K-Pop: Everything you need to know about BTS | The Truth News

BTS (or Bangtan Boys, or Beyond the Scene, or Bulletproof Boyscouts, or Bangtan Sonyeondan) is a Korean pop, hip-hop, R&B boy band that debuted under BigHit Entertainment on June 13, 2013, composed of seven members: rappers RM (the leader), SUGA and J-Hope, and vocalists Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook.

Interestingly, his fame grew very gradually. While they got off to a good start for a small company idol group, they only began to achieve greater success in Korea in 2015 (gaining an international fanbase much sooner) with the singles "I NEED U" and "Dope", and winning his first Korean Grand Prix in 2016.

In 2017, they ended Justin Bieber's 6-year winning streak with the Billboard Award for Top Social Artist, marking a turning point in his career.

They have broken many records before and since, having the best-selling album in Korean history; They have also performed on sold-out tours in Asia, America, Europe and elsewhere, becoming the first Korean group, and Asia-wide, to perform on America's Saturday Night Live and the first to headline a concert at the Wembley Stadium with 2 sold out nights.

An unusual aspect of BTS is that the members have had a significant contribution to their work from the very beginning, even before debut, and all the members have participated in songwriting; in particular, RM and Suga were involved in the underground Hip-Hop scene in Korea when they were teenagers.

While the group's main influence has always been Western hip-hop, they're highly versatile, often putting their own spin on wherever their genre wheel lands.

What is BTS's music about?

BTS's work has recurring themes centered on the place of youth and modern society, often dealing with topics such as mental health, expectations towards youth and social inequality, with more than one protest song to his credit; they also incorporate their own personal experiences into their work, including their career and rocky rise to stardom.

In addition, the three rappers (RM, Suga and J-Hope) have released very personal and distinct solo mixtapes: RM (2015), Agust D (2016), Hope World (2018) and D-2 (2020). , all with a great reference and the different points of their careers. In 2018, RM also released the introspective mono, which RM has called not a mixtape, but a "playlist".

The Story Behind BTS

Their biggest and most ambitious project, however, might be the creation of an entire Mind Screw of a multimedia story tied to the narrative in their music, starring fictional versions of the members he has called “The BTS Universe. This universe began along with the debut of his first video.

This series is made up of concept videos, teasers, short films, a webcomic (titled SAVE ME), novels (The Notes), and other content, beginning chronologically in 2014 with the music video for "Boy in Luv" (this video not part of BU) and officially in 2015 with the music video "I NEED U" and currently ongoing.

What's New From BTS

Their latest album, titled MAP OF THE SOUL: 7, was released on February 21, after a long timeline of events leading up to it. This included not one, but two comeback trailers, one titled "Interlude: Shadow," released on January 10, and another titled "Outro: Ego," released on February 3, as well as the release of CONNECT, BTS, a global project to connect 22 artists with five cities: London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul and New York.

On January 17, BTS released a single "Black Swan" in 2 different versions: one for radio and streaming platforms, and an orchestral version for Youtube, with the latter being released as an art film made by the MN dance company. He eventually received a surprise official music video on March 4.

On February 21, the album's release was accompanied by a special music video for the lead single, "ON." An alternate version of "ON" featuring Sia was also released on digital platforms. A second official music video was released on February 27, now a cinematic concept video featuring the members in an apocalyptic setting where they are true to their oath to follow the path of destiny no matter what the obstacles.

On June 11, 2020, they released an animated video for the song "We are Bulletproof : the Eternal." in the video is an ode to his career and shows different fragments of previous videos, the great detail to highlight is that all the members participate with an animated avatar.

Members of BTS

Jin: Full name Kim Seokjin, born December 4, 1992. Vocalist, longest-serving member.

SUGA: Full name Min Yoongi, born March 9, 1993. Rapper.

J-Hope: Full name Jung Hoseok, born February 18, 1994. Rapper, choreography leader, sometimes vocalist, line dance member.

RM: Full name Kim Namjoon, born September 12, 1994. Rapper, Leader of the group.

Jimin: Full name Park Jimin, born October 13, 1995. Vocalist, line dance member.

V: Full name Kim Taehyung, born December 30, 1995. Vocalist, member of the dance line.

Jungkook: Full name Jeon Jungkook, born September 1, 1997. Vocalist, rapper (sometimes, mostly on older songs), line dance member, youngest member.

Discography

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Mixtape

RM:

On RM's personal struggles with the dilemma of being both an idol and a formerly underground rapper. He uses the mixtape to declare his pride in being first and prove his worth as second, as well as chronicle his personal reflections on life and his coping with loneliness.

Monkey (playlist, 2018). Less rapping and more introspective than RM, focusing on the "personal reflections" part. His theme is more about loneliness and being his own worst enemy, but learning to live with it.

SUGA:

Agust D (mixtape, 2016, also released under the name "Agust D" instead of "SUGA"). Suga's personal story of his rise to success and his struggles with mental illness, among other things.

D-2 (mixtape, 2020) If Agust D focused on the past, D-2 focuses on the present, Suga from 2016 to 2020. Less aggressive outside his biting tracks, talks about aging, capitalism and fame compensation.

J-Hope:

Hope World (mixtape, 2018). He talks about how J-Hope deals with fame as an established artist, the good and the bad, and his desire to live up to his J-Hope persona, but keeping his energy and versatility mostly with funky songs and optimistic.

Multimedia

The BTS Universe: A fictional transmedia story told through a series of music videos, teasers, and bonus content; officially started in 2015 and is still going on with SAVE ME (2019), a Korean webtoon that tells the main plot of BU's story.

The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: The Notes (2019), a companion novel to SAVE ME that continues and expands the universe even further.

BT21: Seven cartoon characters created by the members in collaboration with LINE for the latter's chat system, now a franchise of plushies and other merchandise.

BT21 UNIVERSE: An official animation series about the history of the characters.

Film

Burn The Stage (2018): A documentary about the WINGS Tour in 2017, intended to show a more "raw" or honest side of the group behind the scenes. Originally released as an 8-episode mini-series, then re-released as a (very different) movie on November 15 of the same year, with approximately 80% new content. Both are available on Youtube Premium.

BTS World Tour: Love Yourself in Seoul (2019) - A concert film for one of the first dates of the LOVE YOURSELF Tour, which took place in August 2018. Released in theaters worldwide on 26th of January as a one day event.

Bring The Soul (2019) – Another documentary in the vein of Burn the Stage, now following their LOVE YOURSELF Tour in 2018. A documentary series of the same name and subject was also released on the Weverse app.

Literature

The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: The Notes.

Documentary series

Burn The Stage (2018) and Bring The Soul (2019).

Break The Silence (2020): After the Bring The Soul series, it narrates the last part of the LOVE YOURSELF tour and the SPEAK YOURSELF tour.

Reality Show

Variety Shows

Video Games

Web Animation

Webcomics

The People

Off stage, all the members have different personalities some are shy introverts and others are more active and noisy or a combination of the above.

Fans often compare the members to different animals for their physical traits, Suga to a cat and even nicknamed him "lil meow meow", J-Hope is a squirrel for his energetic personality, Jungkook is a rabbit due to his adorable bunny smile, V is compared to baby tiger or bear, Jimin is often compared to a baby chick, RM is a koala, and Jin is a hamster due to his big cheeks.

Despite their different personalities, the members have a good friendship with each other since they have been living together for more than ten years. The youngest member Jungkook started living with them at the age of 14 so the rest of the group sees him as a younger brother and he defines himself as a combination of everyone's personalities.

Onstage

The hierarchical member roles that are typical of K-pop ("main rapper", "main rapper", "sub-vocalist") still appear in Korean media from time to time. From time to time though those categories have become increasingly blurry as both Jimin and J-Hope could be considered "main dancers" in their own way and some might extend the title to include Jungkook and V as well; the verses have been more evenly distributed among the singers since the LOVE YOURSELF era, with all of them getting solo songs, the rappers are starting to sing as well, and it would be hard to have just one "main" rapper when the rap line it works much more like a Power Trio.

This is even more apparent when you consider that the first BigHit boy group to debut after BTS, TXT, doesn't use the categories at all with the exception of "leader."

The “strong” one of the group

Jungkook looks cute even though he's a bit rude. He is physically fit and likes to exercise a lot in his spare time, as some of his dance moves require a lot of strength.

The sleepyhead

Suga usually prefers to spend his afternoons composing new tracks and sleeping in his studio and considers these activities very important. Other members recognize it too, J-Hope and Jimin learning it the hard way firsthand.

The Biggest Eater

Basically everyone, but Jin really stands out. He even got his own Eat Jin series!

Favorite older brother

RM for Jungkook. Although Jungkook loves all of his hyungs (older brother) of him, he seems to have a soft spot for the leader, RM. Jungkook said the reason he joined BTS in the first place was because he saw RM rapping and thought he was cool. It is also noted that Jungkook rarely teases RM compared to his other hyungs and is quite attached to him.

The smallest older brother

Jungkook, the tallest and youngest member of Jimin, the shortest but oldest.

The most androgynous

All of them are skinny and have pretty faces except possibly RM and J-Hope (who are handsome instead of pretty).

Most Bullied

In variety shows, Jimin tends to take on this role, especially getting punished often on Rookie King.

Brief Appearances

Although he does not participate in the song itself, RM appears briefly in the music video for MFBTY's "Bang Diggy Bang Bang" in a bathroom

You'd only know from behind-the-scenes information, but the body that j-hope whispers "wake up" (which is assumed to be another j-hope) in the "Daydream" music video is V.

Jin and Jungkook appear as background villagers in Agust D's "Daechwita" music video. They're the guy who turns to the camera after Suga runs into him and the guy who runs into that guy and hits him, respectively.

