On this episode: We talk about our “bias” – our favourite group members. Where does the term ‘bias’ even come from? And what makes your bias, YOUR Bias? Boys of the week: we cover our biases, of course! Louis Tomlinson and Min Yoongi
Season One, Episode Three
“Who’s your Bias?”
Welcome back to BFFs and Boybands, where we talk about “Friendship, Fandom, and the Boybands we love”! Carrie loves One Direction and Muse loves BTS and we talk about the things our fandoms share, how they’re different, and why we’re so invested.
On this episode: We talk about our “bias” – our favourite group members. Where does the term ‘bias’ even come from? And what makes your bias, YOUR Bias? Boys of the week: we cover our biases, of course! Louis Tomlinson and Min Yoongi
00:08 We start laughing because Carrie flubbed the intro the first time
00:34 There’s a crazy amount of news in our fandoms! Let’s review!
02:24 Turning to the topic of biases... Let’s talk about Carrie’s bias Louis (and Harry?)
03:40 Backing up a bit... What’s a bias? And where does that term come from?
05:20 So what’s a “Bias Wrecker”?
05:51 Kinship between people who share a bias... do we get along?
07:43 What makes you relate to a member as a “bias”? How do we relate to our biases?
09:45 We talk about honesty in lyrics and music
10:47 Solo and Group albums and how they’re different
13:04 Can you have more than one bias? (Yes)
15:47 Muse talks about “Bias Lines”
17:10 Our first Boy of the Week! Carrie’s bias: Louis Tomlinson
26:27 Our second Boy of the Week! Muse’s bias: Min Yoongi
38:12 We conclude they’re good Boys and have a little cry Closing notes, next show and contact info
38:19 Thank yous and show closing notes
Additional notes, memes and music:
Watch Yoongi’s interview show “Suchwita” with the boys from Tomorrow X Together here:
https://youtu.be/FuF6gBiAJkE?si=NO7PO59dI3u1oPh5
Watch the video for Amygdala here:
https://youtu.be/IX1dkYoLHVs?si=sawNdHPnaJnD8fkn
And read Muse’s esssay on the symbolism in the video, and Yoongi’s tour here:
Special thanks to the folks at the BTS with Sincerity blog for having me on as a guest blogger.
Songs we mention:
“Lemonade” by Louis Tomlinson
“Palaces” by Louis Tomlinson
“Silver Tongues” by Louis Tomlinson
"She is beauty, We are World Class” by Louis Tomlinson
"That That” by PSY (prod. & feat. SUGA of BTS)
“Interlude: Shadow” by BTS
“Amygdala” by Agust D
Listen to our Season 1 Playlist
...on Youtube Music here: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9WhMVmTww0BsmXJAZH0FSuXYaeTR1_O9&si=FqHJfIjK4g1tFH2Y
...on Tidal here: https://tidal.com/playlist/bb1a4982-6b7c-48ca-bec0-a09f41851765
...on Apple Music here: https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/bffs-and-boybands-season-1/pl.u-PDb44KBTkP6LoK
Our Contact Information:
E-mail: bffsandboybands@gmail.com
Bluesky: @bffsandboybands.bsky.social
Show Credits
BFFs and Boybands is brought to you by your hosts: Carrie and Muse
BFFs and Boybands Logo and branding is by Megan Berry and Jeff Leblanc
Our Theme song is “Light Summer Pop” by SingleFX via Audio Jungle
https://audiojungle.net/item/light-summer-pop/57537454
The “Boy of the Week” logo chime is from Universfield, via Pixabay
Special thanks to every single one of you who has listened, offered feedback and support, and generally been kind and generous with your time and your love.
And very special thanks to BTS and One Direction for making our lives better by sharing themselves and their music.
Muse
Welcome to BFFs and Boy Bands, the show where we talk about fandom.
Carrie
Our friendship, and the boy bands we love. I'm Carrie, One Direction Bestie.
Muse
And I'm Muse, BTS Army Bestie.
Carrie
This episode of BFFs and Boybands.
Muse
Who's your bias?
Muse
Do we want to talk about what's been going on? Because since we last recorded, everyone's been wilding.
Carrie
Yes, literally everyone.
Muse
The BTS guys. We just got news about their comeback, which is coming out in March. There's a world tour. Those tour dates are dropping next week.There have been a whole bunch of lives. They came live to tell us happy new year and count down with us as the new year ticked over in Korea into 2026.
Muse
And for you, what's going on?
