For a few years now, BTS, a seven-member K-pop boy group, has painted the music industry with their artistic flair. The group includes RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jin, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook. BTS is the English name based on their Korean name, Bangtan Sonyeodan, which translates to “Bulletproof Boy Scouts.” The name reflects the issues teenagers and youth in their 20s face, and their songs protect them against societal prejudice.
Their motto stands clear in their musical production, where their visual direction engages with themes of social consciousness for youth, including themes of mental health, self-love, self-care, and working hard for their future.
BTS had many eras over the years, and they started with a thematic trilogy in three albums that tied the emotions of school stress to societal stress. The music video for “No More Dream” was just a simple dance performance, but the lyrics were filled with messages of youth empowerment. In “N.O.,” they criticised the competitive nature of schools that curbs creative imagination. The members are shown as pill-chugging puppets in the music video.
The best of their concepts started from the HYYH (HwaYangYeonHwa) era in 2015, which first boosted their popularity. It covered the albums “The Most Beautiful Parts 1, 2, and 3”. Fans were discussing theories, emotional angst, the labyrinth of storylines, their possible endings, and whatever was left untangled. This will always be their iconic era, when they connected the most with their fans. It went beyond music by creating a world that comforted many – the BTS universe. Here, the members played characters trapped in trauma and grief.
This was a refreshing change in the K-pop industry of then, where each song and album was created to tell stories and not just give it away easily to their audience. It was meant to be engaged with and tackled to crack open the hidden clues. Fans would gather extensive information and even make edits and possible theory explanation videos on YouTube.
Slowly, they moved to darker themes like Blood Sweat and Tears and Fake Love to show the range and extent of their capacities. But this was not the end of that; BTS showed their new identity in “Map of the Soul: Persona.” It was one of their most successful eras where they sold out all stadiums, won several awards, and set and broke all records. After this success, they focused on creating more English songs like Dynamite, Permission to Dance, and Butter.
However, they finally return to their initial motive of inspiring people and encouraging their fans to pursue their dreams with the song “Life Goes On” in the album BE. From here on, they focused on solo activities until each member slowly enlisted for their compulsory military service in 2023. Jin and J-Hope have been released from their service and started with their solo activities. Fans await the return of the other five members, who will return successfully before July of this year.
The article is authored by Nikhila Kalla, an intern from Christ University Bangalore