Casanovas

V and Jungkook in the early years: their songs were full of talk about their skills with women, but they were put alongside real life women and they became more demure

Phrase

"I purple you" (and its original Korean version, "borahae") is a phrase coined by V in 2016 that has since become (along with the color itself) in representative of BTS and the relationship between BTS and ARMY, and thus the catchphrase of both BTS and ARMY (especially V).

J-hope's introductory quote in English: "I am your hope, you are my hope, I am j-hope!"

The Charmer

V fills this role on his reality show "American Hustle Life." He got discounts for his looks twice and Iris Stevenson described his voice as "soulful".

Jimin, too, if the many compilations of people who are attracted to him are any indication. He even gives Chimmy, his BT21 UNIVERSE, this quality as his main ability.

Pop star since childhood

Jungkook was only 15 when they debuted, and Jimin and V were only 17.

Cool and unusual punishment

Both the rookie king and BTS! and BTS Gayo present games where this is applied to the loser, with the punishments often being decided by the members themselves. For example:

Rookie King (in 2013) featured a punishment system centered around a Mission based on luck, with non-punished members showing No Sympathy (Played for Laughs) and gleefully following through. Punishments involved the members having to serve food to customers dressed as a maid, letting the others put hideous makeup on their faces, or (most infamously) kissing another member (with another member gleefully pinching their faces together).

On November 29, 2017, BTS's arrival at the airport on the way to MAMA drew media attention due to Jin wearing a hanbok outfit for no apparent reason. It turned out that he was being punished for losing a game on an episode of Run BTS! released on Jan 6, 2018. Yeah, a whole month went by where this wasn't explained.

Similarly, other episodes had the losing team wear their 1990s clothing to an appearance at the public airport, or T-shirts with an unflattering picture of a member, or bunny-ear mobile hats.

Other punishments in Run BTS! and BTS Gayo have included doing the “Dope” choreography with a sock covering their head, acting out a terrible script written by the other members, standing outside for 5 minutes without a jacket in winter, and climbing a mountain.

Awkward Comedy

American Hustle Life has a lot of this. It features the members staying for a week in Los Angeles to learn about hip-hop in a boot camp-like fashion, containing moments like having to knock on random doors from people offering cake, having to cook, and performing. creative creations of their dishes for Coolio (yes, the rapper), and taking to the streets to cast women for a music video, all with only one member who was fluent in English at the time.

To a much lesser extent, the hidden camera jokes and punishment segments of Rookie King.

Cameos from an early age

While they were still trainees, several members appeared as background characters in Campy's music video for Jo Kwon's “I'm Da One”. J-Hope and Jungkook appear as Jo Kwon's backup dancers, Jin and V appear as the Big Bad's bodyguards (who die, revive, and go through a Heel-Face turn at the end), and Suga appears as a boy with a cast leg who suddenly stops needing it anymore thanks to the Power of the Rock.

Jo Kwon's "Animal" also features J-Hope as a rapper.

Episode 4 of 2am Star Life Theater had Jo Kwon visit the students to give advice. This, of course, includes BTS (as well as GFRIEND's SinB and Eunha).

Jimin has a (quite funny) blink cameo and you'll miss it in GLAM's "Party (XXO)".

Even guys love him

Jimin, as commonly seen in reaction videos. Pewdiepie, the famous youtuber, entered the world of K-Pop with BTS and commented on their good sides and what he didn't like about them, until he saw Blood, Sweat and Tears. After that he quickly declared that he is gay.

A reaction video also to "Blood, Sweat and Tears" had him jokingly calling his girlfriend into the bedroom and breaking up with her after seeing Jimin.

Family of Choice

While they seem to have a good relationship with their families, living together away from home for years led the group to become this in a way that has been recognized by the boys themselves , and the older members essentially became surrogate parents for the younger members during their early years: cooking their meals, driving them to school, attending their graduation ceremonies, etc.

They are also a rare example of an idol group who, despite being able to get their own separate apartments, still live together by choice.

Your ad for the Hyundai Palisade (an SUV) is all about this trope, posing the question "What defines a family?":

Parental Expectations

Songs like "No More Dream", Intro: O! RUL8,2? "Y" N.O." talk about how young people are pressured by family and society in general to abandon their dreams and seek stable careers.

The fashionista

V, who always wears Gucci products. Even his cell phone case is from Gucci!

Rebellious Former Teen

RM was such a diligent student that he was in the top 1% of South Korea and Suga was on his high school's Student Council. Since then they have become adults and both write lyrics about the corruption of the school system and South Korea in general.

Friend of all living things

RM somehow manages to get photos or videos of himself with crabs or small frogs in his hands.

V once made a bird fly into his hand for a second, much to his delight.

RM is the tallest member at 6'2" (very visibly compared to Suga or Jimin) and was one of the members with a stronger "tough guy" image in previous years, but is (by all accounts) thoughtful and very friendly and attentive to people. However, he is especially fond of his love for very small creatures (especially crabs), often trying to find and pick them up carefully when he goes to the beach or rural places.

Interestingly, he said (quite passionately) in an interview in the UK that his favorite Pokémon is Mangnanyong (Korean name for Dragonite). Since she didn't know his name in English, she later tweeted a picture of Dragonite to clarify which Pokémon she was.

He has two moms

An old fan joke in 2014 was about EXO's Baekhyun and BAP's Daehyun being V's parents, which he gleefully acknowledged in an interview.

They have many names

Each of the members has at least one stage name or nickname despite their real names.

Jin has gone viral multiple times for his looks on social media, which has led to him earning various nicknames from people who ask who he is, such as "Car Door Guy" (at a Korean award show) and "The Third One From the Left" (at the Billboard Music Awards). After joking that he is "worldwide handsome" during an interview, Jin has made "worldwide handsome" his title and introduces himself as such in interviews in the US and UK.

BTS member a thousand uses

Golden Maknae Jungkook; vocalist, rapper, dancer, songwriter, producer and more.

He also works like this within the group, working as a center both in singing (although more so in the first songs) and in dancing. As a singer, he is one of three tenors in the group, with boyish voices that can be soft and airy, but also work well with harder songs, and with a range that allows him to hit both high and low notes well.

Meanwhile, Jimin specializes more in high notes (with a very different voice that is both softer and "sharper").

The V baritone tends to play lower notes, growls, and falsettos, which works great on R&B songs.

Jin is also in the midrange, but has clearly more nasal voices that are used more in Power Ballads and (more recently) very high notes, and is sometimes used as a counterpart or companion to V's voice (like the pre chorus of "IDOL").

Similarly, J-Hope, nicknamed "Golden Dog" (as he was born in the year of the dog): dances, raps, sings (which he uses in his verses and as choruses) and has a number of writings and productions, composing credits on songs similar to those of RM and Suga.

Big and in charge

RM is the tallest member and leader of the group. RM fits the "mastermind" version of this well, considering that BTS only came together for his blame.

The lucky number

7 members, which of course leads to 7 solo songs on WINGS, LOVE YOURSELF: Answer and MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 each.

Their first album to chart in the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 chart, LOVE YOURSELF: Her, peaked at #7. All other Korean albums they have released since then have debuted at #1 on the list.

Invoked with MAP OF THE SOUL: 7, named after and released to celebrate BTS's 7 years as a group. Also, not counting the version of "ON" with Sia (only released on digital platforms), the album has a total duration of 70 minutes.

The Savior

Underappreciated (although he's the shortest, he's not that short), but while Jimin is known for being incredibly nice, he once got really sad to learn that dogs can't see colors, he is also known to have the angriest temper. This, of course, makes him one of the main targets for ridicule from other members on variety shows.

Played with in the case of Suga, the second shortest member. While this doesn't really apply to his real-life persona, he has the most aggressive character on stage in the rap-focused songs, with his verses being very brusque and prone to swearing.

BTS's Powerful Three

The rap line works like this in and out of music, with each member having skills that complement the other's strengths. While all three are well-rounded, RM tends to focus more on elaborate metaphors and puns, with a more introspective or philosophical tone; Suga's style is more direct and realistic, with a focus on storytelling, using only the right words; J-Hope, due to his background in street dancing rather than underground hip-hop, has a style more characterized by unique flow patterns, a great sense of rhythm, and experimentation with delivery, with his personality translating into a more playful. This is particularly evident when comparing his solo work.

When it comes to interviews, RM bears the burden of being the leader, often being the most careful with tact and order, translating for the group when the interviewer speaks English. While he is quieter, Suga is blunt but thoughtful with his opinions, often speaking up when the question is about music production or more complicated topics (such as politics). J-Hope, being a much more outgoing person, often takes it upon himself to lighten the mood to help other members relax (a role he shares with Jin).

Outside of interviews, the roles change a bit depending on the situation; RM is more intellectual, Suga is more practical and smart, and J-Hope often handles teamwork and choreography.

The line dance (J-Hope, Jimin, and Jungkook, with V as a recent addition) has sometimes worked like this, garnering moments for the three to shine together: like their performance in 3-J for Festa 2017 and the introduction to their "IDOL" performance for the 2018 Melon Music Awards.

Their skills are also complementary: J-Hope's specialty is hip-hop and freestyle, Jimin has training in classical/contemporary dance (and hip-hop as well), and Jungkook has hip-hop dance skills alongside with tremendous athletic prowess, working as a center.

Images of rappers

Her image in her early years is a non-white example. While they were more directly influenced by Western rap than a good majority of other Kpop artists, they were still not as knowledgeable about the culture behind it, and they dressed and acted "gangsta" as part of their "idol group" concept. of hip hop".

After 2014, however, a year that involved a trip to Los Angeles to learn about American Hustle Life's West Coast hip-hop roots and culture, the "gangsta" image of the tough guy was removed forever. RM, rapper and leader of the group, has apologized for his mistakes in this regard and considers his attitude and hairstyle/fashion choices from that era to be shameful. More on that here.

