(From left) Taeyang of BigBang, Jimin of BTS. Image: Screengrab from YouTube/The Black Label
BigBang’s Taeyang has nothing but respect and gratitude for BTS’ Jimin after working together for the collaborative single “Vibe,” which was released on Friday, Jan. 13.
Taeyang praised Jimin’s work ethic in an exclusive interview with the US-based music publication Rolling Stone. To recall, the collaboration between the K-pop artists was confirmed by the BigBang member’s agency, The Black Label, last Jan. 4.
“[Jimin and I] both really wanted to make a really great song and a really great music video. That’s what we want to show everyone. Jimin put in more effort than anyone and I’m very thankful for that,” he said.
The BigBang member also revealed in a report from British culture publication NME that “Vibe” was not the song that was originally pitched to Jimin. It wasn’t until the suggestion of Korean American producer Teddy Park that the switch was made, after saying it would suit both artists “better.”
“It was another track. And when I invited Jimin to the studio for the very first time, Teddy called me right before I played it and said, ‘I don’t think the song will be that song, ‘Vibe’ will be much better and people will love it.’ And Teddy was right. Teddy is always right,” he shared.
Taeyang didn’t expect that he would collaborate with Jimin since they didn’t know each other back then. But it wasn’t until 2022 where they eventually got to interact in events, as well as Teddy’s idea for the artists to work together.
“There were some events where I got to meet the BTS members and got to know Jimin naturally. From there, we just started to talk about music and we both agreed that we wanted to collaborate and it became very seamless after that,” he added.
Taeyang debuted as the main vocalist and main dancer of BigBang in August 2006, while Jimin was announced as the main dancer and lead vocalist of BTS in June 2013.
Prior to the collaboration, Jimin was known as a fan of Taeyang even before debuting with BTS. /ra
RELATED STORIES:
BigBang’s Taeyang to release collab single with BTS’ Jimin on January 13
From BTS enlistment to reign by new girl groups: 2022 K-pop wrap up