Carrie
Louis dropping a new album and going on tour. Niall’s alluded to new music. Zayn’s having his Vegas residency and has alluded to new music. Harry rumors have been circulating and now they're firming up because even Billboard kind of alluded to him releasing new music this year. So it could be a four for four year.
Muse
Wow.
I think since the last time we spoke, we listened to the new Louis single together when it launched.
Carrie
Yes.
Muse
It's so exciting to have these fandom moments where everyone is just together and sharing whatever is dropping.
Carrie
Yeah, it's the community. It's my favorite part of fandom. Absolutely.
Muse
Mm hmm.
Carrie
Yep. And that was for Lemonade. And then when he did his Away From Home festival, he actually sang another new song off the new album, Palaces, which he said is his favorite from the album. And I think we're getting a new one even before the album drops. I'm not sure, because we're only a few weeks away from the album. So it's hard to know.
Muse
I should remind anyone who might be listening that these episodes run a bit behind, so we're not talking about super current events. So if you knew, you're like, all of that happened back in January. Yeah, it's January. We’re recording in January.
Muse
So we started this episode with a topic in mind and that topic is who's your bias? And I think it's interesting that Louis is coming up a lot.
Carrie
I know, right? Because overall, he's my bias. I'm like, I'm more...
I guess I don't know if I'm more drawn to him or what. It's bizarre because it's him and Harry both and not in a ‘Larrie’ way, but in like a, just love their music the most of all guys and I love them all. And I listened to them all, but those are the two that I will just chronically go back and listen to every single thing all the time. But for Louis, there's like a more of a kinship maybe I guess, I don't know because I feel his, he...
He puts everything out there with everything he's got, but you can tell he's not as confident, maybe. He just really wants people to like what he does, but he also has kind of an attitude of, ‘You know, who cares? It's fine if you don't like it,’ but I think it does matter. I don't know, he's just very endearing and very real.
And I just really, really want the best for him because he's had a lot of adversity. So it's nothing, it's not that Harry's had it easy either, but just so much keeps knocking Louis down. And every time he comes back, I'm like, you go Glen Coco, you've got this.
Muse
Okay, but we should back up a little bit. Because I think we should... I don't know if everyone will have heard the term, what's your... Who's your bias?
Carrie
True. Yeah, ‘bias’ came from you guys, didn't it?
Muse
Yes, it comes from the K-pop fandoms. And the meaning is just like, who's your favorite member? Who are you biased toward? But we used to just say, like, back in the day when it was New Kids on the Block.... We just, ‘who's your fave?’
Carrie
I was a Joey gal.
Muse
And I was also a Joey gal. We didn't know each other then, really. I actually went and tried to find out, like, this, ‘who's your bias’ thing, where does it come from? Because I assumed that it came from Korean, that you would say, who's your bias in Korean, but you don't say that in Korean. You say, who's your favorite member?
Carrie
Where did it come from?
Muse
The truth is that nobody knows. It's just what we say now. And so it probably started on some message board somewhere that's lost to the annals of time, but it seems like it was probably fans speaking to one another in English when English was not their first language.
Carrie
Yeah, because bias does... it's rooted in your preference or your, what you lean to sort of subconsciously. So yeah, I can see that.
Muse
Right, but in English, if you say you're biased, that's generally seen as a negative thing. But in K-pop, there's no negative connotations to that. It's just like that, that one's my favorite.
Carrie
Yes.
Carrie
And I don't remember it being in the One Direction fandom at all until the past few years, to be honest. So I think it's just kind of leached over from our BTS friends into how we talk to each other now too.
Muse
And it's a more general K-pop thing, for sure.
Carrie
We've even started adopting bias wrecker. So thanks for that. When all of a sudden somebody who's not your bias starts getting on your radar a little more and you're like, ‘actually what's happening here?’ And then you feel like you're cheating on your bias. It's a whole thing.
Muse
It does feel like you're cheating!
Carrie
It does. Or you want people to know, like if you're talking, if we're talking about one of the members of One Direction and being extra exuberant and then be like, ‘but like, but like, you know, I still like Louis the best’ or ‘I still like Harry the best.’ You just want to clarify.
There’s something like... If you're a Louis girl versus a Harry girl versus a Zayn girl versus a Niall girl versus a Liam girl or guy, obviously, there's sort of an underlying, okay, I got you, like wink, wink to other people who share that bias. And I find that interesting too.
Like if you are in a group of people, like I have a group chat that I'm in that's very, very active and we're amazingly close and everyone loves each other, but we know who each other's bias is. So we did Christmas cards this year and I got cards with a bunch of Louis stickers because they're like, you're a Louis girl. And it just felt extra special because they just knew that about me. And then I sent Louis stickers to the other Louies and we had like a bonding moment about that. it's, it's so fun.