Man of many talents

Besides being the famous Golden Maknae, Jungkook is also good at drawing, he did the creepy painting seen in the "Begin" teaser for WINGS, to start and sports, with his performance in the relay races and wrestling matches at the ISACs, as well as his skill in taekwondo. He has also dabbled in photography (tagged on Twitter as "G.C.P" or "Golden Closet Photography"), filming and editing (as seen in his Golden Closet Films), and producing (starting with "Magic Shop").

BTS's funniest

When Jin was asked how he felt about trending on Twitter as "the third guy from the left" during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, he responded with, " I'm handsome all over the world." Similarly, Jin blows kisses at fans, interviewers, or the camera. Often, along with the example above, to the embarrassment of other members.

For the WINGS Tour, once a concert he would do an increasingly elaborate gag of revealing a paper heart hidden somewhere, either his clothing or the other members' ears. This culminated in BTS's New Year's performance of “Go Go” on MBC, which had all the members reveal hidden hearts in strange places.

The LOVE YOURSELF Tour featured a shorter version of Jin embellished with increasingly bizarre ARMY Bombs, ranging from ARMY Bomb rings to actual ARMY bombs sewn to his shirt. She then did something similar with different fancy sunglasses.

Another example from the tour was during "So What", where Jungkook (and another member) would Shoot Dance through the stage track following RM's verse. He would do it with V, then Jimin, then Jin, then Suga, then RM, then all the members together until Jungkook suffered an injury during a rehearsal that required stitches and prevented him from dancing at all. However, he gradually recovered, gloriously symbolized by him getting up to do the Shoot Dance again.

The members sing V's verse from "Jump" when one of them says "V".

These are their different names

Jungkook is the romanization used in the official material, but within the fandom "Jeongguk" (how it is usually romanized) sometimes appears. Same for RM Namjoon's real name, which is occasionally spelled "Namjun". However, alternate spellings are never used for other members consistent with "Jeongguk" (which is how it is spelled in the usual romanization system), such as "Yunki" and "Taehyeong".

A notable exception is BTS World, which uses "Jeongguk", "Yunki", and "Namjun".

Stage names

Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM (formerly Rap Monster), and V do not use their real names, which are (respectively) Seokjin, Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon, and Taehyung.

Before joining BTS, Suga was an underground songwriter under the name Gloss, and RM was a rapper under the name Runch Randa. There's also Agust D, the alternate name SUGA uses for his mixtapes but not for his collaborations with other artists.

Ugly on purpose

Whenever the rappers sing the vocalists' parts or vice versa, expect it to be so.

The intro for Rookie King Episode 2 randomly features a low-budget propaganda-style video of the South Korean national anthem featuring the BTS members, with incredibly bad acting and a fantastically terrible green screen.

The "Spine Breaker" music video, made by the members for a BTS Gayo challenge one afternoon at the hotel they were staying at.

Technique VS Presentation

J-hope and Jimin are known for having good technique, while V and Jungkook when it comes to dancing.

Teen idols

All of them, although teenagers are far from their only audience; one of the most remembered moments is when V once introduced himself as "Kim, Taehyung Kim".

Trauma

In their song "Skit: One Night in a Strange City", the group starts screaming when someone mentions a chicken breast.

Vocal Dissonance

V's boyish face and quirky antics belie his surprisingly low voice.

Makeovers

Every member has reached bleach and dye at some point.

Special mention goes to Suga, who jokingly threatened to sue BigHit for hair loss if they kept dyeing their hair non-stop for three years, oddly enough, they let him keep his hair black for his next comeback.

Special mention goes to RM, who has dyed his hair non-stop in various colors over the course of his career, including blonde, silver, pink, blue, green, and purple.

Here's a fan-made chart showing all the hair colors the members have had since their debut through 2018.

Music and Types

Album Intro Track

Every BTS album has one of these, introducing their general concept and themes. All intros get music videos as "comeback trailers" for the album weeks before the album's release. Most of them have one of the rappers doing one of these, with the exception of the LOVE YOURSELF series, which has 3 intros (plus "Epiphany") done by the singers.

Album Single

Anachronistic order

The LOVE YOURSELF series consists of 4 "chapters", which are Wonder, Her, Tear and Answer. However, LOVE YOURSELF: Wonder (the only one not an actual album, with "Euphoria" being the only content explicitly related to it, not counting Answer's "Trivia: Just Dance") was released seven months after Her and a month before. Tear. The pitching order for the series is therefore 2-1-3-4.

Crowd Participation Song

In addition to the usual fans, BTS will usually ask the audience to sing along to "I Like It", "Miss Right", "Epilogue: Young Forever" and "Fire " during live performances.

Their official fan songs, "2! 3!" and "Magic Shop", are designed to be this.

Auto-Tune

They've used this as a stylistic choice, like on "DNA" (used subtly for a cosmic sound) and "Mic Drop (remix)". Suga in particular has been using this more and more frequently, even if the other rappers don't use it as much at all, for example his verses in "Come Back Home" and "Outro: Tear". "Dionysus" is also heavy on this.

"Shadow" and "Black Swan" make extensive use of autotune to convey feelings of drowning and loss of individuality beneath the fame.

Are they snooty rappers?

Many of their songs feature boastful lines, usually in the rap parts. In particular, his Cyphers and "Mic Drop" are famous as Badass Boast songs.

"Airplane pt. 2" takes the form of a success story, with the chorus talking about all the places they travel to.

Rap Battle

"Satoori Rap / Padolgangsan" is a song in which each member boasts about their particular region of Korea.

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life album series is meant to show how youth, despite having its beautiful moments, also has its moments of struggle, pain , fear and uncertainty.

Pretty Rap

"We Are Bulletproof" pts. 1 and 2 are textbook examples of "rapping about being good at rapping."

The Cyphers (pt. 1, pt.2, pt.3 and pt.4) are the space where the three rappers show off their skills while bragging about their skills. They also boast that they have worked harder, are more skilled and successful than those who criticize them for being idols of a small company. Their success is often shown by mentioning all the places they have traveled to.

"Mic Drop" is about all the success and accomplishments they've gotten despite the haters ("did you see my bag / did you see my bag / my bag is full of trophies")?

Of the mixtapes, "Agust D" is a great example, with Suga rapping about the success he's achieved and his rapping skills what he calls making people "go to Hong Kong" note with his "tongue technology ", saying that the Kpop category is not enough for him now.

He does it again in "Daechwita" (where he says Korea isn't big enough for him now) and "What Do You Think?" of D-2.

Breakup song

Bits of BTS songs reappearing

SUGA's line "big cars, big house, big rings" from "No More Dream" has reappeared in other songs with the context and meaning around it evolving throughout BTS's career.

The strings from the beginning of the "Boy in Luv" music video are resampled during the first part of "Intro: Who Am I to You?", where RM talks about new love before everything goes downhill. Similarly, the piano from the beginning of "Outro: Propose" appears at the beginning of the "Danger" music video, and they are each from Skool Love Affair (where "Boy in Luv" comes from) and Dark & Wild (which has "Intro: What Am I to You?"), respectively.

"Magic Shop" turns it into "The best of me" in the verse "You gave me the best of me / so you'll give yourself the best of yourself."

"I'm Fine" is this for "Save me". The former not only takes reversed melodies from "Save Me," but mirrors the song in both themes and lyrics, almost verse to verse, even with the rappers' parts on the reverse order note. Whereas "Save Me" was about a person who was emotionally dependent on another, in "I'm Fine", the person looks back and discovers that they are actually fine and happy on their own.

"IDOL" has the phrase "sometimes I become your superhero/Keep spinning, you Anpanman", referencing "Anpanman" from the previous album.

The song "Intro: Persona" samples "Intro: Skool Luv Affair" from the eponymous EP. The lyrics also reference the "dogs and pigs" line from "Am I Wrong", itself a response to controversial statements by a government official during the Park Geun-Hye administration, it has the line "I dream of becoming a superhero/ Now it feels like I really became one", and repeats the phrase "what's your dream?" from "No More Dream".

"Boy With Luv" is by title a clear call back to "Boy In Luv", drawing parallels between the portrayal of love and gender roles in his work before and now.

"Interlude: Shadow" has several of them, including many visual and lyrical parallels to "Intro: Persona", both RM and Suga stand on platforms in front of their fans, combining the lyrics "I just wanna fly" and " don't let me fly", and to 2013's "O! RUL8,2?", sampling the instrumentals of "Intro: O! RUL8,2?", making several visual references to their Comeback Trailer video, and retroactively answering the question of the introduction to "What's your dream?" from the perspective of someone who has already achieved it. Also, the hooded figures from "Fake Love", "Mic Drop" and "Fire" are back.

"Outro: Ego" follows the theme of "Persona" which references the third album trailer and "Shadow" which references the second album trailer by literally flashing back in the music video, with a quick montage of all the BTS's previous music videos in reverse to BTS's debut trailer.

The song itself samples "Intro: 2 Cool 4 Skool," the first song from BTS's first album, featured in said debut trailer, with the beat morphing into a fun African-based beat. The lyrics reference the musings surrounding fame touched on in "Persona" and "Shadow" and come to a new conclusion, where the doubts and pain and darker feelings beneath fame became a drive to grow and grow. go ahead.

Members' solo work also does this. Agust D's D-2 (SUGA), for example, makes many references to previous songs by BTS and Agust D as he revisits or affirms old ideas of his:

"Moonlight" has the line "If you think you're going to crash, speed up even more, idiot" from BTS's "Intro: Nevermind."

"Daechwita" has the line "To hold me back, this country is still small", referencing "To be included in the category called K-pop, my size is different" from "Agust D", and the line " It makes no sense to call me a dog. I was born a tiger, I'm not a fragile pill like you" in reference to "I can't live like a dog when I'm born to be a tiger."

