2
2
03
04
INTRODUCTION
ACHIEVEMENTS
08
20
MESSAGE
COLLABORATIONS
3
BTS is a seven member South Korean boyband formed in 2010 under the South Korean record label Big Hit Entertainment, composed of three rappers RM, Suga, and J-hope and four vocalists Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. They officially debuted in June 13, 2013 with the single album 2 Cool 4 Skool, followed by the release of their extended play ORUL82! In September 2013. 3
4
BEYOND ACHIEVEMENTS Despite on releasing little success, both works won BTS several ‘New Artist Awards’, the 28th Golden Music Awards, and the 23rd Seoul Music Awards. The 2015 single ‘I NEED U’ off their EP: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt.1 earned their first number one win on South Korean music program, The Show.
They are also the first Korean compilation EP: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: ‘Young Forever’ in (2016) earned them the first grand prize award for ‘Album of the Year’ at the 8th Melon Music Awards and ‘Artist of the Year’ at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Their second studio album Wings (2016) won the ‘Record of the Year’ at the 26th Seoul Music Awards and its repackage, You’ll Never Walk Alone (2017) produced the single “Spring Day” which won the Song of the Year at the 9th Melon Music Awards. BTS also won the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Award Cultural Minister Awards for their achievement in spreading Korean culture that year.
Their fifth EP Love Yourself: ‘HER’ (2017) produced the single ‘DNA’ which won the Music Video Awards at the 2017 Melon Music Awards, and earned BTS the Musician of the Year title at the 15 th Korean Music Awards, and their second ‘Artist of the Year Award’ at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards. They’re the first act to won the award two years in a row.
4
5
In September 2017, BTS releases the first part of the series. Their fifth EP Love Yourself: Her and featured music from the Chainsmokers for the track “Best of Me”. The single was supported by two singles: the lead single “DNA” and a Steve Aoki from remix of their song “Mic Drop” featuring an American rapper Designer. In the narrative sequence, the EP represented the development of the series is considered by RM to be one of the major turning points of BTS career. Within, the large narrative, Love Yourself: Her described the joy and happiness of falling in love. Sonically, the EP served as the dual exploration of the group’s electro-pop and hip-hop leanings. Commercially, BTS continued to hit new career heights with the Love Yourself: Her. Debuting at #7 on the Billboard 200 with 31,000 album equivalentunits.
In Korea, the EP sold over 1.2 million copies on the Gaon Album Chart in its first month, achieving the highest monthly album sales in the chart’s history and the highest in on any Korean chart in 16 years. The single “DNA” was released simultaneously with the EP and debuted at number two in Korea. Its music video broke the previous record for most viewed K-pop music video within the first 24 hours with more than 20 million views on YouTube. “DNA” also became the group’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 at #85, The following week, “DNA” rose to #67 and became the highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 for a K-pop group, beating Wonder Girls previous record #76. The following single “Mic Drop (Remix)” peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first top 40 entry for a K-pop group on the chart. Both “Mic Drop Remix” and “DNA” were later certified Gold by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) making BTS the first and only Korean artist to receive two certifications. “Mic Drop” went to receive Platinum Certification in November 2018 and the first Korean group with a Platinum-certified single in the United States. 5
INTERNATIONAL STORM BTS SOLDS OVER 600,000 TICKETS ON FIRST STADIUM TOUR K-pop kings BTS has sold more than 600,000 tickets on its first stadium tour “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” in the United States, South America and Europe, Billboard said.
“The K-pop act’s first U.S stadium tour grossed US$44 million, in addition to the $35 million earned in Europe and South America”. BTS performed its first North American stadium tour with two shows a piece of Pasadena’s Rose Bowl (May 4-5), Chicago’s Soldier Field (May 11-12) and New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium (May 18-19).
