y’all ever watch a video of bts and realize u don’t have the subtitles on like a good 10 minutes in. like you just. did not realize. and you’ve been watching. only really going off of actions and understanding absolutely nothing but still laughing along like the clown u are.
I get that to an extent and I have said before that they probably do not know everything. However, they have to be aware of at least some of it. There’s no way that they know nothing. Absolutely no way.
namjoon is always thinking, you’re right, and i feel like he thinks about things on multiple levels at the same time. mono feels like an indie work to me. the sounds that were used, the vocal and rap styles chosen, the mv styles, the cover art, and even the way it was released. i follow a lot of indie artists, and you’re right, there’s never any hype when they drop a track. it’s more about the music and less about the “total package of integrated contents” the way kpop is.
similarly, i feel like namjoon wanted us to focus on the music. it’s clear that mono is centered around a single theme, one of the many ways he employs the concept “mono” throughout this project, and you’re right, it is personal. but at the same time it’s not, you know? because one of the things made abundantly clear to namjoon over the years is that there are many people out there feeling the same way he does, and all of them feel just as lonely and isolated as him.
a playlist is something you make for yourself. you pick a theme, you compile a bunch of songs that all go together somehow, and then you hit play. it’s to capture a mood, express a thought, help you work through an emotion. and sometimes you choose to share that playlist with a friend. i think that’s what namjoon did here. we’re his friends – at least he wants us to be, as he’s said multiple times – and he shared his playlist with us. it’s a very intimate thing.
this whole project is very intimate, really. and you’re right, i think that was his intention. if he’d wanted to make a party album, he would have done that. if he’d wanted to make something hard and aggressive, he has the ability; just look at rm. but that, i feel, is all stuff that he can do with bts. part of the fun in releasing solo music is getting to do things you couldn’t with the group, exploring outside your comfort zone, and i think mono is certainly that. namjoon got to have an animated mv and he did a few aesthetic lyric vids, all stuff bts has never done before – and probably couldn’t because that’s not part of the “total package of integrated contents” that thirsty fans are here for – and i think that’s great.
i said this elsewhere in reply to someone, but it feels like to me, namjoon took us, his friends, on a walk by the river. we talked about life and our problems, and found comfort in the fact that many of our issues are the same, we aren’t alone. and then he hugged us and said, “we’re gonna be okay.” one friend to another.
mono isn’t flashy or hype. it doesn’t try hard. it’s not about trying to make people like him. it’s for the people who resonate on that same frequency, who get it. and if you get it, well, you’re one of his friends that he’s talking to.
if you don’t get it, if this project isn’t for you, that’s okay. one of the things i always tell people regarding my creative works is that it’s okay to say, “this work is not for me,” and walk away. because my intended audience is never everyone. that’d be impossible. in fact, it’s usually pretty niche.
and i think the case is similar here: mono is not intended for everyone. mono is for namjoon and his friends. and i think that’s lovely.
@paticle 