"What do you think?" He only does Call Backs for various songs by BTS and Agust D, such as "The Last", "No More Dream", "Home", "Interlude: Shadow", and "Airplane pt.2".

"28" references "Interlude: Shadow".

"Burn It" brings back the "Yeah, yeah, burn it" of "Other: Tear."

"Dear My Friend" reuses his verse from "Spring Day" (also about missing a friend), now used in a song about who this friend was.

Maturity

As children mature, so do the themes in their albums, particularly in relation to the theme of love; thus his work as a whole can be read as a Coming of Age story on its own, with (until WINGS and maybe the LOVE YOURSELF series) each installment getting darker and more complex (though still retaining funny or silly songs). in the middle).

While the School Trilogy had songs criticizing the school system, social expectations, and consumption, the rest of the songs were generally some form of Boastful Rap or love songs that ranged between Silly Love Songs and the sort of Break Up Song from an Epilogue to the High School Trilogy - Takes a more complex take on love, adding themes like Mixed Signals, Love Hurts, and Hormone Added Teenagers. The album ends with a heartbroken "Outro: Does It Make Sense?".

"Intro: What Am I to You?" from Dark n Wild is an example of Cerebus Syndrome in a single song, beginning with beautifully sampled violins and RM's rapping about the beginning of a relationship until the relationship starts to go downhill. In the end, he's angry yelling, "What am I to you?! What am I to you? / I love you crazy, huh?"

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life series introduces the theme of what it means to be young and the struggles of youth that accompany its beauty. While it features some of their most powerful/over the top songs, it also addresses topics such as uncertainty, fear of the future, depression, and loneliness, relating them to the members' own experiences.

Most love songs are about a relationship falling apart, longing for a failed relationship, or desperate, toxic love. This is where the rather melancholic history of the BTS Universe also officially took off.

WINGS (and its repackage) is arguably their darkest and most emotional album to date, as its theme is giving in to temptation and breaking the world of illusions. Its intro and title song are the only love songs on the albums and speak of a forbidden or obsessive love.

Then follows a series of very personal and emotional solo songs for each member, with themes such as melancholy, self-hatred, guilt, and living a lie. The second half is lighter and more hopeful in tone, but with songs that are motivational or very emotional songs.

LOVE YOURSELF: She seems like a dislike, has a much lighter and softer sound except the album goes through a maturity of its own, and it's just the first EP in another series. The first half begins with an idealized view of love (not necessarily romantic) that gradually becomes a bit more obsessive. Then, after "Mic Drop," comes "Go Go," a lyrically dissonant and dark social commentary on the socioeconomic struggles of the younger generations in Korea.

"Outro: Her" then talks about hiding the darker or uglier side and putting on a mask so someone else will love you. This theme appears again in Hidden Tracks' "Skit: Hesitation and Fear" where the members openly talk about their image being a leaked version of themselves and the last song "Sea" which is one of the most popular songs. obscure parts of the BTS discography.

LOVE YOURSELF: Tear follows the themes reached at the end of HER, grappling with the realization that hiding under a mask has only led to a loss of identity and that the love received isn't real, so the relationship falls apart. collapses. While the tone starts to get a bit lighter and hopeful after the first 4 songs, it returns to darkness with the rap-only song "Outro: Tear" where the illusion created in Her is violently and painfully destroyed forever. The tone only becomes lighter in the last chapter, LOVE YOURSELF: Answer.

MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 is divided into 3 parts, which correspond to the Jungian concepts of Persona (the social mask), Shadow (the part of ourselves that we deny) and Ego (the synthesis). It begins upbeat and uplifting with the songs from the Persona EP, goes into a reflection of the dark side of their success, and then picks up again with songs about their willingness to keep going and the bond between themselves and their fans.

Background

BTS and BigHit have mastered the art of hiding future concepts in performances, music videos, concept images, VCRs, and (occasionally) song lyrics.

Concept album:

The School Trilogy (2 Cool 4 Skool, O! R U L8? 2, Skool Luv Affair) had the concept of youth and school.

Dark & Wild (an epilogue to The School Trilogy) follows the concept that the first half of the album is "Dark", and the second half is "Wild".

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, pts. 1 and 2 and the epilogue The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, focused on the beauty and struggles of being young.

WINGS follows a coming-of-age concept, with heavier, more mature themes and a full plot reference to Hermann Hesse's Demian.

The LOVE YOURSELF series tells the story of what it really means to love yourself, to go from depending on another person, to truly finding love by learning to accept all sides of yourself.

Depending on the interpretation, it could also be a comment on BTS's (and idols in general) relationship with their fans.

LOVE YOURSELF: HER features themes of newly discovered and fated love, but with the implication that the person is not being true to themselves and the other and hiding their darker side.

LOVE YOURSELF: Tear is about discovering how the "love" experienced in Ella is fake, as the person, too scared to show their true self, hid under a mask and was therefore not loved by whatever it was, losing his identity trying to please the other.

LOVE YOURSELF: Answer, being a compilation album, records the entire journey of Wonder to Tear, as well as the development of the person who now slowly finds happiness by slowly learning to accept and love themselves.

MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA and MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 include a full plot reference to Carl Jung's psychological treatise of the same name, which references the concepts of Persona, Shadow, and Ego.

Pride of the region

A notable trait of BTS is the frequency with which their songs reference elements unique to Korea, such as 독서실s (mostly private study facilities for high school students no non-Korean equivalent) in "No More Dream".

They're quite proud of the cities they came from (which are all outside of Seoul), and it shows. "Ma City" is about the members bragging about the cities they grew up in, while "Satoori Rap o Paldongangsan" is about the dialects spoken in those regions and the rivalries between them.

Suga in particular will always be happy to remind you that he is, in fact, from Daegu. He shows the screen how much he talks about Daegu in "Ma City".

"Spine Breaker" talks about consumerism among teenagers, based on the teenage trend for puffer jackets in Korea.

Several songs, most notably "Baepsae or Silver Spoon", refer to the common crow, used in a Korean folk saying in contrast to a stork as a metaphor for "try-hards" or people without opportunities, and the spoon gold or silver spoon, etc. Korean class state descriptors.

The Boastful Rap song "DDAENG" is packed with Korean cultural references with the title only referencing several different things at different points in the song in particular, the card game 섰다.

"IDOL" (mixing South African dance rhythms and sounds with traditional Korean instruments) includes the shouts of "ursoo!" and "jihwaja!", which are sounds made to show emotion or raise the mood in traditional Korean music or dance performances.

BTS vs Korean society?

In their early work (particularly 2 Cool 4 Skool "and O! RUL8,2?''), they talked about how Korean society puts pressure on young people for them to give up their dreams and pursue acceptable and stable life goals; the lyrics spoke directly to young people asking “what is your dream?” or encouraging them not to give up even if it feels useless to continue.

In later songs like "Go Go" (about young Koreans spending their money for fun instead of saving it, because they're bleak The economy means savings are meaningless) and "Paradise", about how it's okay not to have a dream, however, they also address how happiness in the present can be more important than a long-term goal set.

"Intro: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life" might be one of his biggest examples of this trope, about a young man who's at the point where he's afraid of the future and doesn't know what he's going to do with his life.

They have also addressed how they themselves have struggled with the meaning of a "dream" or purpose. In "Interlude: Shadow", SUGA criticizes how fame has also brought him more fear and greed the higher he rises, while "Black Swan" talks about the fear and pain of losing the ability to feel something for the art they make.

Destructive Romance

"I NEED U" and "Run" are about irrationally loving and clinging to someone despite knowing that the relationship will end. "Need U" focuses on the speaker's inner confusion of love and hate for the other person, suffering because of the other person but the inability to let go of them. "RUN" focuses on the fact that the speaker keeps trying to escape the inevitable, running in circles in their dependence on the other person.

"House of Cards" is about a relationship that both parties know is unsustainable and will inevitably collapse, but that both continue to hold on to.

Suga sampled the sound of a basketball hitting the ground for "Intro: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life".

BTS Performances

At the 2014 MAMA performance, Jimin showed off a tattoo on his torso reading "HYYH" and "Nevermind," both tracks for his upcoming album series, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life (aka Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa).

"Outro: Her" has the following lyrics as a chorus, hinting at the titles of the rest of the episodes in the LOVE YOURSELF series:

All of my wonder

You're the answer

I call you her, her

Cause you're my tear, tear

Her performance at MMA 2017 also hinted at key concepts from the series, including the concepts listed above, as well as the titles "Euphoria", "Singularity", "FAKE LOVE", and "Epiphany".

BTS Universe

The BTS Universe has also provided the foreshadowing of musical concepts and songs. For example, Arc's words "Save Me" or "I'm Fine" written in a certain typeface so you can read "Save Me" on one side, then "I'm Fine" if you flipped it over appears on promotional posters of LOVE YOURSELF for LOVE YOURSELF: Her, and in the "FAKE LOVE" music video for LOVE YOURSELF: Tear.

The final chapter of the series, LOVE YOURSELF: Answer, features the song "I'm Fine", which is both in production and lyrics, a Call-Back and a mirror image of the song "Save Me", by The Most Beautiful Moment in Life.

The VCRs for BTS LIVE TRILOGY 2015: EPISODE I. BTS BEGINS concert plot points from the BTS Universe later revealed through The Notes and SAVE ME.

The music video for "Epiphany", The Notes (in answer booklets), and the VCR for BTS's MAMA performance of "FAKE LOVE" or "Anpanman" introduced the concept of "map of the soul" in 2018. In 2019, the title of the first album after the LOVE YOURSELF series was MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA.

Since the 2018 Melon Music Awards performance of "FAKE LOVE", the boxes the members are in at the beginning vaguely resemble letters, which in retrospect look a lot like the word "PERSON".

