Face (Jimin album)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jimin experienced self-doubt about himself and his purpose as an artist, which caused him to struggle emotionally. After opening up to his BTS bandmates during their Permission to Dance on Stage tour in Las Vegas about what he was going through, thinking he was the only one, and enabled him "to completely resolve and move on from all those feelings of being lost." In a livestream on February 10, Jimin confirmed that he had been working on an album and that it would be released in March. The next day, Star News reported that the singer would appear on various South Korean music programs in promotion of the album and perform two songs. Big Hit Music officially announced the album via a Weverse notice on February 21. A 35-second video "featuring ambient music and a series of water droplets spinning out ripples on the surface of water that eventually form the album's title" followed shortly afterwards. and the preorder period opened later that same day. A short video featuring behind-the-scenes footage of Jimin during the creative process of the album was uploaded to YouTube shortly afterwards. Big Hit released a black and white "mood" photo, of Jimin in a mostly empty room—a few pieces of furniture to the forefront are draped in white cloth that covers the entire floor—with his back to the camera as if about to leave, his silhouette illuminated by light from the doorway, on March 7. Two sets of concept photos followed on March 9 and 10 respectively. The "Hardware" version photos featured the singer dressed in a black leather jacket staring directly into the camera, followed by closeups of his face decorated with silver spikes and studs on his brow and cheekbones and a lip piercing on his lower lip, then "seemingly shirtless" with the spikes cascading down the side of his neck and across his collarbone. The "Software" version photos visually contrasted the former, with Jimin presenting a more "natural and pure aura", now dressed in white and seated on a white couch in the room from the mood photo. The accompanying closeup shots revealed a smattering of scars on the right side of his face. Singles "Set Me Free Pt. 2" was released ahead of the album, on March 17, 2023. Its title bears an intentional similarity to "Set Me Free" by BTS bandmate Suga, from his 2020 mixtape D-2, though neither song is actually connected to the other. In an interview with Consequence, published the day of the single's release, Jimin stated that "we weren't trying to divide part one or part two. But since it turns out my song talks about freedom and moving forward, and SUGA's song talks about some of the stories that come before, I thought it would be good to come after that." The song was chosen as the first single off Face due to its intensity and Jimin's wanting to make his solo debut "in an impactful way". Accordingly, the accompanying music video focuses heavily on the performance aspect of the song and its "really intense vibe". In the video, directed by Oui Kim, Jimin acts as the "commanding centerpiece in an elaborate choreography routine" that sees him "mov[ing] across the screen with a mob of dancers, who all perform in unison as the room flashes in waves of light". The singer described the song as having "the energy of a ray of light coming into the darkness... If I had to say specific colors, I'd say black and white." "Like Crazy" was released alongside the album, as its second single, on March 24. The song's accompanying music video, also directed by Kim, was inspired by the 2011 film Like Crazy. Jimin is seen sitting alone in a kitchen before being dragged by an unseen hand into a club setting where he drinks and parties with other clubgoers, sings the song in the club's bathroom, and stands in a long hallway with a dark, mud-like goo cascading down the walls. At the end of the video, he returns to the kitchen alone, with one hand covered in the goo, which he smears across the camera. "Deep House" and "UK Garage" remixes of the single were released on March 26. "Like Crazy" debuted at number eight on the UK Singles Chart, surpassing the record set by "Set Me Free" a week prior to become the highest-debuting single by a Korean solo artist in OCC chart history; he is the only member of BTS to enter the top-10. Promotion Jimin guested on the March 23 episode of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for an interview following Faces release. The following day, he appeared on the Hybe Labels channel on Melon Station on March 24 to discuss the album and other topics with fans; part one of the episode aired an hour after the album came out, while part two aired on March 25. He also participated in an "Ask Me Anything" segment on Melon Spotlight; the platform additionally published exclusive photos from the event. Later that night, Jimin appeared on the Tonight Show again, as the episode's musical guest, and gave the US television premiere performance of "Like Crazy". ==Music and lyrics==

{{quote box| Thematically, Face "delv[es] into Jimin's story of fronting his true self and making a new leap forward as an artist". Musically, it spans a variety of genres, including pop, hip-hop, and R&B. The first track, "Face-Off", is an "intense, rebellious" that "has a lot of anger". "Set Me Free Pt. 2" recounts Jimin's "resolution to free himself from various emotions hidden deep inside him"—pain, sorrow, emptiness—with "assertive" lyrics about "freedom and moving forward". The song, which also showcases the singer rapping for the first time, expresses "[the ideas of] determination, passion, and overcoming". It features "big horns"; a choir whose recording Jimin flew to the United States to oversee; a "serious", "punchy", "snapping hip-hop" beat; and Auto-tuned vocals. The album closes out with the English version of "Like Crazy". ==Critical reception==

