BTS: the road to international stardom
Mia Castagnone looks back at the hits that led BTS to the super-band they are today.
Fans of BTS were left hanging after the groups hit single “Dynamite” did not receive the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The award show certainly did them dirty by covertly announcing the winner of the award to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s ‘Rain on Me’ during the red carpet before going on to endlessly hype BTS’s live performance all night.
This did not go unnoticed by their fanbase, called ARMY, who then bombarded Twitter to criticise the Grammy’s for using BTS’s reputation and fanbase for clickbait. After the show aired, the group showed how much they hardly needed the Grammys when they hosted a livestream on VLIVE, which attracted nearly as many viewers as the Awards Premiere Ceremony.
But putting this all behind us, let’s look back at some of the singles that mark the group's journey from unknown rookies to international superstars
The transition from nobodies to international stardom did not happen overnight. The group first formed in 2010 after entertainment label Big Hit CEO Bang Si-hyuk met with rapper RM who inspired him to create a hip-hop group. The refined, gentleman-like members we see today, adorning luxury designer suits and a soft masculine image is far from the heavy, old school hip-hop concept they had in debut.
In 2013 they released the single N.O. which evocates fierce rap, trap beats, brass and soulful melodies. Lyrically this track expressed the theme dreams and frustrations of South Korea’s youth who were trapped within a competitive education system. Despite appearing on several Korean music shows, the single quickly fell off the charts.
It had been a rocky start for the group and in line with their reality, the group's lyrics- much of which was written by the members themselves- exposed the anxieties they had towards their future.
“Why are you shaking my heart?” The group belts out in the chorus of Boy in Luv. This single dropped in the last instalment of their debut trilogy and was quickly followed by their first studio album Dark & Wild with lead singles Danger and War of Hormones, which expanded on the school narrative and expressed sentiments of youthful desires and impatience for romance.
They received moderate success from this album, which led them to host their first fan meeting in Seoul with 3,000 fans and their first concert in America, which was held for free! It is mind boggling to believe that the world’s biggest band started out by handing out flyers on the streets of West Hollywood.
In 2015 the leading track of their third EP, I Need U was a milestone achievement for the team after it garnered their first ever music show win on the Korean station SBS MTV’s The Show. It also marked the beginning of their music moving toward electronic-pop and their image beginning to shift from solely masculine hip hop to more diverse styles.
The group continued to launch hit after hit and this effort laid the groundwork of their success. Titles from their EP The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Part 2, included Run, Fire and Save Me, which well and truly launched the group onto the Billboard 200 charts. Thematically their albums began to deal with ideas of loneliness and suffering experienced by the younger generation.
The boys reinvented themselves with what I believe to be their best album of all time. Wings title track, Blood Sweat & Tears was released after a month of promotional build-up. Fans were obsessed with the instant hit producing dance and lyrical covers. Also featured on this album are solo tracks from each member, reflecting each individual's own personal music tastes.
Launching with EP Love Yourself: Her BTS began a new series where they adopted a narrative that expressed the excitement of love, the pains of farewell and the enlightenment of self-love. BTS shows an enduring commitment to use their influence to make the world a better place by teaching fans that true love starts with self-love.
From here on BTS discography has absolutely exploded and in just seven years they have produced over 129 songs. There is hardly an accolade they haven’t received, nor an individual whose lives they haven’t touched. To continue to list their achievements would take far too long for this writer to cover, but to say the least, BTS is not just a band but a beacon of inspiration. They are a group who continue to demonstrate that success comes from teamwork and sheer determination.