In a performance of "DNA" for Mnet during promotions for LOVE YOURSELF: Her (in 2017), Jin's shirt clearly shows the word "PERSON" scrawled on it.

Gender-neutral writing

Starting with the LOVE YOURSELF series, many of their love songs refer to the other person with gender-neutral writing. This includes all of her LOVE YOURSELF: Her songs (except "DNA," "Dimple," and "Outro: Her"), especially "Serendipity," as well as songs like LOVE YOURSELF: Tear's "Singularity."

"Blood, Sweat and Tears" is an earlier example, which also describes the object of the singer's obsession without indicating its gender.

Changing Musical Genres

While their early work is primarily hip-hop and R&B, the range of genres they have covered has broadened more and more over the years. So far, they have also made Neo Soul, moombathon, Latin-inspired pop, electronic music, ballads, rock, electronic dance music, trap music, funk, jazz, among others. LOVE YOURSELF: Tear only has half of the genres mentioned above and more.

RM challenges the notion of being a one-gender group; One of the reasons he gave for changing his stage name from "Rap Monster" to "RM" is that the old name limited him in the type of music he wanted to make. He has even said through the lyrics of "Do You" (from RM's mixtape) that the genre is "a trap", refusing to follow a label.

“I'm not pop, I'm not rock, I'm not funk, I'm not R&B or hip hop”

Gospel Music

The live version of "Mama" has a gospel that appears after the bridge.

Songs That Say It All in the Title

"Hip-Hop Lover" is about the rappers' love for the genre, each mentioning their influences.

They have several songs that take pictures of other Korean underground hip-hop rappers and the Kpop industry and talk about their own experience regarding both, such as the Cyphers, "Ddaeng" and the RM and Agust D mixtapes.

RM reflects on the dilemma of being both a rapper and an idol, and the difficulties and criticism RM faced after becoming the latter.

From this mixtape on, RM uses "Do You" as a refusal to live up to others' expectations and adhere to a specific genre.

This dilemma seems to be resolved for good in BTS's "IDOL," which is a statement of pride in being both an idol and an artist.

Hidden Track

"Gil / Path" by 2 Cool 4 Skool. "Sea" and "Skit: Hesitation and Fear" on LOVE YOURSELF: Her.

Tribute

J-Hope's "Chicken Noodle Soup" (featuring Becky G) is the song of the same name by Webstar and Young B., the latter being the song that led J-Hope to dance.

"Hormone Addicted" Teens

Teens who look at girls and how their "testosterone shows up strongly" when they are with girls is the main theme of their song "War of Hormone" .

Idiosyncratic album theme

Her albums are released as part of a series or "arc" (the School Trilogy, "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life", LOVE YOURSELF ), and all form part of an overarching coming-of-age narrative.

All of the Korean albums also have an intro sung or rapped by a single member (except for Skool Luv Affair, which essentially has all three rappers rap, but with RM getting the "lead" role) and an Outro performed by the vocal line. or rapper line, not both.

The exception to this is WINGS, which has an unusual structure of its own: although it has a solo intro with J-Hope, it also features a series of solo songs (one for each member) and an Outro. the original version) featuring all the members, and was also released in a repackaged version.

The School Trilogy, which portrayed life at school, had titles written in text "2 Kool 4 Skool" and "O! RUL82?".

BTS, more romantic than ever

LOVE YOURSELF: Here's a subversion. While songs like "Intro: Serendipity", "DNA" and "Best of Me" sound much happier and take on more traditionally romantic themes than most of their previous work and especially their previous album, WINGS, the love featured on the album is actually an illusion.

As we found out in "Outro: Her", Her is about a person who doesn't want the other to leave, builds a mask to show only the best side of the person, and becomes hypocritical, leading to becoming more of a badass , LOVE YOURSELF: Tear. Even within it, the album has a shift in tone, becoming increasingly darker in the second half ("Mic Drop", "Go Go", "Outro: Her", and Hidden Tracks "Skit: Hesitation and Fear" and "Be" )

MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA: Not only does it go into a more upbeat sound and lyrics with an all-pink cover art, but it draws a direct parallel to Skool Luv Affair through the intro and especially the title tracks.

While "Boy in Luv" had a lot to do with a "manly" concept of love and had a strong rock sound, "Boy with Luv" is more "funky pop", and the song deals with a concept of love. much healthier love in sharing a mutual connection.

Emotional problems?

"Save Me" and "Best of Me" try to need the other person to be that way, asking or begging them not to leave; the LOVE YOURSELF series (where "Best of Me" comes from), however, explores its implications, with the singer showing only his best side to his loved one, becoming a lie.

The relationship doesn't last, and so the singer begins to learn to trust himself to find happiness, even calling back "Save Me" with "I'm Fine," reflecting what first.

Place Songs

"Satoori Rap or Paldongangsan" is a song about the different regional dialects of Korean, and "Move" is about his old bedroom. "Ma City" is also a song where everyone brags about their hometowns.

Sad piano pieces

The instruments for "The Truth Untold" are for the most part a very minimalist piano piece. Appropriately, the song itself is about the story of a man who doesn't dare show himself to the woman he is in love with because of her grotesque appearance, only letting her take flowers from her garden and watch her. from afar.

In their early days, they especially had a knack for having energetic songs with an explosive start. Songs with this trope include "If I Ruled the World", "Coffee", "Attack on Bangtan", "Boy in Luv", "Rain", "Look Here", "Outro: Do ​​You Think It Makes Sense? ", "Need U", "Dope", "Boyz With Fun", "Butterfly", "Blood, Sweat and Tears", "4 o'clock", "Best of Me", "Let Go", "FAKE LOVE " , "The Truth Untold", "Anpanman" and “So what”.

Lyrical tic

Sounds like the exclamation "Bang!" it is used a lot in his songs. Another, the tick appears to be "Fire," which culminates in the song of the same name. "La la la la" is also frequently used, appearing in songs like "No More Dream", "Fire", "Spine Breaker", and "DNA".

Vocal ranges

Can generally vary from 2-3 to around 6-7, to the point that the contrast between some songs (such as "24/7 = Heaven" or "Dimple" compared to the Cyphers or "Outro: Tear") can be somewhat irritating to a newcomer. RM and Agust D can even go to a solid 7 or even a soft 8. You can usually go from a solid 1 to a 4.

Vocal speed

The rap line does this in several songs, with RM and Suga in particular being very adept at rap rap; Suga is, in fact, one of the fastest rappers in Korea.

Examples of RM are his verses on "We Are Bulletproof pt. 2", Cyphers 1, 2 and 3, "Look Here", "Tomorrow" and "Outro: Tear". In his mixtape RM uploads Eleven, with songs like "Joke" and "Rush".

Examples of Suga are his verses on the pre-debut tracks "We Are Bulletproof pt. 1" (a verse he recycles on the title track of his mixtape "Agust D", where he's even faster), "It doesn't matter " and " School of Tears "; of BTS songs, his verses in "Second Grade", "Ma City", "Paradise", "Cypher pt. 3", and especially "Cypher pt. 2". He does it again in "I'm fine."

Multilingual Song

While including English words or phrases is not uncommon in Korean music, RM's fluency in English has resulted in some songs having full English verses, such as several songs. in RM and Mono.

However, this is most noticeable in both versions of "Mic Drop (Steve Aoki remix)": one has the pre-chorus, chorus and RM verse translated into English, and the other (with Desiigner) replaces the verse from J-Hope and Suga for Desiigner's verse, with RM's verse, still in English, being shared with the other rappers.

Music at Sporting Events

"Mic Drop (remix feat. Desiigner)" has been strangely popular at basketball events. Probably because of Desiigner's first line, "Bentley basketball, uh (git)/We playin' that a lot, huh”.

Political music

They have spoken in their lyrics about the difficulties they have gone through as Kpop idols in an oligopolistic, visual and highly competitive industry. Suga explicitly mentions that the group was cut off from broadcasts and told they wouldn't because they were from a small company in both "2! 3!" and "sea".

Zydeco Rockabilly neoclassical punk

"Fake Love" has been described as an "emo-hip-hop song with grunge guitar and a tramp beat".

A rare music version

Before the release of BTS's music videos, which is usually at the same time as the single and album (instead of after, as is the case with most of them). Western pop music), one or more trailers with snippets of the song are released. However, these snippets are known to be misleading; they tend to feature only part of the instrumentals and this part is not necessarily the most representative of the song. For example:

Going by the trailers, you'd think "I NEED U" and "Blood, Sweat and Tears" were slow R&B songs rather than what they actually turned out to be. This is because those instrumentals only end up appearing in the intro and bridge of those songs, respectively, with the rest of the songs being much more bombastic.

The teaser for "Spring Day" contains a moment where there are only vocals and an organ, which never happens in the final version. However, the Brit Rock Mix version of "Spring Day", released a year later on Soundcloud, did.

The trailer for "IDOL" features much heavier traditional Korean instruments than the final version, which has more South African sounds. The live version they did at the 2018 Melon Music Awards looks a lot more like the teaser version.

Youth Issues

Her work generally addresses the issue of youth in a variety of ways, whether it be exploring the good and bad sides of being young or encouraging younger generations to be carriers of social change .

A great example of this trope that differs from other BTS songs is "Epilogue: Young Forever," which is about the transience of the beautiful moments they're going through as young artists and the acceptance that they can't last forever. always, but they can remain young in spirit as long as they keep running towards a dream.

Motivational Song

They have stated several times their intention to make songs where people find strength or comfort. Examples of this trope in his work are "Tomorrow", "So Far Away", "Not today", "No More Dream", "21st Century Girl", "Intro: Nevermind", "Fire", "Intro: Oh !RUL8,2? "," 2! 3! "," Lost "," A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone "," Paradise "and" So What ".

Attempts at rapping

Jin on "Circle Room Cypher", and his cover of Suga's "Nevermind" for BTS Festa 2017.