Muse
And do you find like personality wise that you vibe a lot more with the Louis fans? Not that like you don't get along with like the Zayn fans or anything or that we're at war. I don't want people to think that, but like you feel like you have more in common?
Carrie
We're all different and we're all, these are all adult people. But if I find there's one member of our chat group, especially she lives in Germany and she's a diehard Louis. And when she said that initially back when we were doing introductions, I was like, “Oh, bestie,”
Like just didn't know her, but just knowing that she likes him too, that must mean she also respects the hustle and respects how he's been through so much and how he's kind of risen through everything to kind of get where he's at. And I guess I can make an assumption about her based on how she feels about him in a weird way. Yeah. So yeah, I guess so in a way. It's not the type of person, like I wouldn't say there are attributes that match who likes who, but...If I know who the person likes, I know a little bit about them, I feel.
Muse
I've seen some stuff online, because of course, I, I watch this stuff, and I'm fascinated by it talking about like, why your bias is your bias. And one of the things that people often say is like, you see something of yourself in that person. And so that's reflected back to you.
Carrie
Hmm. Yeah, definitely. You know what? Definitely.
Muse
And so, yeah. And so like, the qualities that you relate to in them are kind of qualities that you have. But I think also sometimes,qualities that you wish you had.
Carrie
Yeah, I can see that.
Muse
It will be no secret to anyone listening to this who knows me that I'm a Yoongi bias. And we'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute, but like, I super admire how honest he is in his music.
Carrie
Mm-hmm.
Muse
And also he's a very kind of chill person in every day. And anyone who knows me knows that I am like the least chill person imaginable. If I like something or don't like something, you know about it.
And so that... like there are many, many things about him that I relate to and that I think are really cool, but certainly like he is the opposite of me in that.
Carrie
Right.
Muse
So I, yeah. So I don't know, why is he my bias? He just is.
Carrie
Yeah, the psychology of that is so interesting because even thinking about, I admire... what I see in Louis that I admire is kind of what I see in myself in a way in that we're both chaotic and he's just chaos personified. And I feel like, although I look like I've got it all together, I'm also chaos in my head a lot.
And I,I recognize that how hard it is to kind of muddle through all that and produce something amazing. And for him, it's music and he's a master of it. He's such a good lyricist and he just has an ear for what works. He wrote so many of the songs in One Direction already that when he started writing his own stuff... he didn't have to be accountable to anybody else really.
Like at first, I think he felt like he did because he tried to make it radio-friendly. And then he...was kind of working through stuff and Faith in Future came out, it was more him. And he's saying that this album coming out is the one he's always wanted to make. So we're excited to hear more of him.
Muse
I find that super interesting that this, it's like layers of the onion. Just peeling away that thing and having things that are more honest underneath. We talked about Namjoon in a previous episode, RM, and he put out two albums. Hhe first one, Indigo, I really love. And then he put out another one that was called Right Place Wrong Person? RPWP is the acronym and I never quite get right what it stands for. And when that came out, he did a little interview with Jimin and Jimin was like, I feel now that I've heard this, how you were holding back on that other album.
Carrie
Wow, yeah.
Muse
I'm listening to them both together. I'm like, I think I see what you mean. Like, obviously I don't know him as well as Jimin does, but like I, the way that the music is different is very interesting.
Carrie
What I find interesting about One Direction is when they were together and wrote songs together, it worked and it's magic. And having them all now removed and on two and three albums away from working together, their musical styles are so different from each other that you can't imagine that they work so well together to make one common album. But it just worked.
It just worked. And then, mean, Zayn has sort of teased us with some rap stylings that are coming out potentially.
Muse
I know I'm so curious?
Carrie
Right? And just like, it's so exciting to see them all kind of follow their own styles. No pun intended.
Muse
No, but I know what you mean, because one of the things was the BTS guys went on hiatus in 2022. We have not had a new group album from them since then. Like we've had a live album and an anthology album. But they've all gone off and done their own things. And their musical styles when they're on their own are all very different from one another.
Carrie
Mm-hmm.
Muse
And they talked even during the hiatus about when they came back together, when their military service was done, how they were going to come back together and everyone was going to have their own color.
And so I am so excited about this new album. It is like, how did that come back together? How did it work out? What did you do?
Carrie
Yeah. One of the things Liam, think was the most heavily proponent of a reunion of some sort for them, which is why it's devastating what happened. But he was like, ‘What we'll have to do is we'll sing old stuff, but we probably won't make new stuff together. We'll just take like a whole weekend and do a festival and we'll just all do our own stuff too.’ Everyone's like, ‘I'm on board when and where?’
