BTS’ Jin explains why he accepted fewer credits on BTS’ ARIRANG album

Jin recently opened up about his limited creative involvement in BTS’ latest album, ARIRANG, and his comments quickly drew attention from fans. In an interview published by Rolling Stone on April 13, 2026, the members reflected on their career, their hiatus, their solo work, and the making process of their latest album. During that conversation, Jin admitted he felt a little disappointed that he was not able to contribute more to ARIRANG. Still, he made it clear that he did not want to delay the project just to secure more of his own credits, since fans had already been waiting a long time for new music from the boy band.

Part of the reason came from the group’s schedule in 2025. In July 2025, six BTS members reportedly moved to Los Angeles for a two-month writing camp, where they worked every day with producers and songwriters and created more than 100 tracks, which would later be narrowed down to 14 for ARIRANG. Jin joined later because he was still on his solo tour, which ran from June 2025 to October 2025. By the time he arrived, much of the project had already been completed. The documentary BTS: The Return, released on March 27, 2026, also showed him arriving in Los Angeles after finishing tour obligations, including performances he completed while feeling unwell, but that were done regardless to give fans new BTS-adjacent material.

The timeline led some fans to question whether the album process had been rushed or put together in an inconvenient way for Jin. That discussion grew after Bang Si Hyuk said in a Billboard interview on April 8, 2026, that the writing camp had been planned after the members’ military discharge to allow focused work. Despite the controversies, BTS has suggested that their future releases might have a more flexible approach. During their conversation with Rolling Stone, they were planning on releasing singles and smaller projects instead of another full album.