The performer is the third member of BTS to share a behind-the-scenes look at their solo journey
BTS’ Jimin is an incandescent performer on stage, but in a new documentary, the star shines in a completely different way.
Jimin’s Production Diary (available to stream Monday on Weverse) documents the creation of the vocalist and dancer’s first solo album, FACE, and offers fans an intimate look at his journey — sometimes trying, often sweet, and occasionally very silly,
Jimin, 28, is the third member of BTS to release a documentary about the making of their solo projects, which they’ve been undertaking as they prepare to complete South Korea’s mandatory military service. But unlike J-Hope’s In the Box, which showcased the artist’s historic headlining set at Lollapalooza in Chicago in 2022, or Suga’s Road to D-Day, which followed the rapper on a creative sojourn around the world studded with famous faces from Halsey to Steve Aoki, Jimin’s diary is remarkably intimate in scale.
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In fact, the majority of it takes place in just a few rooms: a cozy recording studio at the headquarters of his record label, Hybe, and the Supreme-strewn Seoul apartment of one of BTS’ longtime collaborators, producer Pdogg.
It’s because of this scaled-down perspective, in part, that Jimin’s Production Diary is sure to make an impact on fans. It reveals a lesser-known side of the superstar. One that’s dressed in a beanie and sweats instead of sparkling stage outfits, of course, but more poignantly, one that is struggling to authentically tell his own story and find his voice as a songwriter.
Jimin paces endlessly around Pdogg’s home studio and kitchen and coffee table as the pair, along with a handful of collaborators, parse out lyrics and bits of hooks. In his highs, Jimin, a lifelong dancer, instinctively breaks out into freestyles to the tracks. In his lows, he adorably face plants onto the sofa or curls up amid recording equipment, bucket hat pulled low.
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He also showcases his ability to draw out addictive melodies with not just his voice, but on an acoustic guitar, and, in a particularly lighthearted moment, on the keyboard: Jimin messes around with a snippet of a tune he played with friends as a kid, a haunting circus-like melody that ends up opening the album’s first track, “Face-off.”
The doc will be especially emotional for longtime fans of BTS who have watched Jimin grapple with the making of his previous one-off solo tracks. Self-doubt is still ever-present in Diary, but so is his effervescence, as the songs come together and a happy dance bursts out of him.
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When the album dropped in March 2023, he’d have even more reason to celebrate: The single “Like Crazy” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Jimin the first first South Korean soloist to hold the spot. (Jung Kook’s “Seven” feat. Latto later went No. 1 in July.)
Two other members of BTS — RM, 29, and Jung Kook, 26 — also make cameos in the film. (In addition to J-Hope, 29, and Suga, 30, the seven-member group also includes V, 27, and Jin, 30.) RM, the group’s leader and a consummate lyricist himself, weighs in on the emotion of Jimin’s songs in one scene, and Jung Kook, the lead vocalist, lends his voice to the album’s hidden track, “Dear.ARMY,” which is dedicated to their fans,
All seven members have now released individual projects since they announced in June 2022 that they’d be focussing on solo work and continuing some group activities as they carried out their military service. Jin, J-Hope and Suga are currently enlisted and the remaining members have shared their intention to enlist by the end of this year. Jung Kook will round out the releases, dropping his album, Golden, on Nov. 3.