Triumph on the big screen

RM for the Korean version of Fantastic Four (2015), with the song "Fantastic".

"Don't Leave Me" from BTS's Japanese album FACE YOURSELF was also made for the Japanese version of the drama Signal.

Slow and protest song

"The Truth Untold", "Awake" and "Epiphany" are some examples. "No More Dream" and "N.O" protest against the structure of the Korean education system. Also "Baepsae" which deals with class inequality and the burdens that society imposes on the current generation.

Gangster from the start?

Just compare the music video for "No More Dream" to the one for "I Need U" or "DNA". Depending on which way you look at it, this is reversed as well, as his songs have progressively taken on more mature themes.

Song Rearrangement

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever features several remixes and extended versions of songs from The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pt. 1 and 2, including extended versions of "Outro: Love is Not Over" and "Outro: House of Cards", "Butterfly (Prologue version)", and various remixes of "I NEED U" and "RUN".

There is a "Christmas version" of "Awake" on the band's official Soundcloud.

"So Far Away", originally released on the Agust D mixtape, got a different version released on Soundcloud for BTS Festa 2017. It has more orchestral instrumentation and features Jin and Jungkook instead of the original Suran.

"Mic Drop" was re-released as a single in a remix version by Steve Aoki, with English lyrics on the chorus and verse by RM. The remix also has a version featuring Desiigner, whose verse takes the place of the first two verses, with J-Hope and Suga rapping parts of RM's English verse.

"Fake Love" got a cover of the "Rocking Vibe Mix" shortly after the original was released. It is the one used in the "Fake Love (extended ver.)" music video.

They also released a "Brit Rock Mix" version of "Spring Day" on Soundcloud, for BTS Festa 2018.

Attacks

"Baepsae" and "Go Go" serve this as the previous generation, although "Go Go" is more subtle.

The Cyphers, being diss tracks, are this to their enemies (including rappers and others who have criticized them), with 2 and 3 being the most vicious. "Cypher 4" and "Mic Drop" as well, though they focus more on the success they've achieved despite the hate and how the haters have become irrelevant and can't touch them now.

"Ddaeng" goes a step above "Mic Drop", being a clue to many people, who are those in the industry who mistreated them and predicted/expected their failure. Who exactly? According to various interpretations, it could be those in the Korean media who ignored or looked down on them, the rappers who said they "burned out" by becoming idols, celebrities, or media figures who treated them with disrespect due to that they were newbies or from a small company, their enemies (especially among Kpop fans), or all of the above.

Record producer

Some members, like RM and Jungkook, but most often Suga, have done this for several of their songs.

Rules of number 7

7 members, with 2 albums (WINGS and LOVE YOURSELF: Answer) containing 7 solos. MAP OF THE SOUL: : 7, was released in the group's seventh year.

Inspiration

Being a group influenced by hip-hop, they have released some artists that they have been inspired by or taken some fragments of their songs to make them their own: "Born Singer", who sampled J. Cole's "Born Sinner"; "Am I Wrong", which sampled "Am I Wrong

" by Keb Mo and "Coffee," which sampled the chorus of Urban Kazapa's "Café o Café Latte" and grooves from Mountain's "Long Red."

Contrary to popular belief, the beginning of "Autumn Leaves" doesn't sample blackbear's "Deadroses" (or EXO's "They Never Know", for that matter), but both use the same synth loop from a library of Royalty-free sound, as stated by the producer of "They Never Know".

Similarly, "Cypher pt. 4" uses the same sample as SFB's "Strangers" (2). The producer of the song gave it to BTS without knowing that he had already given it to the other group, and apologized after finding out.

Hilariously, "Not Today" shows the viral YouTube video "Crazy German Kid".

"Outro: Tear" features the original orchestral soundtrack of the third part of BTS's "Highlight Reel" short films, from the BTS Universe.

J-Hope's solo single "Chicken Noodle Soup" (featuring Becky G) heavily samples the song of the same name by Webstar and Young B., intended as a tribute to the latter as the first song he carried J-Hope to dance.

"21st Century Girl" encourages women to live proudly without worrying about what others say.

Sequel song

"We Are Bulletproof pt. 1" made before the debut and "pt. 2", the best known, was released on 2 Cool 4 Skool.

MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 brings us "We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal", which differs wildly from the previous two entries, swapping Boastful Rap with a fully pop (if very melancholic) sound and lyrics reminiscent of and celebrating the race. and BTS's relationship with fans.

There's also "Airplane" (from J-Hope's solo mixtape) and "Airplane pt. 2" (from LOVE YOURSELF: Tear), with pt. 2 even with a verse from pt. 1. Hope World '' also has a song called "Piece of Peace pt.1", although it is not yet known if it will have a sequel.

"I'm Fine" is "Save Me", but after the character development seen throughout the LOVE YOURSELF series; it features the latter's main melody in reverse, a reversed order of the rap parts, and even reversed themes in the lyrics (with the lyrics in RM's verses being the direct opposite of his part in "Save Me").

They also have a history of sequel albums

"The School Trilogy" by 2 Cool 4 Skool, O! RUL8,2?, and Skool Luv Affair, along with the Dark & Wild.

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pts. 1, 2 and Young Forever.

LOVE YOURSELF: Her, LOVE YOURSELF: Tear, and LOVE YOURSELF: Answer.

"Boy With Luv" is this for "Boy In Luv": the vast difference in both sound and portrayal of love and gender roles is meant as a demonstration of BTS's evolution and maturity as a group and like people.

Inspiration

"Hip-Hop Lover" lists many of his Hip-Hop influences. The title of "Attack on Bangtan" appears to be a reference to Attack on Titan. This is further supported by the fact that the Japanese version is called "Shingeki no Boudan", like the Japanese title of the manga, "Shingeki no Kyojin", this is important because "Attack on Titan" is not a direct translation of the Japanese title. , since "Shingeki no Kyojin" means "advancing giants".

WINGS (songs, concepts and videos) is a complete reference to Demian (by Hermann Hesse), a book that RM read.

"Not Today" is heavily inspired by Aragorn's rousing speech in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

"Magic Shop" (as well as the teaser video for "Fake Love") is a reference to Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, by James R. Doty . It was also referenced as Omen at one of the year-end performances in 2017.

"Anpanman" is a reference to the manga character of the same name, based on the idea of ​​being a hero who might not have the strength or muscles to fight evil, but uses the best of his ability to help other people .

The phrase "map of the soul" (used in both the BTS Universe and the title of the MAP OF THE SOUL album series) is simultaneously a Shout Out to Murray Stein book on Carl Jung's Map of the Earth Jung for Epik High (which also called an album after Jung's theory).

"Daechwita" from Agust D's mixtape D-2 references the Korean film Masquerade (2012), a fictional period story about Joseon Dynasty king Gwanghae who secretly hires a couple to avoid threats of murder.

Silly Love Songs

A must for any Boy Band. "Blanket Kick," "Miss Right," "Just One Day," and obviously "Boy in Luv" are among BTS's examples of this trope.

They are included in their songs

The chorus of "Rise of Bangtan" translates to "Who are we? Who are we? The rising Bangtan!" They do it on other songs as well, like "Boys With Fun", "Attack on Bangtan", "Not Today" and "Anpanman".

Singer-songwriters

Everyone in the group is capable of singing or rapping and writing their own music; Special mention goes to the rappers, who have written their own lyrics for almost all the songs.

RM has composed and produced several of his songs, and has written lyrics for over 100 songs. On her album LOVE YOURSELF: Tear, she was involved in creating all the songs, from composing to lyrics to producing.

SUGA has produced and composed several of his songs (including "Tomorrow", "Let Me Know", "Jump", "Boys with Fun", "Intro: Nevermind", "Dead Leaves", and "First Love") as well as writing their own lyrics.

V composed "Hold Me Tight" and wrote "4 o'clock" together with RM. In 2019, V also released several self-composed and self-written songs on Soundcloud, wrote a song for the Itaewon Class OST, and co-wrote his solo "Inner Child" with RM.

Jungkook composed "Outro: Love is Not Over" and participated in the production of "Magic Shop". He also composed and wrote "Still With You" for 2020 Festa.

Jimin has participated in creating the melody for "Blood, Sweat and Tears", wrote the lyrics for "Lie", released his own production (with the help of Slow Rabbit) and wrote (with the help of RM) the song "Promise" and composed, co-produced and co-wrote "Friends" his duet MOTS 7 with V.

J-Hope also writes his own lyrics, participated in the production of several songs ("MAMA", parts of "Awake", parts of "Whalien 52"), and wrote, produced and composed most of "Dyonisus" .

Jin wrote the basic melody for "Awake", composed and wrote (with RM's help) the solo song "Tonight", and composed and wrote his MOTS 7 solo "Moon".

The rap line mostly writes their own rap lyrics and has released solo mixtapes that they produced and wrote.

Solo Projects

RM and his 2015 RM mixtape and 2018 mono mixtape (renamed playlist). He has also done several collaborations with other artists, such as Warren G ("PDD"), MFBTY ("Buckubucku"), Wale ("Change"), Fall Out Boy ("Champion", remix version), Drunken Tiger ("Timeless" ) and HONNE ("Crying Over You", also in a remix version).

SUGA and his mixtapes Agust D and D-2. He produced Suran's "WINE / If I Get Drunk Today," is the featured artist on Lee Sora's "Song Request," and worked on the composition and arrangement of Epik High's "Eternal Sunshine." He also produced Heize's song "We Don't Talk Together", and appears on Halsey's "Suga's Interlude" and IU's "eight" (both also co-produced and wrote).

J-Hope and his mixtape Hope World, plus his song "Chicken Noodle Soup" (featuring Becky G), a cover and tribute to the single by Bianca Bonnie and Webstar. There's also his pre-debut collaboration with Jo Kwon on "Animal."

