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BTS members pose for a photo at a press conference held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, on Sunday. (provided by BigHit Music)

“We’re both excited and hopeful about the Grammy nomination. Of course, we never thought it would be easy. But we’re thankful that we still have hurdles to jump over, that there are still challenges ahead of us. We hope to be able to leap past those barriers,” BTS member Suga said during a press conference on its concert “BTS Permission to Dance on Stage — LA” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, on Sunday.

At the press conference, BTS opened up about being nominated for a Grammy Award — the most prestigious music award in the US — and talked about reuniting with audiences at the group’s first in-person concert in two years.

BTS member RM speaks during a press conference held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, on Sunday. (provided by BigHit Music)

BTS made history by becoming the first Asian act to win Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards, bagging the biggest honor available at one of America’s top three major music awards. Moreover, the group has now been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for two consecutive years, although it did not win any nods in a major category at the world’s most authoritative music awards this year as expected.

“From our identity to limitations in language, we still feel there are invisible barriers [that we have to overcome] as artists from Korea. We won Artist of the Year at the 2021 American Music Awards and also received a Grammy nomination, which are very meaningful to us as artists,” BTS leader RM said. “Through our heartfelt performances, we’ve shown what we’re good at — small moments like this led to today’s miracle.”

“We still haven’t won a Grammy Award. Honestly, I hope we get one,” said Jungkook.

Suga added, “There’s a Korean saying, ‘After 10 strokes of an ax, even the mightiest tree will fall,’” adding that “It might be greedy for us to want to fell a tree with only two strokes.”

At this, V chimed in, “Jin would be 40 by the time we strike [the Grammys] eight more times.” Jin laughed and corrected, “Not 40 — I’d be 38.”

On reuniting with fans at the group’s first in-person concert in two years on Saturday, RM said, “It felt like the beginning of a new chapter. The last two years of the pandemic have been difficult, both for us and for [our fans, BTS] Army members. Through the concert, we hope to show how much we’ve grown in the last two years.”

Suga added, “While performing last night, we realized that our strength is in our ability to keep challenging ourselves without fear no matter the obstacle. We want to stress that we’ll keep on overcoming obstacles like this.” After their performance on Saturday, BTS took to the stage again on Sunday, with two more concerts scheduled for Wednesday, and Thursday at the same venue.

BTS also shared its thoughts on anti-Asian hate, an issue exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. RM said, “Even though I wasn’t born and raised abroad, if you look at the path we’ve taken, we’ve faced a lot of barriers, ones you could see clearly as well as a lot of invisible ones.”

He continued, “Thinking back on our journey, it’s very meaningful and an honor that our music helps Asians living abroad feel strong.“

RM emphasized, “We want to speak out against anti-Asian hate as long as we’re able to.”

By Jung Hyuk-june, staff reporter

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