BTS‘s new official biography, Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS, has finally been released, and ARMYs are enjoying the exclusive interviews, stories, and portraits that reflect on the group’s decade-long career.
The book consists of seven chapters in which the seven members take ARMYs along on their journey from debuting under the then-small company, BIGHIT MUSIC (formerly Big Hit Entertainment), to celebrating their 10th anniversary as one of the top global musical artists.
As expected, the group is letting ARMYs in on some of their most raw moments, from group fights and makeups to their thoughts when they contemplated disbandment in 2018, their struggles while promoting in the United States, and more.
Along with the emotional moments, BTS also showcased their funny personalities through never before heard stories, including how their 2017 mega-hit “DNA” was almost entirely different, but became what we know today thanks to the power of the word “yes.”
In Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS, the members discussed the creation of “DNA” and shared that it began with the iconic whistle and acoustic guitar, which helped shape the song’s fun, “refreshing” sound.
As they finished the instrumental, they struggled to find a melody. Jimin shared that producer and HYBE founder Bang Si Hyuk created a melody for the song, but the members thought it was “really bad.”
Jimin hilariously revealed that he was the first member of the group to outright say, among his fellow members, that the melody wasn’t good.
As they contemplated what to do, leader RM was naturally designated to voice the group’s concerns with the company.
Between [the members] we went, ‘What’s this? This is bad,’ ‘This is unbelievable,’ ‘We need to tell him we can’t use this.’ So, RM told the company, and I was scheduled for a recording and went to the company, too.
— BTS’s Jimin in “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS“
Even though RM had voiced the group’s concerns to Bang Si Hyuk, Jimin was not spared the hot seat after the company’s founder tracked him down in the recording studio to ask his honest thoughts on the song’s melody.
Bang Si Hyuk asked Jimin outright, “Do you not like it either?” and the BTS member shared that he sympathized with the group’s leader at that moment.
When Bang Si Hyuk did that, I panicked, but what was I supposed to do? I say, ‘Yes,’ and he tells me to go home for the day. That I didn’t need to do the recording, and to go home.
— BTS’s Jimin in “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS“
The biography acknowledged that the word “yes” changed “everything,” and the song’s melody was rewritten into what it is today.
The song broke numerous records and was what BTS performed for their U.S. award show debut at the 2017 American Music Awards.