Jimin and his self-produced (with the help of Slow Rabbit) and written (with the help of RM) song "Promise".

The songs composed and written by V, "Scenery" and "Winter Bear", for which he also did the cover photo for both. He also sang, wrote, and co-produced "Sweet Night" from the Itaewon Class soundtrack.

Jungkook often records covers that he then uploads to BTS's Soundcloud page (see cover version above), plus the yet-to-be-released fully original song that he teased on his birthday.

Jin's first self-written song "Tonight".

V and Jin have also done their share of covers (see Cover Version). Also, they both sang "Even if I die, it's you", the song from the drama Hwarang (where V also had an acting role).

BTS is an interesting case in that all solo projects involving BTS members (with the exception of mixtapes, collaborations, and the Hwarang song) are credited to "BTS" on music platforms and/or or are released on BTS's official channels instead of separately, reinforcing BTS's image as a group first and solo members second.

Songs like "4 o'Clock" (by V and RM), "Promise", "Scenery" or "Tonight" (plus all cover songs) are all on BTS' Soundcloud.

Steve Aoki's "Waste it on Me" featuring RM and Jungkook (with harmonies from other members) is listed as "Steve Aoki feat. BTS" on music platforms.

The three songs from BTS World, all sung by sub-units, are also released as "BTS feat. [Featured Artist]".

Song of Song Titles: The verses of "Hip-Hop Lover" are just each rapper mentioning their biggest influences.

Songs of Comfort

As the members themselves have said, some of their songs are meant to comfort and strengthen listeners who are going through a difficult time. Some examples are "Tomorrow," "2! 3!", Suga's "So Far Away," and "Paradise."

Musical Key

All the rappers are baritones, while the singers are all tenor (except V, who is also a baritone). This trope particularly applies with Jimin, whose voice is very high-pitched, especially in contrast to rappers or V.

An example is "Fake Love", which begins with V and Jungkook singing the first few verses and then jumps to Jimin and Jin's "I'm so sick of this fake love" lines. The final verses of "Fake Love" are sung simultaneously by V and Jimin in different octaves (followed by Jungkook and Jin also singing in different octaves).

The difference between V and Jimin's voices is so noticeable that it's a key component of the contrast between "Intro: Serendipity" (sung by Jimin only) and "Intro: Singularity" (sung by V).

The different variations of this trope are combos between soft voices and the harsh voices of J-Hope or (especially) Suga. An example of this are the two versions of "So Far Away", which are rapped by Suga and feature much softer vocals (Suran in the Agust D version and Jin and Jungkook in the BTS Festa version).

V also growled a lot in the early songs (such as "Boy in Luv" or "Jump"), which made him stand out even more among the singers. Even when using his normal voice, his low notes are sometimes used to great effect in contrast to the others, such as the pre-chorus of "Let Me Know", his lines in "The Truth Untold", or the final lines in Hidden Tracks. "Sea".

Successors

They have been compared by critics and audiences alike to Seo Taiji & Boys, the group that created the sound that defined Kpop in the 1990s.

Both appeal to Korean youth through their narrative, both have lyrics on social and political issues, as both criticize the Korean education system, both have self-produced music with a mix of genres (including Hip-Hop ), and both are known for their popularity and impact on the recent history of Korean pop music.

The parallels were especially striking in BTS's 2016 cover of Seo Taiji and the Boys' "Class Idea," which fits perfectly with BTS songs like "Not Today" or "No More Dream," so clearly, that Suga included a verse of "No More Dream" in BTS's performance of "Class Idea" with Seo Taiji himself a year later.

Even Seo Taiji has named BTS his successors; After inviting the group to participate in his 25th anniversary project (where BTS covered "Come Back Home") and his 25th anniversary concert, he told them "this is your generation now."

Does BTS hide their pain in their songs?

The main story of the LOVE YOURSELF album series is that of a person who hides her true self (sadness, pain, flaws) from the person he loves. This is especially clear in "Outro: Her":

Because the me behind this mask

It's not the one you know

Make up to wake up today too

And dress up to mask on

In order to become the me that you love

In LOVE YOURSELF: Tear, the person realizes that, in order to build this mask, they have lost their sense of self (more explicit in "Intro: Singularity" and "Fake Love"), leading to realizing realize that the relationship with the other person is based on lies. This mask is broken and the relationship becomes untenable (more explicit in "Outro: Tear").

“Stop and Go”: J-Hope's verses in "Butterfly" and "Love Is Not Over (Full Length Edition)" feature this, a "stop" just before something awesome happens.

Criticism and responses

While something could be fixed with “take that, critics” there are examples of this in some lyrics. "We Are Bulletproof pt. 2" has the line "On the other hand, for you guys who were contacted by your company luckily and were labeled a rapper because you couldn't sing, the rapper title is an extravagance."

Suga's verse in "Airplane pt. 2" has been interpreted by many as being directed at one or more Korean rappers (probably idols) and their fans who have mocked BTS or accused them of using "mediaplay" or of becoming arrogant, while the rappers in question come from more powerful companies and rappers boast of money and fame.

I got fed up by you cutely bragging about your money on TV

My passport is about to die from overwork

You're the ones who benefited from media, bwahahaha

Hey, hey you're the ones who're better at playing celebrities

We're still the same as back then, woo!

"The Last" by Agust D has the line "Show me the money, not that I couldn't do it, I didn't do it, shit." Show Me The Money is a Korean rap competition show where many rappers, including idol rappers, go to prove themselves, though it has a divisive reputation, particularly among international fans.

He does it again on "Daechwita," where he insults talentless rappers who use aesthetic drugs, and "What Do You Think?", where he insults people who blame him and BTS's success for his failure, and also has the line "I hope all those bastards who tried to get a free trip by selling our names shut the fuck up."

Several tracks of theirs contain examples of this, often taking photos of people on the K-Hip Hop side who have criticized them for being idols, or people from the Kpop industry/other fandoms who have put them down for being from a different background. small company; BTS's rise to success despite the hate they faced from both sides during the group's career became a key part of their underdog narrative, which is why this trope features heavily in their work. It overlaps with Boastful Rap.

The best-known examples are found on Cyphers, "Mic Drop" and "Ddaeng", with each track becoming more derogatory to critics than the last as the group gained status.

Special mention deserves "Cypher pt. 2", which (according to speculation) addressed the K-Hip-Hop community and especially rapper B-Free, who (during a Hip-Hop event in Seoul where himself, RM and Suga was invited to speak) publicly criticized RM and Suga for becoming idols, going so far as to describe their use of makeup as "like being gay" and calling their decision to become idols "giving in to temptation" and taking the "easy" way. In addition to showing off their skills, the rap line uses "Cypher pt. 2" to call out underground ("real") rappers in the Korean scene for being arrogant despite not necessarily having the ability to live up to the title. as a "real rapper" and brag about being more skilled and working harder at their craft than they are.

The most direct reference to B-Free (who lived in Hawaii for several years) might be the line "take a break, go to Hawaii, just go home" in Suga's verse.

The "RM" and "Agust D" mixtapes also have examples

In connection with the above points, the "RM" mixtape addresses RM's dilemma of being both a rapper and an idol, demonstrating his abilities and stating that it is despite what his critics and former friends (the ones he lost to becoming an idol) say, with the general message of just doing what you want without defining yourself by labels (with one of his singles as titles , well, "Do You").

"Agust D" as a whole tells Suga's story of his rise to success despite his difficulties, so while it deals with themes like mental illness and uncertainty about the future, this trope is also present. He takes some very blunt blows against underground Korean rappers and fans of other idol rappers who have put him and BTS down, bragging that he worked harder, is more skilled, and managed to outdo everyone despite all the struggles and criticism. thrown against him. He also says that he hopes he doesn't pray for other people's failures, unlike his enemies.

"Airplane pt. 2" has the following verse from Suga, which some speculate refers to accusations by fans of other Kpop groups that BigHit manipulates the media to gain more fame (known as "mediaplay"):

I'm sick of you flaunting your money on TV

My passport is about to die from overwork.

You are the ones who benefited from the media, bwahahaha

Hey, hey, you guys are the best at playing celebrities

We're still the same as back then

"IDOL" is about the members declaring their pride in being both idols and artists, with the chorus yelling "You can't help but love me" no matter what anyone else says.

"Persona" has RM taking the flak he's received over the years and turning it into a statement of personal growth and not letting others define you. He even alludes to the “but namjoon” meme, which references the way antis and other Kpop fans keep bringing up RM's past mistakes despite his continued attempts to improve.

Metronome sounds: "Do You" from RM's mixtape, "Just one day" and "Love is Not Over" near the end. "First Love" features a very slow and subtle one.

Vocals

4 singers and 3 rappers, with the singers generally taking over the chorus and pre-chorus and the rappers generally taking over the verses. The distribution among the singers can vary; Jungkook has a history of getting more lines in songs (being the lead singer), but the vocal distribution has become more even over the years, especially in the LOVE YOURSELF series.

However, there are songs that feature only singers ("The Truth Untold", "Dimple", most of the Outros album) or only rappers (The Cyphers, "Outro: Her", "Outro: Tear "), and some only have one member (the solos on WINGS and almost all the intros on the album).

Xtreme Kool Letterz: The School Trilogy albums were about school life, so we got titles written in text like "2 Kool 4 Skool", "Skit: RU Happy Now?", "Skool Luv Affair and "Boy in Luv". The latter inspired the name of its sequel five years later, "Boy With Luv".

After the ending: It's strongly implied (especially by the presence of an ark with animals next to RM and a truck next to Jimin) that this is the case for the stage in the official "ON" music video.

Alone in a crowd: This effect is used in the second chorus of "Spring Day" where Jungkook stands still while the rest surround him in blurs, shot at a slow shutter speed. Jungkook then joins the others, also becoming a blur.