Face received critical acclaim upon release, with critics agreeing that Jimin had succeeded at setting himself apart creatively and stylistically from previous works, especially those under BTS. Minor criticism was directed towards the use of Auto-Tune on the record's lead single, as well as the overall brevity of the project. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 84 based on five reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". India Roby of Nylon called Face "an honest scream into the void"—in comparison to the "bubbling whispers" of the singer's previous projects—that "peels back [Jimin's] layers and unlocks his full potential beyond the BTS label". "Despite the gloom and chaos" present on the album, and Jimin's "wrestl[ing] with self-inflicted torment", Roby opined that it "is ultimately a project of resilience and triumph" that gave Jimin the opportunity to showcase "a previously unseen creativity" as he "exhibits his desire to evolve beyond the BTS title" and left him "at the cusp of something even greater to come." In her review for Rolling Stone, music writer Maura Johnston, described Face as a "twisty, yet hooky EP" that marks Jimin's first step towards "break[ing] out of any boxes in which he might be placed." She chose "Like Crazy" as the record's focal point, for the way it showcases Jimin's "limber singing style", and "Set Me Free Pt. 2" as the "most intriguing track", with its "cacophonous blend of synth brass and vocal effects", an "insistent chorus", and Jimin's voice that "turns into a siren call for self-liberation." Overall, Johnston summarized the project as "a compelling showcase of the silky-voiced singer-dancer's pop strengths". ==Commercial performance==

According to Hanteo Chart, Face sold 1,021,532 copies on its first day. Jimin became the first solo artist in Hanteo Chart history to surpass one million album sales on the day of release and the fourth solo artist from a group, after Seo Taiji, Baekhyun, and BTS bandmate Jin, to have a million-selling album. The album went on to sell over 1.45 million copies in its first week of availability, breaking the record for the highest first week sales of all time by a solo artist; Lim Young-woong previously held both sales records with his debut studio album Im Hero (2022), which sold over 940,000 copies on its first day and over 1.1 million copies in its first week. Face earned Jimin his first number one on the Circle Album Chart, on the week 12 issue for the period dated March 19–25, 2023. In Japan, the album debuted at number one on the daily Oricon Albums Chart, with 222,120 copies sold for March 24, 2023. All six of its tracks charted in the top-10 of the corresponding daily Digital Singles Chart issue: "Like Crazy" debuted at number one; "Set Me Free Pt. 2" reentered at number three; "Face-Off", Like Crazy" (English version), "Alone", and "Interlude: Dive" debuted at numbers four to seven respectively. Face subsequently topped the weekly issues of both the Oricon Albums and Digital Albums charts, as well as Billboard Japans Hot Albums chart. Per Oricon, Jimin achieved the largest debut sales week for a solo artist in 2023, with over 225,000 copies sold for the period dated March 20–26, 2023. Face is the first album by a solo artist to debut at number one on both charts in 2023. Face debuted at number two in the United States, on the April 8, 2023, issue of the Billboard 200, making Jimin the first artist to debut as high on the chart with a debut project since Olivia Rodrigo's Sour opened at number one in 2021. The album achieved the second-largest first week sales of the year—Morgan Wallen's third studio album One Thing at a Time holds the largest sales week of 2023 with 501,000 units on the March 18 issue—with 164,000 equivalent album units sold. This figure comprised 124,000 pure album sales, marking the largest sales week for a solo act and the third-largest overall of 2023; 13,500 streaming-equivalent units (19.51 million on-demand official streams of its songs); and 26,500 track-equivalent units (TEA)—derived mainly from the combined sales of "Like Crazy"—the largest TEA figure of the year for any album and the second-largest TEA sales week overall, behind Taylor Swift's Midnights which earned 34,000 TEA units in November 2022. Jimin became the highest-charting Korean solo artist of all time on the Billboard 200, surpassing the record previously set by RM, who peaked at number three with Indigo in December 2022. Face sold a further 20,000 pure copies in its second week, and 12,000 in its third. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's Global Music Report for 2023, Face was the eighteenth best-selling album of the year worldwide, having sold 1.7 million units. ==Accolades==

In October 2023, Face received a nomination for Album of the Year at the MAMA Awards, and Top K-pop Album at the Billboard Music Awards. In November, it was nominated for Album of the Year and Million Top 10 at the Melon Music Awards. ==Track listing==

Notes • On the physical album, "Like Crazy" (English version) is a 10-minute long track that includes two minutes and 45 seconds of empty space after the song's end followed by the hidden track "Letter", which begins at the 6:13 mark and features background vocals by BTS-bandmate Jungkook. ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Face. Excludes songwriting and production credits already cited above. • Duane Benjamin – choir production , choir arrangement/orchestration • Blvsh – background vocals , record engineering • Dedrick Bonner – choir arrangement/orchestration , choir , choir direction • Joe Brogie – voiceover samples , record engineering • Evan – keyboard , synthesizer , digital editing , guitar , • Chris Gehringer – mastering engineering • Serban Ghenea – mix engineering • Bryce Bordone – assistant • Ghstloop – keyboard , synthesizer , gang vocals , digital editing , • Chris James – record engineering • Jimin – keyboard , gang vocals , foley and ambience • Jo Dong-moon – cello • Jung Woo Young – mix engineering • James Keys – background vocals , record engineering • David Kim – mix engineering • Nick Lee – brass/horns • Maiz – gang vocals • Pdogg – production, keyboard , synthesizer , gang vocals , vocal and rap arrangement , record engineering , digital editing , vocal arrangement , • James F. Reynolds – mix engineering • Ryu In Hyuk – guitar • Sumin – background vocals , recording engineering , • Supreme Boi – gang vocals • Shelby Young – voiceover samples , record engineering ==Charts==

Weekly charts Monthly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==