This past Sunday night, November 20th, 2017, Korea’s hottest boyband, BTS, made another unprecedented leap in history for the Korean pop (K-Pop) industry. BTS, which roughly translates to “bulletproof boy scouts” performed their newest hit “DNA”at the 2017 American Music Awards which was hosted to a large crowd in Los Angeles, California and broadcasted to millions of viewers at home on ABC. It is a first for a Korean group or artist in terms of not only performing at the American Music Awards but a first for a Korean group or artist to perform at an American awards show (this includes shows like the Billboard Music Awards and the MTV Music Awards, etc.) ever. BTS performed at the AMAs among American music acts such as Lady Gaga, Macklemore, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Imagine Dragons, and more. And acts such as Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Drake, The Weeknd, Maroon 5, Rihanna, and other big artists saw wins at the award show as well.
At the beginning of the evening, BTS walked the red carpet, running into many famous acts and reporters throughout the event. They were interviewed by various popular media outlets such as Access Hollywood, Billboard, E!, and more as well as crossed passed with many different artists as well, apparently receiving multiple collaboration offers. Later, they stepped out onstage to erupting cheers and fan chants that lasted their entire performance. Various celebrities were seen jamming out to the performance such as actor Ansel Elgort who starred in the recent critically-acclaimed movie Baby Driver. The performance also was well received by audiences at home which led the group name to become the #1 searched item on Google search trends with over a million searches following the AMAs, according to the New Straight Times.
Along with performing at the American Music Awards, BTS has recorded appearances on multiple American talk shows, also being the first Korean group to do so, besides musical appearances from acts such as Girls Generation and PSY. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! which is hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcasts on ABC as a late-night talk show, BTS appeared giving a surprise and a little prank to their fans which broadcasted this past week as well as gave a live free performance for a number of lucky fans that evening, performing such hits as “Fire”, “Blood Sweat and Tears”, “I Need U”, and more. The group also recorded with host James Cordon on the American late-night talk show The Late Late Show with James Cordon which broadcasts on CBS, performing their newest hit “DNA” as well as playing some games with the host. The recorded episode has no clear broadcast date as of yet but was said to be announced soon. The seven-member group is also said to have done a recording with host Ellen DeGeneres for The Ellen DeGeneres Show which broadcasts on NBC and whose episode with BTS is expected to be broadcast on November 27th. Even though the group is spending less than a week in the States, they will also, and lastly, be dropping several collaborations with two popular US artists and release a mix of their song ‘Mic Drop’ with Steve Aoki and Desiigner this month.
However, although BTS has been making huge strides in recognition and popularity lately, this isn’t anything new to the group. Just this past June, the group appeared on Time Magazine’s“The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet”, beat out big names such as Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez back in May, snagged the Top Social Artist award at this year’s Billboard Awards, ranked 5th in Forbes magazine’s “Korean Power Celebrity List”, and earned the highest spot ever on the Billboard Hot 100 for a K-pop group. Online, BTS is a force to be reckoned with, with each of their music videos garnering at least over 100 million views each- some garnering over 200 million views. They have beat out senior acts that had, at the time of BTS’s debut, set records for the K-pop industry abroad, some acts of which include the likes of BIGBANG, DBSK/TVXQ, and PSY.
So, who are BTS exactly? BTS, an acronym for their Korean name BangtanSeonyeondan, are also known as Bangtan Boys or Beyond the Scene, and debuted in 2013 with “No More Dream” which won them several awards domestically such as the New Artist of the Year at the Golden Disk Awards and Seoul Music Awards. Their first international success came with their title track “Boy in Luv” in 2014 which peaked at #3 on Billboard’s World Albums chart. From here, they released tracks in Japan, performed in Russia, and performed in Los Angeles at the annual KCON- a festival for all things Korean including food, fashion, cosmetics, and entertainment, inviting Korea’s most prominent artists since 2012 to perform and interact with fans. In 2015, they started their first international tour titled 2015 Live Trilogy Episode: The RedBullet which saw stops in Japan, Malaysia, Latin America, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States. In 2016, the groups full-length studio album “Wings”, which included their wildly popular track “Blood Sweat and Tears”, reached #26 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the highest charting and bestselling K-pop album, beating the previous record set by 2NE1’s “Crush” at #64 back in 2014.
This is a remarkable feat for the group- one even dedicated K-pop fans never could have guessed. After all, BTS debuted under Big Hit Entertainment, a small Korean entertainment company in comparison to the main three giants- SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. Any groups debuted under these main three are guaranteed a certain level of popularity already at debut. Their selection processes are highly competitive and their trainee system even more. Youth seeking to become the next big act might not even get a shot at debuting even if they are recruited by these companies, having to prove their ability and talent in singing and dancing, as well as receiving other lessons in foreign languages in order to communicate and operate with fanbases abroad. Some artists recall having to train for up to 7 years before they were able to debut. And even with this highly competitive and selective process, churning out only the best of the best, a group may flop. Many K-pop acts come and go with little to no headway domestically or abroad. In a market that is becoming increasingly overcrowded, success is becoming harder and harder to achieve.
However, despite these odds, BTS was able to come out on top. Their mixed sounds of hip-hop, rap, pop, electronic, and even the release of some ballads have secured their position in the likes of all different types of music fans. Their members are each divided in different roles, carrying out powerful skills in their specific areas. There is Rap Monster, the leader and main rapper, Jin, vocalist, Suga, lead rapper, J-Hope, lead rapper, main dancer, and vocalist, Jimin, lead vocalist, main dancer, V, vocalist, and lastly, Jungkook, main vocalist, lead dancer, and sub rapper. The members, whose ages range from 20 years old up to 25 years old, have undisputedly created a success that is the first of its kind. Connecting to fans through music, which can transcend the boundaries of language, they’ve been able to reach audiences all over the world, and this could be just the beginning for the group. In the three years since their debut, they have come this far- and nothing seems to be slowing them down. Especially after the AMAs, new audiences have been exposed to the group and seem to be showing increasing interest- something definitely noticed by big media corporations both domestically and abroad. However, only the future will tell just how big this phenomena will get.
Written by: Lacey Bonner
Originally from the Washington DC metropolitan area, 3rd year student and Candidate for a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Candidate for Bachelor of Arts in the Korean Language at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, current exchange student for a 1-year period at Korea University and intern at VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea)