the most successful boy group to ever come out of south korea. the first group to make it big internationally, they remain a significant contributor to their country's economy. they were also the first group i stanned hard enough to write fanfiction about, and are many people's gateway into kpop as a whole, so i'm gonna start with them.

up until bts made it big, kpop was largely ruled by three companies:
SM, a company inspired by motown - focused heavily on technically and aesthetically perfect performers who could sing and dance and work for very little pay.
YG, a company inspired by black american culture first and foremost - focused mainly on delivering unique performers with 'edgy' vibes, paid decently and had slightly more relaxed contracts.
JYP, a company inspired by our lord and savior, Jesus Christ himself. they focused on delivering 'personality-dols' who were lovable and genuine, and were long seen as a 'humane' company.

if you were a kid who wanted to become a kpop idol, auditioning for these three agencies was seen as the main pathway to genuine stardom. smaller agencies rarely broke through with a successful group, meaning that their failed idols were shackled with lifelong debt that would financially cripple an average south korean family.

the groups were few, because the money was scarce. kpop was largely a domestic game, and only the very best groups managed to capture audiences in japan and southeast asia.

then came BTS.

they were, for all intents and purposes, a nothing group from a nothing company. their selling point was that they had "Rap Monster" (an english-speaking, rapper-worshipping idol who played a huge part in writing their lyrics) "Suga" (an underground rapper/producer who had originally intended to work behind the scenes) and "J-hope" (a gifted dancer and choreographer with the personality of a vicious dictator). their original concept was 'bad boys from the hood', which went about as well as you'd expect.

people noticed something, though - the lyrics were clearly not written by a room full of suits. they were quite obviously written by teenagers, giving the songs a sincerity that has carried BTS to where they are today. this earnestness, coupled with their strong online presence and fan engagement, started to catch the interest of bored fangirls in the west. when the music finally caught up to their affability, the world watched as an epic underdog story unfolded before their eyes.

BTS - RUN (2015)

click here for the music video

Run is a song about being eighteen and having something to live for. Its music video depicts BTS in a variety of troubling situations, sticking together because, as the viewer can infer, they are the only stable things in each other's lives. it is a song that beautifully and concisely articulates the fragile inferno of youth. it doesn't really matter that the vocalists aren't the most talented singers ever, they clearly mean what they're singing and it's that sincere delivery that makes this song so lovable.

it's punchy in a way modern kpop isn't, and it builds to a rolling chorus that feels like running, life speeding past without giving you time to appreciate it. when the bridge finally hits, it's like pausing and taking in the awful, wonderful mess of human life in all its glory. it is one of BTS' best songs and a perfect introduction to them.

BTS - BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS (2016)

click here for the music video

Blood, Sweat & Tears is BTS' first attempt at something more highbrow, and it was a shocking turn. After reading Hermann Hesse's novel Demian, RM (formerly Rap Monster but shed the moniker because he's artsy now) realized something about himself that he wasn't ready to know, and the resulting turmoil he was in produced this inky, sweaty beast of a song. From a distance, it seems like a pretty standard, if sophisticated, moombahton track wherein the members of BTS declare their love for someone. However, if you look a little closer, particularly with the visual aid the music video provides, you'll notice the dark underbelly of it.

this isn't a song about love, but about temptation. about being a slave to one's lust, the irrationality of it. specifically, it is a song about desiring someone that you are not supposed to desire, and being willing to risk your entire humanity, your entire personhood, just to consummate this desire. make of that what you will. if it scans as homoerotic, that's on purpose.

BTS - SPRING DAY (2017)

click here for the music video

Spring Day might be BTS' best song. It is certainly their most heartfelt. in south korea, this song regularly reappears on the charts, and for good reason. written partially as a reaction to the government's handling of the sewol ferry tragedy, the song expresses grief at a loved one's absence. it is grief that goes beyond a breakup, it is the sort of grief felt at the loss of a young life. BTS sound younger than ever on this track, their voices contrasting sharply with the heavy, very adult subject matter. the lyrics are purposely vague, but the music video explains what the words left out - RM knew he couldn't just outright release an anti-government song as a kpop idol, but everyone got the intended message loud and clear.

the south korean government tried to cover up the details of the sewol ferry tragedy, wherein hundreds of schoolchildren died due to negligence and the crew abandoning the sinking ship. they first claimed that everyone had been rescued, and then downplayed the deaths for as long as possible. this baffling disregard for young life clearly affected RM, who zooms in on the consequences of an individual death - how many people's hearts were broken that day? the music video references "The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas", a short story about a town that is afforded endless prosperity in exchange for the permanent misery and suffering of one child.

Watching this music video makes me cry. That is very rare for Kpop.

BTS - IDOL (2018)

click here for the music video

IDOL was perhaps BTS' ballsiest move - after achieving an unprecedented level of western success (to the point of appearing on a bunch of american talk shows to promote their album), they should've tried to release a highly commercial single, right? well, they'll do that in 2020, but not yet. not right now. in 2018, BTS were still young and full of spirit, eager to show the world what was great about their culture, their country, the world they inhabited. americans were generally baffled by their presence in the western music scene, and one can only imagine the racism they encountered, especially as only one member of the group could speak english.

IDOL exists as a 'fuck you, i do what i want' anthem by a group of boys who were successful against all odds, in markets they weren't 'supposed' to be successful in. you can hate on them all you want, they still clearly have something they're bringing to the table, otherwise all this attention wouldn't be on them! IDOL features traditional korean instruments and the members are dressed in hanbok for a large portion of the video. The lyrics depict loving yourself as the ultimate defense - which it very much is.

BTS - BLACK SWAN (2020)

click here for the music video

2019 was a bad year for BTS. everything went right - countless awards, a top 10 single in America, everyone wanting a piece of the BTS pie. it was supposed to be everything they wanted, but as the money pouring in became too large of an amount for the south korean government to ignore, they were increasingly pressured to appeal to the western audience as much as possible. they were getting exhausted, working nonstop to make sure they kept up their momentum. as their success was reaching its highest peak, their personal relationships and mental health reached a rock bottom that had them considering whether or not to disband.

then covid hit, and they dropped english-language single "DYNAMITE", which went number 1 in america, and that was that. they had to continue no matter what.

but right before that, they released this - their swansong. RM had intended for this to be their last release, the end of their story. a very dark coda meant to express the harsh reality of what every industry eventually does to its young talent - it makes them fall out of love with the craft they were originally so passionate about. black swan references the 'first death' concept posited by choreographer Martha Graham - when a dancer decides to stop dancing, that's their first death, and it's more painful than their real, physical death. here, BTS are having their 'first death' before us for three minutes - they are deciding to stop creating, as they no longer experience any joy from it. they even implore the listener to film them as this happens - implicating us as part of the reason this whole story has unfolded.

it is probably the most beautiful, meaningful piece of art to come out of kpop. it encapsulates everything that was special about bts, and why listening to their post-2020 music feels wrong to me. this is the moment they died. everything after this point is their reanimated corpse being forced to amble around the stage so that south korea's economy doesn't tank - the omelas reference from earlier suddenly seeming darkly prophetic.

there's a scene in the music video towards the end where their main dancer, Jimin, drags himself across the stage, and it really does feel like watching someone die.

RIP.