BTS, otherwise known as Bangtan Boys or Bulletproof Boy Scouts in Korean, is a South Korean boy band group that has recently become a sensation in American music culture. This group is the first Korean group to be nominated, as well as win, an award at the Billboard Music Awards in 2017, besting Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Shawn Mendez on the Top Social Artist award.
This Korean group is actually the second to take America’s music scene by storm to the 2013 release of “Gangnam Style” by Psy. Nonetheless, each of the 7 members bring their own energy to performing and do not stray from the limelight. The members of this phenomenal group are RM (Namjoon Kim), Jin (Seokjin Kim), Suga (Yoongi Min ), J-Hope (Hoseok Jung), Jimin (Jimin Park), V (Taehyung Kim) and Jungkook (Jungkook Jeon).
BTS originally started out as a duo in 2010, which hosted an audition to expand the group. The “Hit It” auditions settled the BTS members under Big Hit, a South Korean entertainment company, and they debuted in 2013 with the song “No More Dream.” This song was placed on their first album, “2 Cool 4 Skool,” and was gladly welcomed in the South Korean music scene. The group won several South Korean music awards, such as the 2013 Melon Music Award and Golden Disc Awards. Their first album was only the start of their “School Trilogy” series, which was followed by the release of 2013’s “O!Rul8,2!” and the release of 2014’s “Skool Luv Affair.”
The group combined love ballads and rap music together for a quite interesting experience. Later in the year 2014, the group released a full-length debut album, “Dark & Wild.” The group seemed to have taken the music industry by storm, so much so that when their next two albums released- they appeared in the Billboard’s World Albums chart and set a record for K-pop music. The albums that were released were “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1” followed by “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2.”
Later in 2016, this was overshadowed by their release of the “Wings” album. “Wings” went on the Top 30 of the Billboard 200, setting a record for K-pop artists anywhere. “Wings” was soon re-released and made into “You Never Walk Alone,” adding in four new songs such as: “Spring Day” and “Not Today” to the original track list.
The group has performed a good amount of times in the United States. The group has yet to shy away from cameras as well, with appearing on shows like “Ellen” and CBS’s “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” BTS has used social media to reach out more to their fans, such as the YouTube Red series “BTS: Burn the Stage,” an 8-episode documentary series depicting the life of BTS during a tour of 20 cities in 300 days. BTS is a wonderful group to listen to, especially for music lovers who are looking for something new and exciting.
