Commentary: How world sensation BTS took K-pop fandom to a whole new level
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Commentary: How world sensation BTS took K-pop fandom to a whole new level
BTS has basked in recognition from abroad, including the English-speaking earth, a rare achievement for an Asian deed, says Steven Borowiec.
BTS take become one of Southward Korea's best-known and most valuable musical exports. (Photo: Facebook/BTS)
24 Jan 2022 06:14AM (Updated: 29 Jan 2022 04:25PM)
SEOUL: Fans of the K-pop sensation BTS are called "Army". That moniker is an indication of just how dedicated they are to supporting the group.
This past weekend, the BTS Ground forces displayed that dedication when they gathered exterior National Stadium starting the day before their adored performers took the phase, with fans converging on the venue to shop for BTS merchandise and pose for photos in a pop-booth.
THE Earth LOVES THEM
K-pop has long been a massive industry, with a bevy of successful acts whose fans organise themselves into tribes with their own customs and conventions, simply BTS have brought the genre's fandom to a new level.
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The group'south achievements, since debuting in 2013, are unprecedented for a Korean-language act, and besides numerous to recite in 1 place.
While S Korean groups, such as Wonder Girls and Girls' Generation, who were huge at home never found sustained popularity in western countries, BTS has basked in recognition from abroad, including the English language-speaking world, a rare achievement for an Asian human action.
A few highlights from simply last year: BTS music topped the charts in multiple countries including the US, leading the New York Times to declare that "BTS (has) Conquered America"; the group held a sold-out show in London; and the BBC went as far as to deem them "the Beatles for the 21st Century."
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Just THEY Show THEY Tin Withal Be VULNERABLE
In Baronial, when fellow member J-Promise fabricated a roughly two-second cameo in a video by the biggest rapper in the world, Drake, Armys displayed their resolve to support the group in any effort, bombarding YouTube with celebratory comments, with at to the lowest degree 1 comment to the event of:
It's funny how there are more JHope fans than Drake fans hither.
Of all the yr's highlights, i is peculiarly noteworthy, and provides clues to the grouping's power to inspire such fervour in their fans.
Last September, BTS member RM gave a oral communication at the United Nations in New York, in and of itself a noteworthy feat, given that K-pop groups by and large sing syrupy love songs and aren't known for tackling tricky global topics that autumn under the United Nation's purview.
RM took the podium to speak on issues related to youth wellness and well-being.
(Given the group's wide entreatment and the upbeat nature of their lyrics, UNICEF had recruited BTS as partners in an initiative to get more young people into instruction, training or employment.)
While at the pulpit, RM, whose existent name is Kim Nam-jun, didn't pretend to be a policy expert.
Instead he told his own story of growing upwards in a suburb of Seoul and rising to fame as a member of the grouping. He discussed the sacrifices he made on the road to fame, and how in that location were times he considered giving information technology all upwards.
Nosotros've all heard such stories from successful entertainers before, but a more novel role of his spoken language came when he described how, effectually age nine or 10, he lost the wonderment of babyhood. He stopped gazing in awe at the stars each dark and began seeing himself how he imagined other people saw him.
"I tried to jam myself into moulds that other people fabricated," he said.
He concluded with an admonition to everyone listening to cover who they are, and express themselves on their own terms.
In spreading their empowering bulletin, it helps that BTS aren't some typical cheesy public service announcement mascot but fabricated of seven young men who have worked hard in their field to get to where they are.
The members have the skilful looks and smoothen dance moves required for success in the genre, and are skilled vocalists. Their choice to speak openly well-nigh vulnerability, from a position of force, is part of what makes them fresh.
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BTS' Ascension Too A STORY ABOUT THE SURGE IN MUSIC STREAMING
It is impossible to tell the story of BTS without discussing the overall changes in the music industry, in particular, the rising of streaming. Last year, industry standard bearer Billboard changed the way it determines its chart rankings, increasing the relative value of online streams.
Given how many K-pop fans live in countries with widespread access to fast WiFi, like South Korean and Singapore, such metrics are well-designed for documenting BTS' popularity.
And in today's K-pop landscape, many fans are personally invested in their chosen grouping to the extent that they make deliberate efforts to button them upwardly streaming charts. When BTS drops a vocal or video, Armys deploy to YouTube and streaming platforms like soldiers in pursuit of the number one spot.
Merely BTS' SUCCESS IS Also PLACING THE Thousand-Pop INDUSTRY Under GREATER SCRUTINY
It warrants mentioning that K-pop, every bit an industry, has a lot to reply for.
The big companies that run the show accept been defendant many times of treating their performers like slaves, forcing them to maintain arduous schedules of practise and performance, while limiting their access to outside friends or family members, and forbidding them from dating.
BTS are a production of this organization. Unlike the Beatles, they don't take an organic origin story: They were put together by their management after a series of auditions.
For every BTS, in that location are many more failed attempts at stardom. The industry's history is littered with stories of cleaved dreams, of aspiring performers who charge their management of abuse, or of not giving paying them money they are owed.
Information technology is possible that over the years, such unflattering stories volition trickle out and sully the BTS make. The current atmosphere of celebration may come to seem naive in retrospect.
BTS OFFERS FANS HOPE AND A SENSE OF Connexion
Notwithstanding, we live in an era where many observe it hard to find acceptance in a group that is welcoming and supportive. One thousand-pop fans of student historic period discover their schools to be places of trigger-happy contest for grades and prestige.
For those who are working age, the job market can be even tougher, with a dearth of stable jobs in well-nigh countries. When the game is to stand out and exist noticed, fewer young people are likely to lean on each other for support, or acknowledge to struggling, as RM did in his speech.
Therefore, fandom can offer a sense of connection more meaningful than the consumption of music as entertainment, or the fascination that comes with observing glory.
Peradventure when fans, such as those who gathered outside National Stadium, stock up on trade that bears their idols' likenesses they are doing and so in an effort to experience closer to them, and to others who share their passion.
At the concert in Singapore, and wherever BTS performs around the globe, the audience sings along to the refrain of their hit Idol, which states plainly:
You can't stop me loving myself.
That is a sentiment that many appreciate hearing, and that resonates powerfully in any language.
Steven Borowiec is the politics editor of Korea Expose.
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