Animated Music Video

Videos for all of BTS's pre-WINGS intro tracks that double as album trailers.

Of the mixtapes, there is the black and white music video for RM's "Forever Rain", featuring the main character (RM) walking in the rain surrounded by strange and sometimes nightmarish drawn people.

The music video for "Make It Right (Lauv remix)" follows, with the story of a lonely boy who befriends a girl. After she magically turns into a cloak, he travels far and wide to find and slay a dragon, keeping the cloak with him.

The "We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal" music video shows the journey, trials and tribulations of BTS, represented by chibi animated versions of the members traveling through various eras of BTS.

On the bridge of "Not Today", we start to hear gunshots, followed immediately by all the members (except Jungkook) falling dead to the ground in slow motion, one by one. There is no blood or visible wounds at all.

MAP OF THE SOUL

The music video trailer, also coming back, for "Persona" features RM in a classroom that is very similar to the one in the teaser video for "No More". Dream", has RM dressed in a school uniform like in Skool Luv Affair or his 2 Cool 4 Skool / O! RUL82? outfit, and has a stuffed doll thrown in that resembles the look of RM in the Skool Luv Affair era. It also has shots of RM between mirrors, a common motif associated with his character in the BTS Universe in what could be a reference to the "Reflection" and "Fake Love" videos, and a gigantic CGI version of himself that could be a reference to the "IDOL" music video.

During RM's verse in the "Boy With Luv" music video, many signs appear on the stage that are actually titles of many BTS albums.

The comeback trailer for "Interlude: Shadow" has several visual references to "Intro: O! RUL82?" comeback trailer (see also the Music Tropes section above), particularly the image of a microphone breaking glass.

The comeback trailer for "Outro: Ego" goes as far as the first few seconds of BTS's debut trailer, then shows a film reel playing clips from all of BTS's music videos throughout their entire career. backwards.

The animated music video "We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal" (released for Festa 2020) shows the members' journey (figuratively and literally in the video) through various past eras, represented through callbacks to settings from previous music videos (the classrooms in "NO" and "Boy With Luv", the alleyways in "I NEED U", etc., plus the members' style for each respective era).

The members start off apart at different times (with RM in particular starting in BTS's first practice room) with the boys meeting outside the maze of "Epilogue: Young Forever."

Then, while building a bonfire next to the "Spring Day" tree, dressed and dressed as in the WINGS Tour: Final Concerts, they find purple stars referencing the phrase I purple you which they then transform into a flying whale ( supposed to be the one from "Whalien 52"), which takes them to a purple galaxy (a phrase also used by the members to refer to armies that resembles a concert full of bombs. The ending shows the members in a field of flowers, now in the "Boy With Luv" outfit.

Images of whales and galaxies also feature heavily in the "Heartbeat" music video (from BTS Worldsoundtrack).

Art Film's music video for "Black Swan" (originally with a trap beat) features an orchestral version. Green screen is used almost everywhere in "DNA" and especially in "IDOL" which borders on becoming a surreal music video with the amount of weird and colorful things thrown at you.

Heavily featured in "Outro: Ego" as well, sometimes going for a kitschy effect similar to "IDOL".

BTS concept video

"N.O.", "Spring Day", among others. Especially notable are the videos belonging to the BTS Universe continuity, which is a whole series of these (including "I Need U", "Run", "Blood, Sweat and Tears" and "Fake Love").

Follow-up song

"Dope" has several of these to go from room to room. "Not Today" has one at the beginning, from the outside of a basement to the inside, where RM is.

Evil Wears Black: Played with. According to the music video director, the dark hooded figures in "Mic Drop" represent BTS's "enemies"; However, BTS ends up turning them into their fans with their music.

Fanservice

Many BTS music videos include this, but it is most frequent in "No More Dream" (featuring Jimin's abs), "We Are Bulletproof Pt.2" (featuring Jimin's abs), all members), "Just One Day", "Boy In Luv", "War of Hormone" (Butt Slaps!), "For You", and "Dope". Not so often in newer videos.

Funny background event: Lots of instances in the "War of Hormone" video, whether it was trying to follow the music while the camera was focused on a certain member, trying to get the girl's attention, the scene of the bike etc

There is an example in the "IDOL" music video that combines this with the Freeze-Frame Bonus; In the second pre-chorus, Jin towers over little versions of the other members, watching them dance. For a split second, mini-Jungkook appears twerking.

Great Balls of Fire !: Occurs in the concert scenes of "Fire".

Tribute to Great Artists

"Boy With Luv" references and recreates several scenes and takes from Singin' in the Rain, though it avoids Spoofing in the Rain. "Danger (Japanese Version)" and "Fire" have club scenes like this.

Like the song, the video for "Boy With Luv" (2019) is for "Boy in Luv" (2014). The bright colors, dominance of pink, and heavy inspiration and references from The Golden Age of Hollywood musicals (not to mention Halsey's role in the music video, where she sings and dances as an equal for the members) is a stark contrast from the messy, dirty classrooms of "Boy in Luv" (where the girl in the video is more of an object, with the boys aggressively trying to charm her).

The lyrics do not match the video

Being concept videos, several videos fall into this, especially those belonging to the BTS Universe. For example, the lyrics of "I NEED U" talk about a girl, but the video is about the friendship of the 7 boys. The person Suga shakes hands with in "Fire". During the second chorus of the "Mic Drop" music video, after an explosion, you can see things slowly falling into flames in the background, which to the naked eye could be debris or people.

BTS videos, super productions

In "Daechwita", the main character of Agust D has several severed heads on bags hung in front of his palace, and the mangnani or executioner is shown retrieving a fresh one cut in his bag. Later in the video, current Agust D is taken away to be beheaded as well. He is subverted, as the executioner frees him and gives him a gun, which he uses to kill the king.

War of Hormone has multiple one-shot parts, while Dope creates the illusion of being a single shot. Save Me, however, is shot entirely in one take.

J-Hope's "Chicken Noodle Soup" is filmed like this right down to the last chorus or at least gives the illusion of one, with 2 shots connected by the camera briefly boarding a zeppelin (CGI) for a moment and then going back.

Are they the protagonists in your videos?

Most of the time, the choreography takes the middle or main focus of the video, with examples like "We Are Bulletproof pt. 2", "Dope", "NO", "Just One Day", " Danger "," War of Hormone "," Save Me " where the dance performance is filmed as The Oner," DNA "," Mic Drop "," IDOL "and" ON ".

Avoided in "I NEED U" and "RUN", which focus entirely on the history of the BTS Universe instead of featuring any of the existing official choreography).

Also avoided on "Come Back Home" is a cover of a Seo Taiji & Boys as part of Seo Taiji's 25th anniversary project where BTS does not appear at all, instead showing the youngsters who have run away from home as described in the song.

The art film "Black Swan" also does not feature BTS at all, instead showing a performance by the Slovenian dance academy MN.

The official music video for "ON" shows the 7 members coming together from different locations in a world of Crapsack and taking a crowd to a new land. This is a variation on the idealistic variation, as once they get there, with the doors opening on their own, their arrival is what causes the plants to grow instantly.

"Stranger Things" Gaining Attention

The Japanese version of "Mic Drop" (which has the original instrumentals instead of the Remix version) replaces Steve Aoki with a dark, sinister figure, with bright red eyes.

Landscapes in Their Videos

“Spring Day,” one of their most visually striking videos, contains several panoramic shots with the members facing the ocean and snow.

"Not Today" also has very wide shots in a desert between mountains.

"Heartbeat" (from the BTS World soundtrack) has the various landscapes the members are in (which, in the case of Jin and Taehyung, are examples in themselves, set on a beach and a field , respectively) with beautiful images of planets, galaxies and floating whales.

Song references in other songs

At the beginning of "Fire", Suga meets a hooded figure, shakes their hands, and the other person sets himself on fire while they are still shaking hands, all from a wider shot from the side, just like on the cover. Wish you were Here.

The hotel that appears in "Spring Day" (where they see their memories together) is called "Omelas".

The "Boy With Luv" music video has many references to Singin' in the Rain, from posters of the film displayed outside the theater to direct homages to various scenes from the film.

The "Black Swan" music video has several references to, well, Black Swan, including Mirror Scarescene and Jimin sprouting black wings. These contrasting references to "Boy With Luv"'s homage to Singin' in the Rain have connections to the Jungian concepts of "Persona" and "Shadow," as seen here, as well as the BTS Genius Bonus page.

The official music video for "ON" contains many references to other works, such as a Game of Thrones-style battlefield, The Maze Runner's wall, The Lion King's Pride Rock, and Noah's Ark.

The music video for Agust D's "Daechwita" is inspired by the Korean period film Masquerade, about Gwanghae, a real king of the Joseon dynasty, who secretly hires a lookalike to avoid assassination threats. Said film is also mentioned in the lyrics.

References to great songs

The beginning of the "Fire" music video has SUGA shaking hands with a man who spontaneously begins to be consumed by fire, in reference to Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. In "Spring Day," we see this kind of shot with Jin looking at the rest of the members running up the stairs.

Explosions in BTS videos

The car and the building where the children left in "FIRE" and the title "Not today" appear in front of an explosion.

The "Mic Drop" music video (both the Remix and Japanese versions) manages to feature an explosion in the background in sync with the music and choreography occurring in the front.

There is another example before that during Suga's verse, where he raps in a dark room with Jungkook and Jimin as backup dancers. At a certain point, the room "explodes" behind Suga; while there is no fire, everything apart from the table and Suga himself goes flying, including the photos and Jimin and Jungkook.

Everyone Shares My Story: The "Heartbeat" music video from the BTS World soundtrack follows the side stories of the members, who in the game are members in alternate realities where they never met or became idols, each of which lives in different environments and pursues separate goals, until they all end up meeting and training together.

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