Watch: BTS Shares Stories About Their Hit Songs In Producer Pdogg Special Of "Immortal Songs"

Nov 14, 2020

The November 14 episode of KBS’s “Immortal Songs” featured the hit songs of BTS’s producer, Pdogg.

To support their producer, BTS filmed a special video interview to share behind-the-scenes stories about their hit songs and their work with Pdogg.

The guest singers on the show included Sunwoo Jung-A, Son Seung Yeon, Song So Hee, Yook Joong Wan Band, Goon Jo and ALiEN, and BAE173. BTS shared that they had cheered when they heard that Sunwoo Jung-A would be on the show.

“I’m a huge fan,” RM said. “I really enjoyed listening to her song ‘Run with Me.'” V added, “I’m looking forward to her performance the most. She’s a singer that all the members like a lot.”

V said about Son Seung Yeon, “A friend of mine from my hometown is a big fan. They said that she’s a singer they want to see at least once before they die.” In response, Son Seung Yeon said that she would invite them to her concert in the future.

About Pdogg, RM said, “He is the root and foundation of BTS’s music.” Jimin said, “He’s our teacher, but also our colleague. We’re like family.” V said, “BTS was created through producer Pdogg.” Jin said, “He’s a very soft-hearted person. It’s very cute.”

Pdogg himself shared how he had gotten into music. “I majored in classical vocal music,” he said. “When I told my parents that I wanted to do classical vocal music, they supported me without hesitation. When I told them I was doing idol music, they were against it at first, but then they pushed me to go through with it.”

He also talked about the pressure of his success. For two years in a row, he has ranked No. 1 in the country in copyright royalties. For “DNA,” he received a producer award. He said, “I was happy and grateful, but I thought a lot about what I should do next.”

First to perform was Goon Jo and ALiEN, who covered BTS’s “Fire.” RM said, “This is a song that comes up a lot in variety shows. Whenever people are cooking or get angry, it always comes up.” Suga said, “I based the song on the keyword ‘fired up.’ I heard that in Daegu, when you feel encouraged, they say that you’re ‘fired up.’ At first, I wasn’t sure if that was something that people really said. The point of the song is to come out swinging with confidence.”

Song So Hee, a gukak (Korean traditional music) singer, was next to perform with “Spring Day.” RM and Suga said that the song was based on their personal experiences. Suga said, “Doesn’t everyone have an experience in which they parted ways with their friends?”

RM said, “When I was young, I’d meet up with my friends and go to Internet cafés. We’d talk about who we hung out with, what we did. Those friends were precious to me at the time, but after I went to Seoul and became a trainee, those memories started to fade. I wrote the song while thinking of my friends.”

He added, “I wrote the song while at the Hangang Park in Yeouido. I sent it to Pdogg and Bang Si Hyuk afterward, and Pdogg said, ‘It seems good, but I can’t tell because of your singing.’ It was a bit of a shock, but anyway the results were good.”

V said, “I was the first to write lyrics for the song and Pdogg said it was really good. I got my hopes up and asked him how it was going a few days later and he said that he went with RM’s lyrics.”

Third to perform was Yook Joong Wan Band with “Blood Sweat & Tears.” RM said, “It was the first time that we’d felt such a global response. We thought, ‘Something must be going right,’ and ‘Something amazing is happening here.'” Jimin added, “We were like, ‘It can’t be,’ and then ‘Could it be?'”

About the Billboard Music Awards, Pdogg said, “I didn’t expect it at all. The Billboard Music Awards weren’t broadcast in Korea, so we went to Bang Si Hyuk’s house and watched it there. As soon as they called out BTS’s name, we hugged in each other in chaos.”

Next to perform was Son Seung Yeon, collaborating with AleXa, with her cover of “DNA.” BTS said, “We often thought that this was the ‘start.’ It’s the song that confirmed, ‘We’re receiving a lot of love from overseas.’ We were nervous about it, but the fans made us feel confident. When our song came on, the cheers were the loudest. We were proud and recognized that we were receiving a lot of love. When we did stadium concerts, we also realized that again.”

RM said, “The song has the vibe of a one-sided crush of someone in their early twenties. It’s that romantic dream of feeling like you were meant to fall in love from the moment you were born, that it was written in your genes.”

Sunwoo Jung-A performed her version of BTS’s “Fake Love.” About the song’s debut at the BBMAs in 2018, Jimin said, “I was so nervous I almost threw up.” It was a live broadcast, and because of the high pitch, it was a difficult song to sing live. BTS shared, “We got a lot of energy from the fans. We gained confidence through ARMY’s voices.”

BAE173 performed next with the song “I NEED U.” BTS said, “This song is like Pdogg’s baby.” Jin added, “This was the first song we took No. 1 with. This song pulled us up to the top, so it’s a meaningful song that we all have a lot of affection for.” J-Hope said, “As soon as I heard the intro, I was like, ‘What is this?'” Jungkook said, “I knew this song would do well.”

In the end, Son Seung Yeon took the final win on the show.

For their closing remarks, Suga said that they wanted to perform at the Grammy Awards. RM said, “Let’s just confidently say that we want a Grammy.” He added, “As many people might expect, that’s one of our goals down the line. But ironically, doing an ‘offline’ concert has become our new dream. We hope the day will soon come when we can share a stage with an audience again. That’s our goal now.”