ME News Bureau: Prerna Mistry writes about the rise of the South Korean boy band BTS who recently won the Top Social Artiste award at the Billboard Music Awards and went on to become the first ever K-pop group to perform at the American Music Awards.
It was the year 2012 when Korean artiste Psy’s Gangnam Style took the world by storm, breaking YouTube records as well with its catchy tunes and funky dance moves.
However, this failed to spark interest in other K-pop groups and though it earned the his follow-up song Gentleman a spot on the Billboard Hot 100, Psy failed to hit the mark in the international music scene.
Come 2017 and it marked the rise of the South Korean boy band BTS with the group winning the Top Social Artiste award at the Billboard Music Awards and went on to become the first ever K-pop group to perform at the American Music Awards.
BTS’ success is much attributed to the band’s performances as the complicated, high-energy choreography is something rarely seen in today’s pop music. BTS is also known to deliver thought-provoking messages with their songs which connect with the youth in the world and represent the struggling youth. On an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, member Suga expressed, “Korea and US, we have our different languages but we all share similar thoughts. We may talk in different tongues, but we’re thankful that you (the fans) identify themselves with us.”
One of the major factors is perhaps how BTS used social media platforms from the early stages in their career; they ran a blog to upload their freestyle rap, songs, mix tapes and work logs to establish their own musical world and then released three albums with the concept of ‘Story of Teens by Teens,’ where the members incorporated their stories into their songs which made an impact on the younger generation. Besides, each member of the BTS also sought to communicate and establish a connection with their fans through their vlogs which helped them become an online powerhouse. Their fan base known as ARMY, played a great role in promoting the band on the internet both locally and internationally.
This enabled BTS to a fan base in the West as well as in Korea as attested by them being invited to perform in the AMAs and BBMAs and the popularity of their single in collaboration with DJ Steve Aoki, ‘Mic Drop,’ which peaked at No. 28 in the Billboard Hot 100.
The song remains popular not only in Korea but internationally as well and it wasn’t the song that fuelled BTS’ popularity, it was rather, the other way around. It is reported that BTS’ popularity is likely to have a carryover effect on other K-pop groups as well that may boost the genre of K-Pop in the international music world.