Muse
Yeah.
Carrie
Because it is, they're all so different that it would have been absolutely fascinating to see if they, what they could do together if they ever did. But now we're just enjoying them as they are.
Muse
as they develop into their own musical stylings.
Carrie
Mm-hmm.
Muse
So getting back to our favorites.
Muse
Because we talked about biases and bias wreckers....Can you have more than one bias?
Carrie
I think I do. It's like picking your favorite child. Like you just don't.
Muse
But then, but then is it not okay to have a bias? Because like that you really, you do have a favorite. As I don't mean you specifically. mean, like one does as one does.
Carrie
If I have five children, two are my favorite, I feel like that's rude, but that's life. And that's what's happening here.
Muse
I actually underwent the very strange experience of becoming double biased recently.
Carrie
It's like a procedure.
Muse
It was a whole emotional journey, Carrie. Because I really did feel initially like I was like, you know, like I really like Yoongi. He's been my bias since, not day one, but we'll talk about that in a minute. But he's been my bias since forever, almost as long as I've been a fan. And so to be saying like, well, like I really like Namjoon too.
And I really like his music and I really relate to a lot of the things he says and the way he is as a person. Like we talk about reflecting yourself being reflected back to you in your biases. And so I was like, I mean, is it terrible if I like them both? I feel kind of terrible. And my friends were like, “Why would you think that was terrible? Like, you know, all of us are like double biased” and like whatever. And I'm like, yeah, “but it's different when it's me.”
That's fine for you. I have no issues with anyone else biasing like as many people as they want. But like with me, I don't know, it felt different.
Carrie
I just go for the dopamine hit of what makes me happy.
Muse
Okay, well, I overthink things and this is why Namjoon is now one of my biases. Because he overthinks everything.
Carrie
Yes. And I don't think they would be bothered, so...
Muse
Yeah, no, I don't. I think if you ask them... I wonder what that even looks like from their side. If you ask them, they'd be like, yeah, sure, whatever, man. Live your life.
Carrie
If one of them looks at the other and says, “hey, hey, look, I think Muse is more into me now. What?” And they talk about it and then they get sad. I don't know what do you think’s happening there?
Muse
Like aren't they just gonna be like, “That's so fickle.”
Carrie
Right. And then they don't talk to each other and and they get into a fight.
Muse
No, no, boys, don't fight over me, you're both pretty.
Carrie
Exactly!
Muse
Can you imagine? Oh my god. No, I don't think they care. I think it would be a very, very sad day for them if they were out there being like, “Well, the stats just came in and Jungkook is the most biased in the group. Well, we all hate him now.”
Carrie
Yeah.
Muse
Do you guys have bias lines?
Carrie
What is that?
Muse
Okay, a bias line is when you like three members of the group.
Or, you know, four, like there's, it's BTS, there's seven of them. We have mentioned previously, that's a lot of boys. So like you can, you can bias the 94s, the ones who were born in 94, 1994, or the 95s, the members who were born in 1995. There's the rap line, the three rappers. There's the vocal line, the four vocalists.
Carrie
No, I don't think we have that not that I've heard anyway
Muse
It's K-pop! We make everything super complicated!
But yes, some people will have a bias line and it doesn't even have to be one of the like official like, I bias the rap line. It's just like, I like V and Jungkook and Jin. That's not a line. That's just three guys.
Carrie
I feel like this needs a spreadsheet, but no, we don't have that, I don't think.
Muse
I mean, I don't know if I want to put it on that list of names that I did for the last episode is already kind of full.
So now that we thoroughly explored the idea of biases and how this works, and we know that Louis is your bias.
Carrie
Yeah.
Muse
Or one of two, because you said Harry as well, your bias wrecker.
Carrie
Yes.
Muse
Do we want to move on to boy of the week?
Carrie
Sure.
Muse
Okay, so tell me about your boy.
Carrie
Okay, so I'm going to choose Louis for this one because yeah, it feels wrong to not. I think, I mean, I've kind of talked about what I do like about him. And if I'm way back to when they started, I really liked how silly he was and how he gave such personality to everything they did.
He definitely... like if I had known him in high school, I would have had a crush on him more than the others for sure. So I think that's kind of, mean, obviously grown ass woman. That's not where I'm talking from right now, but I've just always, his personality seems like someone I would just like to have in my life. I love how much he loves his family so fiercely and completely. When his mom passed away and he kind of as the oldest
Muse
Right.