“The results were staggering, as the South Korean megastars grossed
$44 million from six shows, selling 299,770 tickets according to figures reported to Billboard BoxScore. “ Followed by stadium dates at Allianz Parque in Sao Paulo (May 25-26), London’s Wembley Stadium (June 1-2), and Paris’ Stade de France (June 7-8), the group added $35 million to the “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself Tour” total for a combined $78.9 million and 606,409 tickets, it said. “Their double-header at the Rose Bowl earned $16.6 million, making it the single highest-grossing engagement in the venue’s Box score history, outpacing previous high marks by Taylor Swift and U2, as well as coheadlining stints by Beyoncé and Jay-Z and Eminem and Rhianna.” Billboard said. Meanwhile, the Hyundai Search Institution, a Seoul based economic think tank, said in a recent report that the group’s agency, Big Hit Entertainment, is estimated to have become a unicorn start up whose valuation is $1 billion or more. 6
6
7
In a mere 6 years BTS went on from trying to break a local industry to become the greatest selling act globally who debuted since that point. While media love to point out records with very few meaning, their all-around sheer volume of sales is mind blowing. Factoring in every format, their pair of early albums 2 Cool 4 Skool and O!RUL8 2? are over half a million apiece. If we put this number in perspective with South Korean releases, it is already enormous. Both Skool Luv Affair and Dark & Wild doubled these results, both hitting a million. Then came both volumes of The Most Beautiful Moment in Life both issued in 2015. They add for over 5 million equivalent album sales combined. With these scores, they rank among the most successful Korean efforts of all-time.
That’s when it gets really amazing. Top selling Korean records happen to be the calm before the storm for BTS. Wings, through its original version, its reissue, heavy usage on music videos, stunning downloads plus a consistent and massive streaming performance, breaks through the sky with a total of 6.7 million.
Love Yourself: Her made them notice by major new outlets, hitting the Top 10 in the U.S. It is just one out of countless achievements that led it close to 7 million sales. Love Yourself: Tear is nearly as high at 5.75 million. Both albums are strong thanks to their owns scores added to the smash compilation, Love Yourself: Answer. Map of the Soul: Persona have been out for less than a year but it is already hot on its predecessors’ wheels at more than 5.8 million even outdoing Love Yourself: Tear. Give it a time to a mass to stream and be exploited through compilations and videos and you will see it has a high if not higher than the previous albums.
So far, BTS has an album aiming the top 2 most successful albums from each 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. They are definitely at the top of the game right now. Along with this superb album results, they also issued several smash stand-alone hits, adding for another 6.77 million equivalent album sales.
In total, BTS concludes on 40.7 million equivalent album sales. This makes them the most successful act debuting in 2013 or later, topping sales totals of Ariana Grande.
7
8
MESSAGE BEHIND THE MUSIC LEARN MORE ABOUT BTS AND THE STRUGGLE BEHIND THE SUCCESS. HARDSHIPS AND MEMORIES WRITTEN FROM THEIR SOUL TO SONG.
8
WINGS
Wings is the second studio album by BTS. This contains 15 tracks, it was selected as the “Best K-pop Album in 2016” by Billboard, and won the “Record of the Year” at the 2017 Seoul Music Awards. The concept is basically inspired by the Novel “Demian” written by Hermann Hesse. Demian is the story of a boy, Emil Sinclair, and his search for himself, Emil was raised in a good traditional home at the turn of the century in the young nation of Germany. His family is rather wealthy and they have a reputation as an upright, godly family. As a boy, Sinclair views the world within the walls of his home as representing all that is good, pure, innocent and godly. But starting at young age he feels a constant inner conflict between this world, which he refers to as “the world of light” and the outside world, or “forbidden world” which represents sin, loneliness, deceit, and insecurity. Although his mother and father and two sisters remain within the “world of light”, he constantly feels drawn to the outside realm and is in the way somewhat estranged from his family and their sphere of security. He ends up vacilitating between both and not belonging to either.
Sinclair is the protagonist and the Narrator of Demian. The book is a chronicle of his intellectual development from the time he was ten until his late teens. An older Sinclair (who is at least middle aged) tells the story of Sinclair’s interactions with Demian and a host of other characters who are instrumental in his intellectual transformation. This intellectual transformation is one of that changes Demian from a religious boy who follows others’ commands to a man who seeks to be aware of, and fulfill the deepest desires of his soul.
In the album ‘Wings,’ all of 7 members represents Sinclair. BTS portrayed the different stages of Sinclair’s life. The last part where Jin is seen is the time when he is remembering all the things happened in the past. He had found himself; his search was over; he has been saved. 9
9
10
The group held a press conference for the release of their album, when they were asked about their concept and its meaning, leader RM explained, “the harder a
“temptation is to resist” the more you think about it and vacillate. That uncertainly is part of the process of growing.” [Blood Sweat & Tears] is a song that shows how one thinks, chooses, and grows. “Symbolism such as the “wings” were representation of growth, with Suga adding, “the song relays an optimistic determination to use ouw wings to go far, even if we are met with temptation in life.
