In 2018 alone, the Korean boy band BTS has not only completed their album trilogy entitled Love Yourself, but they’ve also been on the Billboard Hot 100, were named Top Social Artist for the second time at the Billboard Music Awards, toured around the world, spoke at the United Nations, and were named one of Time Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders. And yet, people still have the nerve to ask, What’s the big deal with those Asian guys?
Oh, I’ll tell you exactly what the big deal is.
For one, they’re all extremely talented and hard working. The group is comprised of seven members: Jungkook, V, Jimin and Jin are the vocals, and RM, J-Hope and Suga are rappers. A couple of the members were signed to the group for their dancing expertise, others were signed because of their vocal talents, and the rest were scouted and encouraged to audition at Big Hit Entertainment, the group’s company.
Their work ethic is incredible. All of their singles and the nearly half of all their songs have very complicated and graceful choreography, and during performances, they sing and dance simultaneously. Learning such choreography can take time, and they’ve claimed to taking 12 hours a day before performances and tours to learn them. They’ve withstood sleep deprivation and even serious injuries just to perform for their adoring fans, who share the fandom name: “Army”.
Another reason I’ve noticed why lot of people don’t get the hype with BTS is that all of their songs are in Korean, apart from the occasional English lyric in songs here and there. What most people don’t seem to understand is that the songs do in fact have meaning, despite not being able to understand the meaning after one listen if you don’t understand the language. With the help of translators on the internet, you can find every BTS song translated into every single language, and many of the lyrics are incredibly significant. In some songs, they talk about the unrealistic expectations the education system sets against students, and in other songs, they talk about how loving yourself is an important step when coming to terms with who you are as a person. They’ve also talked about society, particularly that of South Korea, and the social injustices that millennials face. This generation tends to struggle more economically, and yet they are still shamed by the older generations for “not trying hard enough”. BTS noticed that, and wrote an entire song discussing the issue. Keep in mind, not a lot of other Kpop groups talk about these sorts of things, because in Korean society, it’s slightly taboo to speak out about.
The BTS members mainly produce and write their music themselves. It has inspired their fans all across the world, because the group encourages them to work hard, be happy, and love themselves for who they are. They’ve received a lot of praise from other artists for their music, and have even collaborated with big names like Desiigner, Steve Aoki, and Nicki Minaj.
Not only are they taking over the world with their music, but they’re also changing the world. BTS are in collaboration with UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) in a campaign they call “Love Myself”, which raises money to battle against violence towards children and teenagers across the world. In a year, BTS and Big Hit Entertainment have donated 500 million won (Korean currency) to UNICEF, and have also donated 3% of the earnings from their Love Yourself albums (which they’ve sold hundreds of thousands of).
BTS truly are changing the world, with every meaningful song, dance routine, and album. The group’s contract with Big Hit has recently been renewed for another seven years, so they can continue to make a change for many more years to come.