BTS’ Jimin, an Emotion-Driven Performer, Builds His Solo Story With ‘FACE’ and ‘MUSE’

With BTS preparing to return in March, anticipation is rising worldwide. News of the comeback and plans for a world tour has prompted immediate reactions beyond the music industry, including in tourism and local economies, signaling another major wave of interest. BTS is seen as both a global economic force and a symbolic name that elevates South Korea’s image. Ahead of the comeback, this outlet is publishing a “BTS member profile” series, taking a closer look at each of the group’s seven members. <Editor’s note>

Jimin serves as BTS’ main dancer and a lead vocalist. Onstage, his strength is how movement and breath work together. As a singer, he uses breath to heighten emotion, shifting between a sensual edge and a softer tone. He is also known for smooth transitions between chest voice and falsetto, steady tone across his range and a distinctive vocal color that is easy to recognize.

Dance is central to his identity as a performer. He began popping in middle school and entered Busan High School of Arts as the top student in its dance department. Before moving to Seoul, he focused on contemporary dance, refining line and emotional expression. That background helps explain why his performances often feel narrative-driven, with detailed facial expressions and mood changes that track each song’s concept.

As a solo artist, Jimin started with self-examination. His first official solo album, “FACE,” centered on confronting emotional highs and lows during the pandemic. The pre-release track “Set Me Free Pt.2” opened with a rougher intensity, while the title track “Like Crazy” translated his inner world with a more delicate touch. Moving among pop, hip-hop and R&B, the album links its emotional arc across tracks, leaving what the title suggests: a record of facing his “real self.”

Results followed. “Like Crazy” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, a first for a Korean solo artist, and also earned a certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. “FACE” quickly expanded its global streaming performance, firmly establishing the start of Jimin’s solo run.

His second solo album, “MUSE,” shifts direction. If “FACE” confronted the self, “MUSE” looks outward for sources of inspiration. The album’s through line is love, moving from “Rebirth” through “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” and “Slow Dance,” changing emotional texture, turning the mood with “Be Mine,” and peaking with the title track “Who.” Across seven tracks, Jimin frames love as searching, confirming and, at times, drifting.

The album’s palette also widens. Working again with producer Pdogg and additional producers, Jimin aimed for higher polish, while collaborations with Loco and Sofia Carson broadened its harmonies. He has said the album drew inspiration from The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” a reference point for its romantic tone and structure. “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band,” which invokes the Smeraldo symbol from BTS’ broader narrative universe, presents a message for feelings that cannot be spoken, highlighting both Jimin’s lyricism and optimism.

Above all, “Who” has become a song defined by endurance. Its cumulative streams on Spotify have continued to rise, sustaining long-term momentum, and “MUSE” has also expanded its presence through steady streaming results. The approach of letting the music build over time, rather than relying on flashy promotion, has become another side of Jimin’s solo identity.

Jimin ultimately is an artist who speaks emotion first through dance and leaves it lingering through his voice. When his onstage immersion and the narratives in his recordings point in the same direction, his name comes into sharper focus. In this “BTS member profile” series, Jimin has built his chapter in that way.