The members’ takes of their characters in Wings concept tells the story of their own hardships in life. Starting with the youngest member of the group, Jungkook, with his solo song called Begin. Begin is all about JK and Suga. Before he wakes up from the bed, he dreamed about a burning piano and appeared to be having a nightmare and is woken up by the sound of a car crash along with shattered glass and a painting of a bird. After he wakes up, he suddenly falls unconscious while sitting up, and a few minutes later he wakes up. He picks up a drawing from the ground, and sees it’s a drawing of Suga. The scene changes and there’s a colorful painting. The painting is a mix of Suga and Jungkook. Then when it catches the fire, the painting began crying. This is based on a real incident. On September 6th, a house was burned to the ground. The only thing that survived was a painting of a crying child. Jungkook’s Begin Short Film was released on September 6th. It was seen that Jungkook was getting upset that the painting is burning. He inaudibly yells “Hyung” referring to Suga. Then he found a bird drawing, he puts it into an envelope. The song reflects his journey from going to Seoul from Busan, and meeting the members during his pre-debut days. Jungkook revealed that he was practically raised by the BTS members. His song was a dedication to his brothers for raising him, and what he really feels towards the members.
10
11
Secondly, is Jimin’s solo track called Lie. Jimin is at a table with a video camera. Jungkook’ s symbol pops up and he looks clueless, then he pops up and he smiles and looks down, but then his smile disappears and we see Jimin with a black and white distortion. If you carefully watch as he looks back up, his shadow doesn’t follow, in fact his shadow is in a fetal position. He then falls backwards representing him losing consciousness. We see him sitting on a hospital bed, there’s one empty next to him too. This other bed was meant for Hoseok. He then reaches over to the other bed and we see a glass full of pills, most likely antidepressants. This is showing that Hoseok and Jimin were both suicidal. Hoseok attempted overdose and Jimin attempted drowning himself in a bath, Jimin failed and Hoseok succeeded. Jimin is now alone without Hoseok, and his song ‘Lie’ is about not being able to be happy without Hoseok. When we return back to the room with the camera and painting in the wall. He turns the camera towards the painting and looks at himself. This is telling viewers that suicide is not the answer and that there is Paradise ahead. His lyrics talk about being consumed by a lie, being unable to escape from it, and that’s true for people who struggle with self-image and perfectionism, just like Jimin.
“You want me just like me every day, I feel so far away” - Losing one’s self because you’re constantly comparing against a projected ideal. Taehyung is scratches off graffiti, this is the graffiti he and Namjoon did together in previous MV’s. He scratches off the words “Abraxas” , he then gets caught by the police, and at the police station he’s nervous as he sees scratches the table. He is not as comfortable as he used to be since Namjoon isn’t there with him. The police asks if he has any parents. Taehyung responds with “I don’t have anything like that”. This is taking as back to ‘I NEED U’ where Taehyung was stabbing a man with a bottle, that man is his and his sister’s alcoholic abusive father. In his eyes there is an image of a woman holding a baby, which is most likely his mother holding when he was a child. We see him running and beaten up by some invisible force, he’s getting beaten up by his mistakes. He’s beaten pretty bad, but a puppy runs to him, it’s happiness. A cage appears above him, he holds onto the puppy not wanting to lose happiness. But, it ends up running away anyways. He asks the police if he can make a phone call. 11
12
Suga wakes up to a music store and breaks in. He plays Jungkook’s tune (Begin) and then suddenly falls unconscious. Jungkook also falls unconscious in his short film. If you play the Jungkook’s Begin and Suga’s First Love side by side, you’ll see that when Jungkook faints, Yoongi is playing piano, when Yoongi faints Jungkook is singing. He then wakes once more, and hears Jungkook’s whistling of his song, he goes to follow it. He goes on a street and is almost hit by a car. This car was the police car carrying Taehyung. He’s then standing in the middle and hears a car crash but nothing really happened. There’s a blood splatter and tire marks on the road, Yoongi begins to run, for he realizes that this was how Jungkook died, he was hit by a car. (Back in ‘I NEED U’ MV Jungkook almost got hit by a car) he runs back to the music store and the piano is on fire, the same one from Jungkook’s dream and the same one from I NEED U. Suga’s song is dedicated to his first love, which was a piano that was the symbol of his passion and love for music when he was taught to play from a young age. His parents were against the idea of him following the path of music, as most case scenarios, not all can achieve such a high expectation for money in the real world. Namjoon/RM’s in a cargo car and giving himself a tattoo, there lies a letter he opened that’s from Jungkook with the drawing of a bird. He then burns the drawing and drops it in his drink and faints. Paint is staining his skin, like the painting from Begin. He then wakes up and hears an unbearable noise and covers his ears. The mirrors break, he hears a phone ringing. He runs to the sound to a chained up the phone call is from Taehyung at the police station. As much as he struggles to open the box he can’t. then as the camera zooms out the word ‘LIAR’ appears on the glass. This is because Namjoon became a liar. He promised Taehyung that he’ll always be there for him but when he couldn’t answer the phone call. He became the liar and wishes “I wish I could love myself ”. Namjoon’s song is basically a self-reflection of his ideas and emotions throughout being an idol, and questioning his own existence and his hatred to himself. 12
