BTS’s RM to release solo album (+unexpected controversy)
BTS's RM is set to release a solo album after a year and five months
On April 26th, BTS’s label Big Hit Music announced that leader RM’s second solo album “Right Place, Wrong Person” will be released on May 24th. This comes about 1 year and 5 months after his first official solo album Indigo”, which was released in December 2022. The upcoming album consists of a total of 11 songs, all of which RM participated in writing and composing, drawing attention.
According to Yonhap News, a Big Hit Music official introduced, “RM’s solo album will be filled with his own unique color, different from BTS’s albums. It’s an album that focuses on RM’s essence.”
Currently, BTS members are fulfilling their mandatory military service. As it is a challenging time for BTS to engage in full-group activities, RM’s solo album is expected to bring great comfort to fans.
However, controversy arose unintentionally as the release date of RM’s solo album coincides with the comeback date of the group NewJeans.
Amidst the hot topic of the “management rights dispute” between HYBE and its subsidiary label ADOR’s CEO Min Hee-jin, CEO Min held a press conference on April 25th to announce her official stance. During this press conference, CEO Min disclosed the contents of the messenger conversation between her and HYBE’s Chairman Bang Si-hyuk. In the messenger conversation, Bang Si-hyuk allegedly made a remark regarding NewJeans’ entry into the Billboard charts, saying, “Are you enjoying this?“
Upon seeing this conversation, netizens speculated on various SNS, including X (formerly Twitter), suggesting that Bang Si-hyuk may have felt jealous of NewJeans’ success.
Furthermore, the timing of BTS RM’s solo album release overlapping with NewJeans’ comeback added fuel to the fire. Netizens, therefore, engaged in debates on communities like TheQoo, with contrasting opinions such as “HYBE’s intentions are clearly visible” and “Don’t overinterpret, it’s just a coincidence.”
This situation puts the artists in a difficult position. The attention is now on how the dispute between HYBE and CEO Min will be resolved.
Source: Wikitree
