of performances that all have different colors! While it wasn’t easy for BTS members to try putting on a “new” style of show for the same song…

Our intentions became pretty clear. We wanted to have fun by switching up the styles and we wanted the fans to have fun watching us do so. It was exhausting, physically, for the members. But it was incredibly rewarding.

— J-Hope

 

… in the end, that mindset made all the difference in how BTS perceived the stage.

The stage is sacred to us. We love being on it. It means everything to us.

— J-Hope

 

Thanks to the book interview, ARMYs now have a deeper understanding of J-Hope’s – and BTS’s – source of unbelievable drive that pushes them to put on an incredible performance each and every time. It started off as a way to fight growing too comfortable…

 

… and that struggle to remain progressive really propelled them to the top of the top.