Katy Sprinkel - BTS: One

Contents

1. Beyond the Superlatives

They have toppled seemingly every record imaginablesocial media engagements, video streams, concert revenues, chart superlatives. Theyre award-winning songwriters, cultural ambassadors, and boundary-pushing social justice warriors. They are RM, Jin, Suga, V, J-Hope, Jimin, and JungkookBTSand they are anything but a boy band. They are a worldwide phenomenon the likes of which have never been seen before.

The story of BTS for so long has been how and when they would make inroads in America. Could a Korean-language artist ever make it in the States? These days that question has been emphatically answered: yes!

Looking dapper while stopping by for a chat with DJ Elvis Duran in 2019.

BTS is on a hot streak like none other, and 2020 was their best year to date in the U.S. While many artists put their creative plans on hold during the global pandemic, BTS went the other way. Just because they couldnt continue their world tour didnt mean they wouldnt perform for their fans. They held an online concert in October and ended up selling more than 100 million tickets for the virtual event.

It also didnt mean they couldnt create more music. They released not one but two full-length albums in 2020both of which hit No. 1 on the Billboard chartsand to the delight of their legion of fans in the West, they released their first allEnglish language single, the infectiously joyous Dynamite. That single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the top spot, becoming their first-ever song to reach No. 1 in the United States. That news sent major shock waves through the industry. (BTS even got a shout-out from the president of South Korea for the achievement.) A few weeks later, their remix of Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulos Savage Love took the No. 1 spot too. But they werent done just yet. They again debuted at No. 1 with another single, Life Goes On, in December to close out the calendar year.

Rocking a Beatles-esque look at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards. The group took home the honors for Top Social Artist for the fourth consecutive year.

They were named Band of the Year by music tastemakers Consequence of Sound . They also claimed the top spot as Entertainer of the Year in Time magazines year-end review. Oh, and they finally got their first Grammy nod in 2020 too. As Pitchfork put it, BTS has broken so many records, at such a frantic pace, that any effort to tally them becomes almost instantly obsolete.

The numbers themselves are eye-popping and the superlatives are gaudy, but they do nothing to tell the real story of the group, which is single-handedly redefining the musical landscape for the 21 st century. So what makes BTS so special? The secret to BTSs success is a combination of factors. First, their strict discipline and indefatigable attitude. In the tradition of K-pop, the band works day and night on their songwriting and dancing, making sure every last detail is polished to perfection. Crisp, precise choreography and intricately woven melodies are bedrocks of the K-pop sound, and perhaps no group exemplifies this better than BTS.

Though their global success story has long been written, BTSs surge in America is just beginning.

They began and continue as boundary pushers. They knew from the outset that they wanted their music to say something . Their songs confront issues most pop artists would never touch, from mental health to income inequality to xenophobia. Their message of universal love and kindness is a signature that has resonated with listeners worldwide.

Performing at the Grammys was one goal. (They achieved it in 2020, alongside Lil Nas X.) The next? To win one.

Indeed the greatest ingredient in BTSs recipe for what seems nothing short of complete world dominance is their ARMY (short for Adorable Representative MC for Youth)the dedicated, energetic fan base that works as hard for their idols as the members of the band do themselves. Their ability to make an impact has catapulted BTS to incredible heights. The ARMY mobilizes to ensure that each BTS release, whether it be a single, music video, or album, reaches instant trending status. They translate lyrics, tweets, and videos, sharing them freely with one another. They are avid consumers of all things BTS, from merchandise to information to (of course) the music. They even spearhead charity fund-raisers for causes the band supports. In short, they spread the word of BTS in every conceivable way. Their engagement and up-to-the-moment knowledge of the BTS universe is unparalleled, period.

For those readers who dont know what Jimin had for lunch today, consider this your formal introduction to all things BTS. And for those of you who know he had a bowl of kimchi jjigae , enjoy taking a stroll down memory lane with your idols!

2. Big-Time Showbiz

To understand just how massive BTSs success has been worldwide, its important to understand the foundations of K-pop itself (thats Korean pop, for the uninitiated). To the outside observer, K-pop looks like a sugarcoated confectiondanceable beats, catchy hooks, super-sharp choreography, and kaleidoscopic visuals from ultra-attractive performers. But to dismiss it as a shallow version of pop music would be way off the mark. Not only is K-pop wide-ranging in its musical styles and onstage offerings, its serious business. Big business.

The music competition show vets perform on the MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards in 2018.

Its a multibillion-dollar industry that makes South Korea one of the leading players on the global entertainment stage. And thats no small feat when you consider South Korea has a population of only 51 million people. (Compare that to the U.S.s 331 million.) In fact, South Korea is the worlds eighth largest market for recorded music by revenue, according to a Bloomberg report. Thats bigger than India, whose own entertainment industry is world-famous, and even China! For those of you who like to crunch the numbers, China and India are the two most populous countries in the world, with 1.4 billion and 1.3 billion citizens, respectively!