13
Hoseok’s solo track is called “MAMA.” JHope’s in a padded room in a mental hospital. The doctor outside writes down notes about him. Hoseok has been diagnosed with a mental illness where he injures himself for attention and other things. He sits up and the small side doors open up and hundreds of Anti-depressants. He picks one up and swallows it. Then a pill drops into a small drop already filled with pills. Showing how many pills he has consumed. Then colors go neon and images flash, he begins ripping the padding. Feathers are everywhere a memory of Jimin and himself having a pillow fight from previous MV’s. When he wakes up from fainting, he exits the room, and sees the painting Jimin saw. And eats a snickers bar. Jimin and Hoseok has an inverse matching outfits. Hoseok’s song is a dedication to his mother, who worked hard to support JHope in his dream to become a dancer/idol. The lyrics portrayed a feeling and message that is saying “don't worry about me, I'm doing what I love and it's all thanks to you." Jin’s solo track is called “Awake.” Jin is sitting at a dining table and he takes out his Polaroid camera to take pictures. The candle blows out. He is about to bite into an apple (temptations from BS&T) but he drops it, and follows it. The wallpapers has Abraxas as it is feed. The drawing of a bird is hanging in the wall. He goes into a room with scratch marks on the double doors. He’s in a room similar to I NEED U. he takes 7 lily petals and burns them. Representing him letting his friends go. Jin is wearing white symbolizing “Death” because Jin is dead. He leaves the room with 7 polaroids on the floor, each representing his 6 other friends. He left the Human world. This song is dedicated to himself, a song to inspire others that although he is not the best, Ihe still tries hardest to be where he is at. “I’m so afraid; still, I hold these 6 flowers tightly in my hand.” speaks of something more personal.
13
14
YOU NEVER WALK ALONE
16th of April 2014 a date that no one from South Korea can ever forget. The 6825 -ton Sewol ferry carrying 476 people on board sank in southwestern island of Jindo coast killed 304 people. Out of all those killed, there were 250 teenagers from Dawon High School in Ansan who were in their school trip to Jeju. The tragedy happened when the Sewol which overloaded with more than 3600 tons of cargo took a sharp turn and capsized. And it gets worse once the tragedy refused to be revealed for many political reasons.
14
15
After nearly 3 years of waiting, the vessel has finally raised up by the Korea Government in 23rd March 2017. At the same time it raises great chills from the fact it happened after BTS released their “Spring Day” song. The first time listening to the song, generally we get to see the message that BTS would like to convey in “Spring Day” is the feeling of longing to someone, a friend that they had lost. Many fans were saying the MV was actually referred to a novel name ‘The One Who Walk Away From Omelas’ and also a movie “Snowpiercer”. And some said it related to Sewol story itself. Not just the MV, even the lyric itself makes you think that part of the song are actually related to the tragedy. On the 2nd part in Rap Monster’s rap, it says ‘It’s only winter here’ while in literature winter symbolizes death, old age, pain, loneliness and despair. The phrase “Even in August, it’s winter here” could bring the meaning that their loneliness and despair continues despite of whatever season they are living in at the moment. Then, from the monologue question asked in the chorus part, asking how much longer do they have to wait till they can meet again and then the statement followed after “Until the
spring days comes again stay there a little longer”. This part really gets you at first as the tragedy happened during the Spring in 2014 and we assume at first that maybe the “stay there a little longer” verse were referred to how they are
counting the days to meet the sinking Sewol-Ho anniversary day. But the song gets us more when the ending part coming up as the lyric was saying there are no darkness and season that can last forever. The winter (despair) will come to an end and 15
the cherry blossom will bloom (spring is coming = happiness). And then comes the next phrases asking for the one they missed to wait for them for few more nights, they will come to meet them. Upon learning the lyric’s meaning. It really relates to the story in the Spring day with Sewol Tragedy. But the fact that South Korea Government finally raised up Sewol-Ho from the ocean last March was a mind-blowing occurrence. It seems like the words in the lyric came out be a reality. Which the “I’ll come to pick you up” verse was magically happened. BTS released the song back in 13th of February and of course the song was made way back then before it got released. While the work on emerging the Sewol-Ho from the water starts on late March. Without knowing the fact that the vessel will be lifted up from the 40-meterdeep water, BTS produced the song with the hope that one day the deceased can come back to meet their family (been lift up to the surface). There is no confirmation from BTS themselves on saying that “Spring Day” was actually about the Sewol-Ho tragedy as BTS wished to leave the interpretation of the songs and MV to the viewers as they mentioned during their Wings Tour in Seoul Press conference. But getting to know the fact that BTS and the company has made a huge donation to the families of the victims shows their awareness on the tragedy and sense of responsibility as a citizen of the country.
