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On Sunday, April 20, 2025, during an interview on The Frankie Biggz Show, Grammy-winning artist Nate Walka spoke about BTS and his experience interacting with the K-pop boy group back in 2014. For the unversed, BTS participated in a reality show called American Hustle Life in 2014, during which the members spent around two weeks in Los Angeles with a few hip-hop tutors.
Nate Walka shared that he was impressed by the group right from their We Are Bulletproof album days. Therefore, after watching a few videos of the group's music, he became interested and collaborated with the group on the show American Hustle Life.
"The first interaction of their Music was “(We are) Bulletproof” and just watching that one video got me onboard to do this. It was interesting because there was a writing camp for a different group and their camp was trying to get me to not work with BTS. There were a lot of doubters, thinking they were a filler group," Walka said.
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However, he also highlighted that there was much doubt around the group's success in their beginning years. Regardless, he stated that he was confident about the group and their success, and it really stood out to him.
"There were a lot of doubters, thinking they were a filler group. When I watched the BTS video, it became clear that those who were doubting truly didn’t comprehend what music and entertainment are all about. Among everything I had encountered in the K-pop scene, BTS really stood out to me."
Nate Walka or Nathan L. Walker is a 38-year-old American record artist, songwriter, music producer, and vocal producer based in Atlanta, Georgia. He's won the Grammy Award for several of his works, such as Blame It by Jamie Foxx, Ready by Trey Songz, and more.
All you need to know about the BTS members and their recent solo activities
In 2022, BTS announced their group hiatus and revealed that the members will be pausing their activities as a group in order to concentrate on their solo careers. This decision was also made in light of the then-upcoming mandatory military service of the members. Therefore, soon, one by one, all the members rolled out their solo debuts.
In July 2022, j-hope released his first solo album, Jack In The Box, which was followed by Jin's solo debut with the release of his single, The Astronaut, in October 2022. While Jin enlisted around December of the same year, j-hope embarked on his mandatory military service in April 2023. On the other hand, RM also released his first solo album, Indigo, in December 2022.
The next solo debut was from Jimin with his album, FACE, in March 2023. In April 2023, SUGA rolled out the last part of his mixtape trilogy, which also stood as his official solo debut album, D-Day. In July 2023, Jungkook released his first single, SEVEN feat. Latto, which he followed up with an album, GOLDEN, released in November 2023.
On the other hand, V also made his official debut with the release of his studio album, LayoVer, in September 2023. The same month, SUGA departed for his mandatory military service, and by December 2023, all the members were enlisted in the military. However, several member pre-recorded their music to be released during their enlistment period.
V released a single called FRI(END)S in March 2024. Jimin and RM also rolled out their albums, MUSE and Right Place, Wrong Person, in May and July 2024, respectively.
On the other hand, Jin and j-hope were discharged from the military services in June and October 2024. Jin released his first studio album, Happy, in November 2024, and is gearing up for his second album, ECHO, to be released in May 2025.
j-hope has rolled out three tracks ever since his discharge, namely MONA LISA, Sweet Dreams feat. Miguel and LV BAG feat. Don Toliver. He is also currently on his solo world tour, HOPE ON THE STAGE.
The other five members, Suga, Jimin, RM, V, and Jungkook, are expected to be discharged from the military around June 2025.