Carrie
I've just always, his personality seems like someone I would just like to have in my life. I love how much he loves his family so fiercely and completely. When his mom passed away and he kind of as the oldest took it upon himself with his next oldest sister to kind of be like, “okay, we have to raise these children now, let's do it.
Muse
Cause his sisters were quite young at the time and he was still quite young.
Carrie
Yeah, he was 24. Well, he's seven years older than Lottie, so she was still a teenager. And then the twins Phoebe and Daisy were quite young. And they had another sister in there, Felicity who was younger than Lottie, but older than the twins. But then she passed away two years after their mom did.
So that was devastation again in such a short time. And this was when he was already, the band had broken up and he was trying to find his way as a solo artist. So there was so much happening in his life. So was trying to drag him down and he kept fighting and fighting to come back and do what was best for everybody and also find his way in what he wanted to do. And I think that just level of tenacity is admirable.
And I've always really been drawn to him because of that.
Muse
I watched his episode on Diary of a CEO too. It is obvious that he cares very deeply for his family and he feels such a strong sense of duty to them almost?>
Carrie
Yes, absolutely.
And it for so long we've seen them in the public eye. They're such a sweet family considering all of the fame and craziness. His sister Lottie now has two kids of her own. One of the twins has a daughter. And those children are just beyond loved. And you can just tell it just comes right through any posts or anything that they share. And they seem like they're just bringing them up like normal kids.
They play rough, and play. They go to things around town and they go on little holidays and stuff like that. You just feel like, just want the best for the whole family. Yeah.
Muse
Tell me three things. Why is he your bias?
Carrie
Well... I like his music.
Muse
What does he sound like on his own, apart from One Direction? Is there a way that you classify the sound?
Carrie
I don't know if I would know the word to describe it. He's a big Oasis fan, and I can hear bits of that in Faith in the Future. The one before that, not so much, but that was when he was trying to be... Like, Walls was kind of like him finding his way, but also being mindful of what, you know, “they” wanted.
Muse
Right, what will sell?
Carrie
Yeah, but yeah, you can tell he’s more 90s Britpop kind of guy. And I really liked 90s Britpop in the 90s, so maybe that's got something to do with why I like him so much. There's one unreleased track he has, Holiday, that to me sounds just like it stepped out of 1990s Britpop. And I don't know why he didn't release it. Maybe it's because it didn't fit with that attempt to fit in before. But to me that was like, okay, that's... he's right there. That's him.
Carrie
I don't know what else it is really about. I... you just have like a draw. I like his aura.
Muse
Why did you pick him?
Carrie
I don't think I picked him. I think it just happened. I just realized that I always was more almost protective, I guess, in a weird parasocial way. And more defensive if people were coming for him in comments and things like that. I don't think I actually was like, “You know what, I dig this guy, I think he's my favorite.” I think it just kind of happened.
Muse
Something clicked with his music and his personality.
Carrie
Yeah. And I know he has the best of intentions, so I want to make sure that people know that too.
Muse
What are his concerts like?
Have you seen all of the members solo except Harry?
Carrie
No, just as Louis and Zayn.
Muse
Just Louis and Zayn. But okay, contrasted to Zayn then. What are his concerts like? Like, how is the vibe different?
Carrie
Mm-hmm.
Carrie
I found the crowd was similar. Zayn's music is more mellow and chill, whereas Louis's is more... Actually, it's funny because Zayn is more mellow and chill and Louis is more chaotic. So that's kind of reflected in their music and at their concerts. Louis's always very interactive with the fans. He doesn't talk much and there's no floofy...
On the stage, it's just the musicians, him and some lights. But at the end of every show on Faith in the Future, he would sing Silver Tongues and jump into the audience and like jump on the barricade ones. Like he was up, he was in fully getting mauled, shirt ripped off a couple times
Muse
Wow.
Carrie
And security was just hanging on for dear life and he was just loving it. And he's constantly thanking fans, constantly, constantly acknowledging that the fans are the reason he's able to do what he does and that he's just so grateful.
So you feel, guess his shows are just a big love fest. Like it feels like you're kind of like at a mosh pit slash band that your friend's in that you go see at the bar. It's kind of the vibe.
Muse
So it's it's it's I don't know. The community is there for it. .
Carrie
Yeah, definitely. And everybody sings and everybody's got, you know, there's bracelets, there's projects, there's...
It's a very community... It's almost like “You like them too enough to be here? We're friends now!”
Muse
There was that at the Zayn concert too. And I guess it's the same people, kind of. So that makes a lot of sense.
