BTS Paved the Way

International superstars.  The world's biggest boy band. The Second Beatles. Billion-dollar boy band. All used as headlines to describe the K-pop band BTS, sensationalized in American media since 2017. But to me, these seven men are more than a cliche boy band; they are BTS.




BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) is a seven member boy group from South Korea and emerged on the Korean pop scene in 2013. At the time, the members ranged from 15-20 years of age, presenting the image of hip hop teenagers complaining about school and the pressure placed upon them by parents and the older generation. Even in the beginning, they wanted to fight against the stereotypes in their generation in a predominantly conservative society, aiming to protect the youth by telling them to be themselves and follow their passions. As they grew older, they moved away from school-based hip hop music and began to develop a different sound that included more pop and R&B, as well as a very intricate story line that details the ups and downs of youth and friendship. This era, beginning around 2015, is known as The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Trilogy. In their music videos, as well as additional short films, each member of BTS has their own story centered around their struggles to truly find themselves in the world. One member is theorized to die by suicide due to being in an abusive household, two are theorized to portray an LGBTQ relationship, and another is theorized to be placed in a mental hospital. For a musical act, BTS began to define themselves for the deep meaning behind their songs as well as their music videos, providing the basis for their growing popularity in 2017.


During this time, two of the members who frequently produce songs for the band, RM and Suga, revealed the band went through an extremely difficult period dealing with claims of "plagiarism," ridicule on the internet, and constant doubt among themselves. They released their own solo songs and in the song "The Last" by Suga, he is openly candid about his struggles with OCD and depression, as well as social anxiety, while RM discussed the weight on his shoulders of being the leader as well as loneliness and the depression that followed. However, these struggles were what defined the recent Love Yourself era, expanding on what they had felt to their fans, many of whom were going through similar situations. In 2017, the Love Yourself era was born, ushering in new levels of popularity and self-realization.

Covers of the Love Yourself albums.

In this new era, BTS base their stories around love, which they explain is a rather abstract concept that to them means more than loving someone else. Love Yourself: Her, Love Yourself: Tear, and Love Yourself:Answer center around love, loss, and acceptance respectively. BTS used insight from themselves to create these three albums and the extended version of all three, Map of the Soul: Persona. They utilized their personal experiences to create three albums about love and the different kinds of love. Her is a more playful type of love, which can be associated with their beginnings of being in love in school, while Tear is about the hardships of love and how an untrue love can tear you apart. The second album can relate to the struggles felt by the band before they created the Love Yourself era. Finally, Answer returns to the focal point of love: self-love. BTS spent a long time looking within themselves and within society, listening to their fans and finding ways to relate to their struggles and give them a beacon of hope. In this way, BTS was intrinsically motivated, opting to tirelessly write songs because they wanted to learn to love themselves; more importantly, they saw the challenge in figuring out how to better their lives while simultaneously bettering the lives of anyone who listens to their music.

BTS is greatly involved in the creative process of music, with most of their songs from the Love Yourself era featuring lyrics or being partly self produced from any of the seven members. Besides inward reflection, they have also included literary works in their creative process, most recently with psychologist Carl Jung's "Map of the Soul," which shares the same name as BTS' extended album. The title track Persona deals with the components of the psyche  and the true realization that loving yourself takes courage and forgiveness towards past mistakes and flaws. Everyone has shadows within them and BTS, with a message that is rather radical for Korea (where seeking mental health resources is still quite stigmatized,) stress the importance of embracing your darkness to realize your true self. If you seek help you should never be ashamed; that is only a step towards self-love. Towards the end of this era, which ended today on October 29th with the finale of their Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour, BTS express their thanks to their fans for helping them to learn how to love themselves. The original intention was to teach their fans self-love, but as a result, BTS resonated strongly with their own message. During the US leg of their tours, the leader RM closed out by saying, "Please use me, please use BTS to love yourself. Because you guys helped me learn to love myself, every day."



Through personal experience, interactions with society, and the use of psychological texts on self-reflection and how to make fundamental changes in life,  BTS crafted their message about self-love at a deeply personal level and resonated with those who were struggling. They have indeed saved lives through their music, inspiring people to continue living and loving themselves, which is why I believe BTS are creative. They are unlike any other artist out there by building their music and entire character around self-love and defying social norms.

I think this phrase sums up BTS perfectly: BTS paved the way. 

http://www.mtv.com/news/3099373/bts-grammy-museum-conversation-recap-quotes/

https://medium.com/bangtan-journal/love-yourself-the-message-behind-btss-record-breaking-album-series-229119e81902