K-pop and K-dramas: Happy Birthday Jin!

H! It’s Annie!

Happy Birthday Kim Seokjin, Worldwide Handsome! The oldest member of the band who often acts like the youngest in the absolute best way possible. He’s made every single one of us laugh and there is no way BTS would be the same without him. A lot of people seem to think that he’s not as good of a singer as the others, but I would seriously beg to differ. Jin has some of my favorite solo songs on any of BTS’s albums and I can’t imagine songs like ‘Don’t Leave Me’ or ‘Crystal Snow’ without his amazing high notes. Those are both songs that are talked about less but recently they’ve become two of my favorite BTS songs so I would definitely check them out if you haven’t. Jin is a worldwide handsome dude with a contagious laugh and a penchant for lightening any situation; so of course we have to appreciate him on his birthday. I’m going to do what I did for Jimin’s birthday, which is take some of his singles and rank them even though I absolutely love them all. So let’s get into it!

4. Awake

Absolutely gorgeous and makes me want to cry every time I listen to it. His lighter tone makes the song flow really well and gives it a true feeling of beauty. Just like the man who sings it. The song takes a somber note of realizing that maybe you can’t do what you’re setting out to do. It tells the audience that one day they might have to let go but still holds the hopefulness that you can still fight for whatever it is you want. More specifically, Jin here is talking about how he may not fly like the other “6 petals”. I think we all know who the other six petals are and now I’m definitely sad. We are a fandom that loves each of the boys equally despite biases and bias-wreckers and we can all agree that Jin has just as much talent as the other boys. If anything, this song proves it. BTS wouldn’t work without all seven members. But I’m still happy that Jin was able to share all of this and it’s an absolutely beautiful song. Jin has a real talent for making songs sound like pieces of art just with his voice.

3. Epiphany

Of all of the solo songs on this album, this one is probably the most like a typical ballad. It makes his voice stand out beautifully and every single time I’ve seen him perform this it feels like the entire stadium stills. The song’s beautiful message about learning to love yourself is so welcome and it shows an amazing progression from his mindset when he created ‘Awake’ for the ‘Wings’ album. Jin learning to accept himself through this inspires the fans to do the same and love themselves. The past two songs together are a necessary progression to show the fans, who all have or will go through that same progression themselves. This song that causes the masses to stop and listen has most likely effected thousands of people for the better.

2. Abyss

Jin just released this one for his birthday, so of course I had to include it. Recently the members of BTS (except for Yoongi who was still resting) released interviews where many of them talked about how they deal with quarantine and life in general. Jin expressed that he leaves the past in the past and tries to not worry about the future. I was struck by his calm demeanor and how maturely he goes about life when many people wouldn’t be able to, or at least wouldn’t think they would be able to, go about life like that. I truly wondered if he still had issues to deal with and then he reminded us all that everyone does. He has an excellent way of making his fans aware that himself and the other members of BTS are still human and should be treated like human beings. This song is about his burnout after they topped the Billboard 100. Not only is this song another example of beautiful pain, but it’s a look at Jin that we don’t usually get to see. It’s another one that made me want to cry when I first listened to it. I’m so glad he shared this one with us.

1. Moon

I absolutely fell in love with this song upon first hearing it and thought that I wouldn’t be able to love it any more than I already do. Then I watched him perform it for ‘Map Of The Soul: One’ and I realized I was very wrong. He was absolutely adorable dressed head to toe in pink and the way he hugged the Earth after he finished singing made me smile uncontrollably. And it’s supposed to. This song was created as a love letter for ARMY. He describes himself as the Moon, revolving around us who are the Earth. He tells us that he’ll always be there for us and also knows that we’ll be there for him. It’s a wonderfully flattering look into the relationship ARMY has with BTS and the other way around. It’s a reminder that he’s our Worldwide Handsome and we’re his and BTS’s ARMY. Jin just has a way of making every song beautiful.

So now that I’ve gushed about Jin for a while, I’m just feeling so soft. These boys are so amazing and I love that we’ve all created a place that shows them that we love them all equally. Jin is not and never will be a weak link or even the weakest link in this band. We need them all and we worry about them all. They are all equally as talented and amazing as each other. It doesn’t matter how old Jin or any of the others get or how other people who don’t really listen to BTS think of the individual members. We, the ones who love and support this band, know the truth. And our numbers are growing exponentially by the day. We stand by all of them and they are there for us right back. Jin has made me laugh on days when I needed it and I will be forever grateful to him because of it. I hope he has the absolute happiest of birthdays and knows that all of us love him very much.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie