“BTS V revealed a lot about the kind of music that he loves. Jazz music. When you look at V’s Instagram profile you will see drips of jazzy influence from the songs and clips he shares of jazz artists to the feel on his layout like an old vintage black and white photograph. V feels like an old wise soul, add that to his deep baritone singing voice and it’s a jazz match made in heaven. V also talked about his famous skit with American Artist Olivia Rodrigo and revealed the most asked question, “What did you whisper to her?” The answer is not as exciting as the many memes that came up after the show.
V is the most followed Korean male idol with his Instagram account ammasing over 43 million followers. He adresse how he posts and comes up with his VCuts, which are photos from photo shoots or mirror selfies. His last update nearly broke the internet. He is also known as the fastest deleter of posts on his Instagram, that fans were jockingly asking Instagram to take away his delete option. He usually posts, especially Instagram stories and withing seconds if you blink, they are all gone!
Are you even more into jazz lately? I know you’ve been listening to jazz ever since you were young, but I’m curious if there’s something that’s made you like it even more now than you used to.
V: If you like something for a long time, that feeling sort of intensifies, and whenever I like something, I end up doing something about it. I grew up listening to a lot of jazz, which I love, and I feel like it’s the style of music I want to do be doing now.
I understand that performance for the Grammys took place under various urgent, quickly evolving circumstances, so how did it end up that you would act with Olivia Rodrigo?
V: Ah, that was a suggestion from the people at the Grammys that was agreed to on the same day as the show. So I had no way of knowing who I would end up seated next to.
In a situation like that, you must have had to set everything up and capture the right feeling right away.
V: I kept thinking about the Now You See Me movies. The way the performance on the stage unfolded also reminded me of Jason Bourne, but for talking with Olivia Rodridgo, I thought it was really important to capture the feeling of the way they con people while talking to them in Now You See Me. I thought maybe I should just speak to her casually, and that it would be like magic if I could steal her card without her noticing while we’re talking, and how it would look if we locked eyes in a fun way. Things like that.
When I see what you post on Instagram, I feel like they have that old, jazzy vibe, whether it’s the video where you dance in a carefree way or the pictures that give a similar feeling.
V: I’ve always been that way—that’s just my individual style. I didn’t think it was necessary to post anything like that to the group account since it’s my personal style and my personal life. But I had no idea what to post once I ended up getting my own social media account (laughs) so I decided to just post things I like. I can show off my personal flair on that account. I don’t think I need to worry what other people think about it.
Do you have any criteria you follow for the photos or videos you post? They all share a very consistent feeling.
V: No, I just shoot whatever. I don’t have the ability to put my photos together in a nice way the way Hobi does, and I can’t express my own feelings consistently the way Namjoon does. I think it’s different every day—whether I’m feeling good that day, or if there’s something I want to upload. It all depends on who I am that day. Whatever I’m doing, it’s up to whoever I am that day to make the judgment call.
I still think there’s something special about how the photos feel, though. Even the selfies you took while you were getting your makeup done felt almost like they were from a photoshoot, for example—like you’re capturing a cool moment. I was also curious how you edit your selfies, with filters or otherwise, to achieve that look.
V: Filters? I don’t use filters. It’s just a regular old camera on a Galaxy—a Samsung phone. (laughs) And I don’t edit them, either. Because if I did, they wouldn’t be me anymore. I tend to leave the photos just as they are with an unpolished feel. I do adjust the color, though. When I want to make them black and white. That’s the one and only thing I use.
Swahili Bangtan 