LOVE YOURSELF SERIES The name was chosen to represent the main goal of the group: to protect and talk about the problems and worries of people in their teens and twenties. Their debut single “No More Dream” discussed the problem of the children throwing away their futures and dreams for mindless studying. Their first three albums, making up the “School Trilogy” continued on this theme, as well as critiquing other aspects of the society. From the very beginning, BTS’s music has been centered around youth and social critique. But the development of the Love Yourself series took the group beyond merely critiquing society and is their attempt at offering some solutions. While the first album in the Love Yourself series was released in September 2017, the group began working on the series in March of 2016. This was before their second full album, Wings catapulted them to the top of the K-pop scene and long before they started gaining any mainstreams recognition in the west. Their nominations for Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards wouldn’t come until over a year later. While they had debuted from a small agency in relative obscurity, BTS had gained a moderate level of success in 2015 after the release of their two part series, “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life (화양연화).” Their star was certainly ascending in early 2016, but they were far from the juggernaut they would become in the next two years.
The Love Yourself series is a four part series made up of three albums and one video release arranged into sections based on a Traditional Asian Storytelling format: 起 (beginning), 承 (development), 轉 (twist), and 結 (conclusion). Through the three albums, BTS tells a story about falling in love, an inevitable breakup, and an epiphany about self-love. 16
16
17
Reflecting back on 2015 and 2016, both penicillin” saving them. The title track, “DNA,” SUGA (lead rapper and a frequent producer for expands on this theme, boldly declaring, the group) and RM described those years as an “From the day of the universe’s creaextremely difficult period for them mentally. SUGA released a mixtape in August of 2016, ti- tion and beyond tled Agust D, which spoke explicitly about his Through the infinite centuries and struggles with depression and social anxiety. At beyond the end of the same year, RM released “Always,” In the previous life and maybe the a song that opened with the lines,
“One morning, I opened my eyes next too We’re eternally together.” And wished I was dead The final track of the album, “Outro: Her” is I hoped someone would kill me performed by the three rappers of the group (RM, SUGA, and J-hope) and offers the most In this loud silence.”
