BTS’s Jin releases solo single: ‘The Astronaut’

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Dispatch | Wikimedia Commons

Ethan Del Rosario

BTS member Jin debuted his first single as a solo artist with “The Astronaut,” on Oct. 28. The song was co-written by Coldplay, who previously worked on the collaboration song with BTS’, “My Universe.”

BigHit Music on Twitter dropped “The Astronaut” promotion schedule on Oct. 18 along with a logo trailer for the song.

The song may be Jin’s, whose full name is Kim Seok-jin, first official track as a solo artist, but he also has unofficially released songs including “Super Tuna,” “Abyss” and “Tonight,”  Additionally he has solo tracks on BTS albums including, “Awake,” “Epiphany” and “Moon.”

His previous ballads have demonstrated he is able to emphasize raw emotions into his songs, as noted by Billboard.

During an interview with MTV, Jin expressed his thoughts on what the music video meant to him.

”The Astronaut” talks about an astronaut who accidentally lands on Earth, but decides to settle down to stay with his loved ones — Army,” the singer said. “Anyone can face an unexpected situation just like the astronaut in the song. I believe if I go with the flow even in those unexpected situations, I would get closer to the desired destination one day.”

The song is also a love letter to the BTS fandom, known as ARMY, according to Jin. In an interview with Newsen, a Korean entertainment news site, he said writing the song aimed to show his appreciation for the ARMYs who “made the me I am now.”

Full of gratitude and affection, the lyrics contain heartwarming odes like, “When I’m with you, there is no one else.”

BTS confirmed their enlistment for their mandatory military service a day before the promotional release of Jin’s single. All the members will have to enlist once their individual schedules are completed. Jin is the oldest member of BTS and first on the list, making this highly anticipated solo project even more sentimental.

Jin was able to debut his solo single alongside Coldplay, joining them during their “Music Of The Spheres” tour stop in Buenos Aires’ River Plate stadium. Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, revealed during the concert how this single came to life.

“About six months ago, one of [BTS’] members called me up and he said, ‘I have to leave the band in December for two years and join the army in Korea, because that’s the rules there,’ and then he said, ‘I need a song that says goodbye to everybody for a little while,’” Martin said.

The rest of BTS are represented in the music video in a more subtle way. The bike and books for RM, polaroid camera for J-Hope, speaker for SUGA, plant in a glass bowl for Jimin, Boston bag for V and a guitar for Jungkook.