Memory, Yearning, Loss: Piano in BTS’s “HYYH”

Promotional image for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2, BigHit Music.

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, BTS’s monumental series dedicated to the fragile concept of youth, had its 10th anniversary on April 29, 2025.

The series, comprised of the albums The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2 and the compilation album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, also launched the Bangtan Universe, a fictional narrative woven through the albums’ music videos, but also promotional trailers and short films, and later expanded to include a webtoon, a book, and a collection of notes adding details to the story.

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life series marked an evolution for BTS from their hip hop-centred songs and energetic and aggressive delivery to a softer and more poetic sensibility and sound, spearheaded by member SUGA. The piano, which had started to appear in songs like the introspective “Tomorrow” and the jazz-infused “Rain,” from Skool Luv Affair-Special Edition and Dark & Wild, both released in 2014, became more prominent. This pointed to the continuous expansion of their storytelling and musical vocabulary.

Celebration and Incantation: j-hope’s ‘Hope On The Stage’

j-hope performs during the opening night of the “Hope On The Stage” tour in Seoul, on February 28, 2025. Credit: BigHit Music, j-hope ‘HOPE ON THE STAGE in SEOUL’ Photo Sketch

On the stage, as part of BTS, j-hope has a spellbinding energy. In “Hope On The Stage,” his first solo world tour across the US, Mexico, and multiple stops across Asia, this energy feels like it has been magnified by several degrees. The tour marks his return to the stage after completing his mandatory military service in South Korea, an extremely significant moment of reunion, renewal and growth for any artist.

RM’s “Right Place, Wrong Person” is the right album at the right time

RM Right Place, Wrong Person Concept Photo 1 by @wingshya

“I’m goddamn lost,” RM sings in “LOST!” the title track of his new album Right Place, Wrong Person, a fun, upbeat song about his struggle to find his right place in the world. The song comes deep into the tracklist, encapsulating the album’s central theme: the confusion of feeling out of place in our surroundings or situation, unable to conform to societal or imposed expectations, or even disconnected from our dreams and goals. 

The song’s video, a funny, absurd recreation of the inside of RM’s mind, shows him trying to reconcile various selves while finding his way through a strange office maze. Though humorous, the video evokes a sense of unease, bewilderment, and even annoyance. It is the art film response to the lush and cinematic video for his album pre-release song, “Come Back to Me,” where we see RM lost inside a house and finding different versions of himself in alternate times or realities. Both videos are rich illustrations of being the wrong person in the right place or the right person in the wrong place. The fluidity between these notions is at the heart of Right Place, Wrong Person, an album that chronicles RM’s dislocating experience of being an artist in the public eye since his early youth.