On June 13, the Korean pop (K-pop) group BTS made its debut. It may be noteworthy that the majority of people only really noticed the group a few years later; however, once that happened, the group would only be referred to in hyperbole—for instance, as "next-generation leaders" (Time Magazine), "K-pop behemoth" (The Washington Post), and "cultural juggernaut"
This also marks nearly a year since the seven members of the group announced on June 14, 2022, that they would begin their compulsory enlistment in the South Korean military after taking a break from group activities.
For a group of musicians with multiple members, ten years is a long time. The Beatles, who also began as a group of attractive singers and entertainers with a primarily young, female audience, only lasted about eight years together. NSYNC separated following seven years. Obviously, their impact on culture was not proportional to their duration.
The pause that BTS has taken does not mean that the group is completely idle. At the hour of composing this article, their new single 'Take Two' - to stamp their commemoration - has topped Spotify's Worldwide Top 50 outline, gathering over 7.3 million streams in a day as per Korean media reports. Their songs were streamed nearly 8 billion times on YouTube in 2022, surpassing Taylor Swift and The Weeknd.
For many, the fact that a group primarily sings in a language that is spoken by approximately 80 million people worldwide has continued to be an odd development. We glance back at how everything began and where the septet stands today.
The beginning of BTS BTS is spelled Bangtan Sonyeondan in Korean, which literally translates to "Bulletproof Boy Scouts." The name was chosen to convey strength and confidence in the face of challenges. Bang Shi Hyuk, a producer and songwriter in South Korea's burgeoning modern music scene in the 1990s, came up with the idea for the group.
South Korea had experienced a series of dictators and uprisings since the 1950 Korean War, with only the 1980s experiencing relative stability. There was more freedom of expression by the 1990s. The Asian monetary emergency that hit East Asia at the time was then utilized as an ideal second for the public authority to put vigorously in culture and expressions - a significant justification for the development of K-shows, Korean movies, etc, prompting 'Hallyu' or the Korean social wave.
TV shows also featured music from the United States, which helped local musicians grow. Thus started K-pop, with weighty impacts of American pop, rap and R&B music.
By the middle of the 2000s, three music labels ruled K-pop. They were always involved with artists, selecting them through auditions, teaching them how to be great musicians and dancers, writing and producing their songs, and keeping track of their schedules.
Big Hit Entertainment, a company Bang established in 2005, emerged amid this. By the end of the decade, the business was struggling financially and was looking for a group that would appeal to young people, some of whom had grown weary of K-pop groups' overly polished image.
In this mission, he previously tried out 16-year-old rapper Kim Namjoon, who could later go by RM and lead BTS. As the group was initially intended to focus on Hip-hop, another rapper by the name of Min Yoongi (also known as Suga) and a street dancer by the name of Jung Hoseok (also known as J-Hope) were included after Kim.
However, Bang came to the conclusion that singers were also required. As a result, members Jung Jungkook, Kim Seokjin, Kim Taehyung (aka V), and Park Jimin were recruited in a variety of ways, one of which involved Seokjin being spotted by a casting agent while he was traveling on a bus. Before then, none of these boys, who were in their mid- to late teens, had received any singing instruction.
Making it big Following this was a sort of boot camp to help them get better at singing and dancing live, as K-pop stars are expected to do. In contrast to the majority of other groups that existed at the time, BTS had a lot of freedom to express themselves, whether it was through interactions with their fans on social media or through lyrics about first love, the pressures of the education system, and singing in their native languages. They questioned the lives their parents had instructed them to lead in their debut song, "No More Dream," stating:
"Alright, the exhausting same day, consistently rehashes
Grown-ups and guardians pack us with dreams caught set up
The No. 1 amazing line of work, an administration representative?
Even though their debut was not a huge hit, they got enough attention to keep making music. It was their 2015 collection The Most Gorgeous Second in Life pt 1, winding around together accounts of youth, aimlessness and energy with many-sided music recordings, that caused individuals to pay attention for a huge scope.
The subsequent domestic success spread to other traditional K-pop markets, including Japan and the rest of East Asia, and would only continue to grow with subsequent releases that told stories of young people with optimism and offered a catharsis. Their songs occasionally questioned cultural norms in Korea that held that young people were ultimately to blame for problems like unemployment, high living costs, and personal setbacks.
Along with increasing collaborations with international producers and singers, mental health and self-acceptance issues began to appear in BTS songs as well. Ostensibly, this arrived at its top in 2020, when their tune 'Explosive', composed by American lyricists in English, turned into a worldwide super hit. This came after two songs that were only in English and other Korean releases.
In the process, they have built a huge fan base that sometimes resembles the hero worship culture of Indian actor fans, complete with numerous fan clubs, charitable acts in honor of their idols, and great devotion. ARMY routinely gathers to stream songs to boost BTS's music chart positions. For the convenience of international fans, fans who speak Korean also translate their songs and speeches into other languages.
Legacy Take into consideration the following group records set in these years: Most Twitter engagements (retweets) for any account and most Twitter engagements for a group, most viewed YouTube video in a single day (with more than 101 million views), first K-pop group to reach No. The top single on the Billboard Hot 100, the first K-pop group to achieve this feat, and the best-selling global artist of 2021 make them No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
These go along with the billions of views, streams, and sales of merchandise and concert tickets. BTS and other Hallyu acts have helped a lot of people find things like Korean food, language classes, and K-dramas (where K-pop stars often make music). Through this uncommon form of soft power, they have contributed to the rebranding of a country of 50 million people.
Yet, away from these bigger social delayed consequences, through long stretches of sharpening their art, steady commitment with fans, a talented group to create their non-music content, (for example, normal narratives and YouTube video blogs), putting out quality music, and a tad of being at the perfect locations brilliantly, BTS has acquired famous status in their field.
This does not mean that the path has been easy. For a group with only one native English speaker, it has been difficult to completely overcome the cultural and linguistic divide. Bigoted comments were aimed at them, especially around the Coronavirus pandemic, just like the case for East Asians in many areas of the planet. Likewise, the possibility that mainstream society can't be a flagbearer of public character actually areas of strength for holds many, who don't see the worth in this example of overcoming adversity.
On the other hand, BTS has been a source of controversy in the past as well. A few fans have scrutinized the hole between the to a great extent moderate subjects of their tunes and their general quietness on seething socio-political issues of the day. Disappointment has also resulted from their involvement, in a few instances, with figures in Korean entertainment who have witnessed serious allegations of sexual misconduct. The bigger analysis of Korean specialists, who are frequently oblivious to or uninterested in remarking top to bottom on issues like race and variety, who have a place with a generally homogenous society, has likewise been made towards the gathering.
Despite these ups and downs, the group seems to be here to stay, both together and separately. In the past year, six of the seven members have released official solo tracks that have been received enthusiastically by fans. These tracks reveal more about their artistry while returning to the themes that they have previously discussed as a group. Regardless of how flawed and slow, the progress of BTS has introduced a remarkable instance of the gleaming commitment of globalization and unadulterated difficult work meeting its true capacity, saying regardless of what your identity is, you can break language boundaries and significantly more.