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BTS Opens Up About Their "Hope" to Spread Mental Health Awareness: "Every Day Is Stressful for Our Generation"

Each member of the world-famous K-pop group lands their own Billboard magazine cover

By McKenna Aiello Feb 15, 2018 2:00 PMTags
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BTS is using their global platform to shed light on the importance of mental health awareness. 

E! News has an exclusive look at the K-pop group's Billboard magazine cover, which includes a black and white group photo as well as seven individual covers for each member. Throughout their meteoric rise to the top, BTS has set themselves apart from other boy bands in the genre by addressing social issues in tracks like "Go Go," "No More Dream" and "N.O."

Speaking to fellow K-pop singer Kim Jong-Hyun's December 2017 suicide, BTS wants their ever-growing fan base to know they empathize with debilitating pressures faced on a daily basis.

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"I really want to say that everyone in the world is lonely and everyone is sad," Suga said, "and if we know that everyone is suffering and lonely, I hope we can create an environment where we can ask for help, and say things are hard when they're hard, and say that we miss someone when we miss them."

RM added, "We went to give our condolences that morning. I couldn't sleep at all that night. It was so shocking, because we had seen him so often at events. He was so successful."

The world-famous singer also said he hopes lawmakers enact a plan to relieve stress for younger generations. 

As RM explained to Billboard, "Honestly, from our standpoint, every day is stressful for our generation. It's hard to get a job, it's harder to attend college now more than ever... Adults need to create policies that can facilitate that overall social change."

"Right now, the privileged class, the upper class needs to change the way they think," he continued. 

BTS also discussed their support of LGBT rights, and their love for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Same Love" anthem. "It's hard to find the right words," RM shared. "To reverse the words: Saying 'same love' is saying 'love is the same.' I just really liked that song."

From Suga's perspective, "There's nothing wrong [with gay marriage.] Everything is equal."

And when it comes to resolving conflict within the group, BTS understands the importance of open and honest communication.  

Suga explained, "And if there's a problem or someone has hurt feelings, we don't just leave it, we talk about it then and there." Jungkook chimed in, So if Hope and Jin fight, it's not just the two of them that resolve it."

"Everyone gathers together," RM described. "It's like an agora in ancient Greece: We gather and we ask: ‘What happened?'" 

Check out the entire collection of BTS' Billboard covers by scrolling below! 

For more from BTS, pick up the latest issue of Billboard magazine.