Carrie
Yeah, like I've never been to a Harry show, but I've watched them all on the grainy live streams and Harry shows, I feel they seem to reach more of a mass audience. So you've got, it still seems very loving and a lot of fun and people there. But at a Louis show, it's more like, it's like the underground, I guess, if you can say that about somebody who's, know doing world tours and stuff.
But Harry shows feel like they feel more like a Taylor Swift kind of thing, like massive. Everybody's there for a good time, but everybody has a different interpretation of that. And not everybody in that audience will get along with each other, but they all have that common love of him. Whereas at a Louis show, it feels like we all have a lot in common with each other and also we all love him.
Muse
So it's like being there with all of the other Louis biases almost.
Carrie
Yeah, because I would say that most Louies would go to a Harry show, but not most Harries would go to a Louis show.
Muse
Okay.
What else do you want to tell me about Louis?
Carrie
I know, I just think he's very...genuine.
I can, I see how he's probably the same in his private life as he is with us. Like there's no, put the mask on to be performer-him and then go home and take it off and be him-him. think it's the same person. He just chooses to keep his private life private and his public life public. But I think he's still the same person and that's really endearing. And I love that about him.
Muse
Can you recommend a song to me? Okay, because we talked about this last time and you said, I can't pick a song off the album. It's like picking a favorite child. But is there a song that you really love or that you're like, “listen to this one first.”
Carrie
When I first listened to Faith in the Future, the one that made me go “Oh” was ‘She is Beauty, We are World Class’. And it was because there's a line in it that says, “Are we one or are we two? Are we me or are we you?” And I just was like, whoa, because that's a very introspective way to talk about a relationship.
Because when you're in a relationship, you kind of risk losing yourself. And if I'm going to lose myself, am I losing myself to you or are you losing yourself to me? Are we molding into some sort of new entity? But to me, it's fiercely, fiercely guarded that I keep my own self. So that really hit me.
And I think when I think of that album, I think of that line in that song. So I think I would probably say that that's the one that is my most revisited, even though it's probably not my most listened to, interestingly, but it's the one I think about the most.
Muse
I look forward to listening to it because I don't I've probably heard it, but I don't know that one in particular
Carrie
Mm-hmm.
Muse
My playlist for some reason pop up a lot of One Direction songs and solo songs now.
Carrie
That's so weird.
Muse
Yeah, I don't know how that happened. Are you getting a lot of BTS in your playlist these days?
Carrie
Like I'm not though... is the thing
Muse
I gotta work on that then, obviously.
Carrie
I know, I think we have to talk about it more in front of my phone, I don't know.
Muse
Okay, so that's Louis.
Carrie
Yeah. I like I need to light my Louis candle and just have a moment.
Muse
She really does have a Louis candle, by the way.
Carrie
Oh, I do. I light it on release days or the day that his concert tickets went on sale to manifest good seats. It's always...
Muse
It worked. You got good seats!
Carrie
Yeah
Muse
Yeah.
Shall we move on?
Carrie
Yes.
Muse
I'm very excited because if there is something that I love talking about, it's Min Yoongi.
Carrie
Is that your bias or one of your bias?
Muse
It is, it is my first bias. And we have already talked about Namjoon. So now I can talk about Yoongi. Also known as SUGA. That is his stage name in BTS. Also known as Agust D. Which is the name that he does his rap and solo music under.
Also known as Yoongs, Yoongles, little meow meow...
Carrie
Okay, they need to stop having so many names, because...
Muse
...our cat...
Carrie
Why cat?
Muse
because he has a little kitty face.
Carrie
Of course!
Muse
And he has a lot of cat-like behaviors where like, I want to be close to you, but I'm going to pretend that I don't want to be close to you and I don't want you touching me. But I'm just going to sit right here next to you and kind of touching you.
And honestly, he knows.and the editors, like when they do their shows and stuff, and when he does his interview show, which is called Suchwita, where he interviews, like various celebrities and the other members of BTS about their albums and their solo work, they do a lot of jokes about how he's a cat. And so, you know, he'll start laughing or something, and then you'll just hear a little meow and little cat ears will appear on him.
Carrie
They play up the cat.
Muse
They play up the cat. So that is our cat.
He doesn't come on live as often as the other members. In fact, ARMY had a beautiful moment just before the new year, which was he came on live for the first time since his military service. He was on live with the other seven when they did like group lives previously, but he had not done one on his own since the service. And us Yoongi-biases were feeling pretty lonely and bereft, I got to say. And then he came back and my whole timeline was screaming and crying.
