Nate Walka is a Grammy Award-winning artist who worked as a key mentor of BTS in αмєяι¢αn Hustle Life series. The 2014 reality show is known to fans as one of BTS' earliest projects and defining their music foudation.
Nate Walka, along with other hip-hop artists such as Tony Jones, Coolio, and Warren G, followed the group as they traveled to Los Angeles to study the roots of hip-hop. They also helped introduce BTS to many industry professionals for advanced training.
It's been 10 years since then, and BTS has grown from rookies to K-Pop superstars based on that solid foundation. In an interview with YouTuber Frankie Biggz, released on April 20, 2025, Nate Walka revealed for the first time some of the remarkable stories behind that year's αмєяι¢αn Hustle Life project.
Most notably, he ѕнσ¢кingly revealed that, at the time, there were serious efforts from others in the industry to steer him away from working with BTS altogether.
Walka explained that he was familiar with BTS before signing on for the project, and said their energy and potential immediately stood out to him. Without mentioning an exact name, he said that around the same time αмєяι¢αn Hustle Life was being planned, he was approached by a representative from another K-pop company, believed to be SM Entertainment.
The company's team reportedly tried to convince him not to participate in BTS' reality show and instead work with EXO. "It was interesting because at the time there was like a writing camp, I want to say for like EXO going on. I believe EXO had like a number one record at the time, and their camp was like trying to get me to not do the show and to come and work with EXO because they were saying like, oh, you know, BTS, they're not, you know...", he recounted.
The musician's recollections don't stop there! He went on to describe the skepticism many in the industry had toward BTS, even viewing the group as a pαѕѕing experiment: "Like there was a, believe it or not, there was a lot of doubters of them, you know what I'm saying? They were, they felt like it was an experiment and that it wasn't going to, you know, it was just, they were calling it like a filler kind of group and all this stuff."
Soon after the interview was released, the statement quickly sparked a backlash on social media. Many expressed anger at SM Entertainment's deliberate attempts to sabotage BTS' early projects by luring key collaborators away.
But they also highlighted the irony of SM's efforts not only failing to sabotage BTS, but also allowing BTS to become globally popular K-pop acts. Meanwhile, SM Entertainment's contemporaries with BTS have not achieved success to date.
On the other hand, fans also took the revelation as another reminder of the hurdles BTS has overcome, applauding Nate Walka for recognizing the group's potential from the start. Some fans also expressed frustration at the industry control BTS experienced before they broke through internationally:
- SM trying to sabotage Bangtan so early on means they knew & saw soмєтнing in bts that made them feel threatened enough to try to sabotage them. After all SM is in the same industry & I'm certain they felt & knew these 7 young boys who had immense talent & pαѕѕion were going to do soмєтнing huge
- BTS and ARMY keep on getting proven right about the Entertainment Industry Politics n K-Pop being threaten by BTS's Success potential since almost the beginning like them calling BTS a Filler Act an experiment that won't go anywhere is insane but I'm not even surprise about it
- Imagine the amount of stuff we don't know about. They were just boys talking about dreams while huge corporations were trying to crush theirs. But they rose above all that
- Getting confirmation in 2025 that SM tried to ruin B T S since they were a fetus is wild
- gotta give credits to SM for foreshadowing B T S’ global success ahead of their time cause wdym you saw nugu B T S from a small and unknown company called big нιт entertainment as a threat and tried to get rid of them in their earliest days. this is prophecy, SM saw the vision
- I have great respect for Nate walka and he’s exactly how he was in the show: real, genuine, and admirable. Thanks for mentoring BTS in αмєяι¢α as well
Longtime ARMYs have witnessed BTS' transformation from underdogs to global icons over the course of more than a decade.
At the time of BTS' debut, the K-pop market was dominated by what fans called the "Big 3," which included SM, JYP, and YG Entertainment. With Big Hit Entertainment nearly bankrupt and without much influence, BTS was underrated not only by SM, but by many in the industry.
But look, in 2025, which K-pop group has broken countless records, set unprecedented achievements, ranked No. 1 on the list of most anticipated comeback artists...
Recently, BTS still surpαѕѕed 43 billion streams on Spotify across all fields and became the most streamed K-pop artist this year despite being on hiatus since they started their military service in 2022.
No difficulty or barrier can stop BTS's golden path and fans are proud of that!