explicit hints that the “love” explored in the preThough BTS had attained a certain level vious tracks cannot last. SUGA’s verses darkly of financial success, they were the frequent target warn, of attacks and ridicule on the internet, including “I can never take off the mask accusations that their company had inflated their sales (proven untrue after the company, Big Hit Because the me behind this mask Entertainment, requested an official investigaIs not the one you know”. tion) and that they were guilty of “plagiarism” because they had performed wearing school uni- Following the foreshadowing of the previous alforms after another — and at the time more bum, Love Yourself 轉: Tear sees the destruction popular — boy group had worn school uniforms of the love described in Her through the intro for their concept the year before. song “Singularity” performed by vocalist V and through the title track, “Fake Love.” So it was in this atmosphere, one of uncertain Masks are a reoccurring motif in the music videsuccess, continued struggle, and frequent critios for both songs. V dons one at the end of his cism that the Love Yourself series was born. On solo after wistfully singing, “Have I lost myself ? the group’s fancafe (a sort of private message Or have I gained you?” The teasers and the exboard for fans and the group members to post tended version of the “FAKE LOVE” music vidon) RM once wrote that loving yourself could eo see all of the members hiding themselves beseem like an unobtainable heat shimmer flickerhind customized Carnival masks. ing before your eyes. The Love Yourself series is a reflection of the seven members chasing after that The message is clear. A love that’s based on heat shimmer and sharing what they learned on changing or hiding your true self can never the way. be fulfilling and will ultimately tear apart. The first album, Love Yourself 承: Her, focuses This builds on the underlying theme of the on loving another. The album’s intro, performed Love Yourself series: before you can truly by Jimin, has the vocalist believing fate brought love someone else, you must first be able to them together with their love, who is the “blue love yourself. 17
LOVE YOURSELF SERIES While Her and Tear explored the doomed nature of a life without self-love, Love Yourself 結: Answer offers a solution. Jin, the final vocalist to have a solo, lays out the group’s message in the emotional intro track, “Epiphany.” The full lyrics of the song walk the listener through the group’s revelation and the error of trying to hide your true self, but the chorus contains the heart of the groups message,
“I’m the one I should love in this world Shining me, precious soul of mine I finally realized so I love me Not so perfect but so beautiful.” The title track, “IDOL” ties this message explicitly to BTS’s personal history as a group. In Korea, “idol” groups are looked down upon even more severely than boy bands are by western audiences. Idol groups are often called manufactured puppets and their fans are regularly derided as rabid teenage girls. BTS has always prided themselves as being the creators of their own music and lyrics. The group was first conceived of after RM’s underground rapping caught the attention of the president of their company.
Even before BTS’s debut in 2013, RM wrote lyrics for other groups and in 2017 SUGA received an award for producing work he did outside BTS. So when RM confidently states, “You can call me artist. You can call me idol. Or whatever else you want. I don’t care,” in the opening lines of “IDOL” he’s speaking directly to the critics that have dogged their work for years.
The label you give BTS doesn’t matter to them, not as long as they know themselves. 18
18
19
On days where I hate myself for being me, on days where I want to disappear forever Let's make a door. It's in your heart Open the door and this place will await
Magic Shop
19
20
COLLABORATIONS
Well, that’s exactly the intention – fall for the animated charms of BT21 and they’ll lead you to the world of BTS in a different way. The characters were born back in late September 2017, when BTS joined LINE Friends’ Creators initiative, a project where the brand work with global artists on characters and product ideas. The boys spent a day sketching character ideas at a LINE Friends store, and a team of designers then helped turn rough sketches into more defined characters. There are eight characters in total: Tata, Mang, Chimmy, RJ, Koya, Cooky, Shooky, and Van. Each character reflects the members of BTS in different ways. 20
Tata, a huge heart-headed character, is an alien with transforming powers. His limbs can bend and stretch into weird lengths and shapes. He’s a character that V has been drawing for some time, and he wanted the character to be more unique than cute, as he personally loves unique characters.
also wanted Cooky to always have a chocolate chip cookie, which inspired the next character, Shooky.
21
Suga’s drawing Shooky is a cookie with a badass attitude. He’s best friends with Cooky, and hates milk. During the initial sketching period, Suga drew his dog, Holly, but it looked too similar to J-Hope’s character Mang is a dancing pony, but other characters, so he drew lots of different exhe keeps his face hidden by wearing a mask. His pressions inspired by Holly instead. The LINE nose is heart-shaped, because J-Hope’s lips form designers created Shooky’s character from these a heart when he laughs. There are several mean- idea. ings to ‘mang’ in Korean. It can translate as ‘a pony’, ‘to fail’, and it’s the latter part of the word The grey and white character Van – created by ‘hope’ (huimang). LINE Friends’ designers – is a space robot that protects BT21, and it’s said to represent ARMY. Chimmy, the playful puppy in yellow represents It was inspired by interviews with BTS about the band’s overall image, according to Jimin. ‘The what kind of characters they wanted to create animal that goes best with BTS is a puppy,’ he with LINE. The group name BT21 was inspired said in the BT21 making of videos. ‘We love to by a comment from Suga, who thought the charhang out, and we’re active, which reminds people acters should represent both BTS and the 21st of puppies.’ He also thinks Chimmy’s chubby century, so they would live for the next 100 years. cheeks remind people of his face when BTS first BT21’s backstory is they are a group of idol debuted. wannabes. The ever-curious alien Tata left his home planet with Van, and saw BTS when visitJin’s contribution RJ is an alpaca who often wears ing Earth. Awed by their popularity, he was ina parka, because he gets cold easily. Jin was draw- spired to put together his own rival group. He ing cute alpaca doodles for years before this col- enlisted the other members to form the perfect laboration, so he was excited to finally bring one idol group. to life. The other members also say he looks like an alpaca, especially when he eats. After their official launch on LINE last October, the BT21 character stickers were downloaded more than 8 million times. Soon after, they RM’s character Koya is a sleepy blue koala. He has removable ears, and a purple nose as V once launched a large merchandise line, including a made a comment that purple represents love. RM collaboration with Converse, that’s sold in all Korean LINE Friends stores. Many items are limdrew pages and pages of koalas in the initial ited or seasonal. Special BT21 pop-up stores and sketching stage, as he thinks ko themed cafes have opened across Asia over the Cooky, created by Jungkook, is a rabbit with atti- last 12 months, and they’ve also reached America, tude. He works out a lot and imagines that he with pop-up stores held recently in New York transforms into a huge muscle man when he gets and LA. Along with unique stickers, coasters and angry. Jungkook is known for his endless gym posters, the BT21 cafes feature different menu workouts to maintain his six-pack, so in his ini- items in each country and city. tial sketches, he drew a rabbit with a six-pack. He 21
22
On September 24, 2018 BTS gave a speech at the UN General Assembly as part of the launching of a new initiative focused on youth. The speech came about a year after the group first launched their “Love Myself ” campaign, a partnership with UNICEF’s End Violence program that has so far raised over a million dollars through proceeds from album sales and other merchandise. In the speech, RM reflected on his childhood and what the message of “love yourself ” has meant to him. The seven minute speech lays out the complete message BTS has spent the past two years working to convey through their music. The message, not always fully covered by the media that reported on the speech, is more than the boilerplate feel-good sentiment it’s sometimes reduced to, often with the stipulation that the message is more radical in Korean society.
the speech and it’s what makes BTS’s message different from so many others. So often we try to move past our mistakes by saying things like, “that wasn’t really me,” or “I was a different person back then.” This message says the opposite. The brightest stars, your most visible and important features, are your flaws and your mistakes. At a first listen, the message can sound horrifying. How can the things I like least about myself, the things I want most to hide, be the most important? But that’s the key to their message. That stomach lurch, that sick feeling that bubbles up at the thought of embracing those flaws is what makes self-love so difficult. Because everyone wants to paper over their faults and focus on the “lovable” aspects of themselves. Until you accept those darker aspects of yourself, the shadows among the light, the “self ” you love won’t be your true self but an idealized version. That’s why loving yourself takes courage and forgiveness. You need courage to face your true self with all your flaws and imperfections and you need to have the compassion to forgive yourself for them. A couple weeks after giving their speech at the UN, BTS held their first stadium concert — the first stadium concert for any Korean artist — in the United States. After reflecting on the historic moment, RM closed his comments by saying,
“Maybe I made a mistake yesterday, but yesterday’s me is still me. I am who I am today, with all my faults. Tomorrow I might be a tiny bit wiser, and that’s me, too. These faults and mistakes are what I am, making up the brightest stars in the constellation of my life. I have come to love myself for who “It was never intended but it feels like I’m using I was, who I am, and who I hope to beyou guys to love myself. So I wanna say somecome.” -RM, 2018 thing, please. Please use me, please use BTS to Self-love and self-help have a long history of being tied to self-improvement. Countless books advise you to “go easier on yourself ” even as you “fake it until you make it.” BTS’s message is different. Loving yourself is not presented as a means to an end, but an end unto itself. There’s no faking, no minimizing flaws to focus on strengths. Just love and being. “These faults and mistakes are what I am, making up the brightest stars in the constellation of my life.” This sentence is perhaps the most radical of 22
love yourself. Because you guys help me learn to love myself, every day.”
BTS has broken countless barriers as Korean artists in the West but their greatest accomplishment isn’t chart rankings or album sales or sold out concerts. They’ve reached countless fans and been a source of comfort and inspiration. Just like their company’s motto which appears before every one of their music videos, they’ve become “music and artists for healing.”
23
23
24
CREDITS TO: OUR MAGIC SHOP: BTS BTS.BIGHIT.COM GENIUS LYRICS
TWITTER YOUTUBE ARMY
UNICEF.COM BT21.COM BILLBOARD.COM EDITED BY: BERNADETTE D. ZAGADA—RHINE LYNDAY L. CORIA TVL12
24