So it was a wild and wonderful time to see him back and he looks happy and he looks healthy. He showed us his cat because he has a cat, which we didn't know for sure until that moment, but his cat came into frame and he's like, yeah, come meet everyone and showed us his cat. The cat's name is Seoltang, which is the Korean word for sugar.
Carrie
That's cute aggression rising.
Muse
Right?
He is a rapper. He is a producer. He does a lot of production work with other people. He does a lot of collabs. He has collaborated with Halsey. He did a collaboration with PSY, who did Gangnam Style, which was like one of the first breakout K-pop hits in North America.
Carrie
Yes, I remember when that happened.
Muse
Yeah, It's a great song. It's called ‘That That’ it's a delight. And in fact, that whole thing happened because he wanted to collab with Psy and so got his number and reached out to him. And it was like, “I'd like to write a song with you for you.”
Carrie
We love the confidence.
Muse
Right? He is, I think he projects confidence and he's actually very shy behind the scenes and very reserved. But it all comes out in the music. His music is so honest. He talks about mental health issues. He talks about the fear that he feels of the fame consuming him at the same time that he wants it. He talks about the anxiety he experiences as an artist knowing that he could fail in everyone's eyes at any moment. And in fact, in one of his songs, Interlude: Shadow, it talks about how the higher I fly, the more famous I get, the longer a shadow I cast and the further I have to fall.
Carrie
Wow.
Muse
Yeah. And so his, his fears and his struggles are all there in the music. I find that super meaningful.
Carrie
It's really raw.
Muse
It's really raw. And especially a lot of his early stuff when he kind of did the like, SUGA is the member of BTS and Agust D is what I do my solo stuff under the Agust D persona that he puts on is this tough rapper.
And it was really his way of snapping back at the haters and saying, “Hey!” and saying all the things that as an idol, he didn't feel he could say, but as Agust D, he could say it. And it's all stuff like, hey, “you're lucky I'm an idol. You're lucky I have this other job because I would be over here kicking your ass all day every day.”
Carrie
It's amazing.
Muse
Right? And so that there's that kind of confidence and bravado, I guess.
He's also just super smart, musically super smart. And then he does his talk show, Suchwita, which he did when he started that talk show was during the hiatus. So it's just him and his first guest was Namjoon, RM.
And he had him on to talk about his new album. And then it kind of became like he had a whole bunch of different idols and actors and a comedian that's a good friend of his came on and...
And the show is fascinating because if you start at the beginning and watch through, which I did, instead of just skipping around in the episodes, it becomes very apparent through the early episodes that one of the things he's doing here is working through ““How much longer can I keep being BTS? How much longer can we keep doing this? I can't keep doing this until I'm 50, can I?” And over the course of those episodes, you get to see that he realizes that he can. And so by the time you're like at episode 11 or 12, he's talking about “when I'm 50 and I'm still doing this.”
Carrie
Aww.
Muse
Right?
So I, yeah. So all of that's super interesting. He has friends on, you get a sense of who he is off stage through their stories about him, which he gets kind of delightfully embarrassed about. But he has two of the guys from Tomorrow x Together on. Tomorrow x Together is another younger group that was debuted at the same company. So they're kind of like... the younger brother group of BTS.
And it is so obvious from the drop that they are in awe of Yoongi and they look at him like he hung the moon.
Carrie
Aww
Muse
And they talk about him dropping by their dorms with fried chicken. Like, just like, “I got some fried chicken. Do you want some?” And Yoongi's like, “Well, yeah, like when we were in the dorm, I would remember we didn't always eat what we should or as well as we should. And so I always think like, you guys are probably hungry. You probably want something.” Yeah. So that's, that's kind of who he is off stage.
Just a kind human being outside of the... how direct his music can be.
Carrie
Nice
If you had recommend one song to me, what would it be?
Muse
I think it's not his most popular song, but it is one of my favorites. It's called Amygdala.
And it is about Yoongi reconciling... when he was a trainee, he was in an accident. He took a job as a delivery driver He was out one day driving and he got in a car accident and injured his shoulder.
Then had to go back and lie about it because he couldn't tell them, dislocated my shoulder, delivery driving. So he waited a couple of, I think the story is he waited a couple of days and then told them that like he fell down a staircase and dislocated his shoulder. And that was a lie that he kept up for years until he admitted it in one of their documentaries. And even Jimin and was like, “Well, no, you fell down the stairs.” And he's like, “yeah, that's what I told you, but that's not what really happened.” And so, Amygdala is him thinking about the traumatic events of his past and trying to reconcile them and trying to reconcile the sides of his personality and the things that have happened to him with who he is now.
The lyrics are all about, “let's take these memories out one by one, one by one, and then erase them one by one”
The amygdala is the part of your brain that controls fear response. So that's what the....
Carrie
Yeah, so confronting and reconciling and moving on.
Muse
Yeah, and the video shows this really clearly too. And the visual elements of the video, Amygdala, actually go not only through Amygdala, but through a lot of his solo work and even into the concert tour that he did, the D-Day tour that he did before he entered military service. And if you want a full essay on that...
I will link to one in the show notes because I have one coming out on Yoongi's birthday and this episode will be out after that.
Carrie
How did he become your bias?
Muse
I think you know this story, actually. He showed up in a dream.
Carrie
See, they choose you, you don't choose them.
Muse
No, but do you know that it feels so true to say that?
Because when I started, I didn't have a favorite and people would say, “Oh, who's your bias? You you like them.” And I would say, oh, “I think maybe I'm OT7. I don't really have one yet.” Cause they're all really great and talented and super smart. And like, I love them all.
And then one night I had this dream. And in the dream, I was somewhere and I met Namjoon and J-Hope, Hobi. And I do not remember from the dream why I was meeting them. The only thing I remember is that for some reason they were really excited to meet me. And I was obviously really excited to meet them. And so we started talking and we're hitting it off. But after a while, everyone's talking over one another and I start to get overstimulated.
I can't pay attention to both of them talking to me at once and say all the things that I want to say and experience all the emotions that I'm experiencing. So I'm starting to get overwhelmed and I'm just like, it's two members of BTS. Like, when are you going to get this opportunity again? Like hold it together Muse. And then Yoongi walks up and in the dream I'm just like, ‘oh no, oh no, oh no. Like this is going to be so bad.’
He's gonna start talking and they're gonna be talking and I am on the verge of a meltdown. I'm going to start crying. I can't have these three men talking to me all at once. And I see him clock it that I am about to melt down.
and he takes my hand...and just starts walking. And so because he has my hand, I turn and follow him and Hobi and Namjoon are like,
“Well we were talking” and he looks at me and says, “I want to talk to you.”
Carrie
Oh! There you go.
Muse
And like, and I have this moment of hesitation. And I look at the.. but I look at the two of them and I say, “I'll come back.” And in the dream, I think, ‘No, I won't.’ And I follow him.
Muse
And we went to a cafe and we sat down and he said, “Now we can talk.” And that's when I woke up.
Carrie
See, he chose you.
Muse
But like the thing I didn't know then was that Yoongi really likes hand holding and often does it in their videos. I had no idea. So, I mean, obviously it was really him.
Carrie
Well, yeah, he visited you in your dreams.
Muse
Of course I woke up and I was like, “Well, like there's my subconscious saying to me, ‘You like that one’.”
Carrie
I choose him
Muse
That's the story, but it really does feel like, almost like they say, “That one. That one needs me.”
Because it's not like you're sitting down and looking at your options and going, “Yes, well, you know, this one has this line in his music, but that one has that line in his music. They're both very good, but I think I like this one better.” Like that's not, it's a whole emotional journey.
Carrie
I was like, “The one that kicked a TV and fell over and broke his arm the night his album released? Yes, that one.”
Muse
He sounds like a glorious idiot.
Carrie
I know! He's the chaotic mess and I love it.
Muse
We love a chaotic mess.
Carrie
I do love a chaotic mess!
Muse
They're good boys, Carrie. They're just, they're all so good.
Carrie
(fake, indistinct sobbing)
Muse
This was really fun.
Okay, I guess we should close up then. have thoroughly discussed our boys and our biases. Is there anything you want to add? Anything you want to sum up?
Carrie
No, I think I've gushed enough.
Muse
I hope anyone who is listening has enjoyed the gushing as well. And I want to thank everyone for joining us for this. If you want to hear more, we will be back next month. If you would like to get in touch with us in the meantime, have questions and comments, we would love to hear them.
Carrie
Our email is bffsandboybands.gmail.com and we're also on bluesky at bffsandboybands.bsky.social.
Muse
And for more information on videos or songs or essays or anything we've discussed, please check the show notes. We have links for you and we have an ongoing playlist of songs that we will keep updated. So, Amygdala will be on there and “She” will be on there as well.
Carrie
This has been a lot of fun and I've enjoyed this chat and I look forward to more with you.
Muse
I also have enjoyed our chat and I look forward to speaking with you more as well.
Carrie
Wonderful. Well until next time this has been BFFs.
Muse
and Boy Bands.