BTS (방탄소년단) which literally translates to Bulletproof boy scouts is a K POP group. With net worth over 450 million dollars BTS is often dubbed as the world’s biggest boy band and one of the most influential groups right now. BTS also stands for beyond the scene and they are also called as Bangtan boys. Debuted in 2013 in seoul , South Korea under bighit entertainment,BTS is originally based on hip hop, their music has evolved into variety of genres. BTS consists of seven members RM, Jin , Suga , J-Hope , Jimin , Jungkook and V. The members of BTS often participate in the process of composing and writing lyrics. With lyrics like “I may fall down and get hurt but I still run endlessly towards my dream”(song: Young Forever) , “I’m the one I should love”(song:epiphany) Their lyrics are based on Self love, metal health , about youth , about society and insecurity ,with the lyrics they are inspiring people all over the world. With over 40 million plus fans all over the globe their fandom “ARMY” which stands for Adorable representative MC for youth is one of the worlds biggest and the most devoted fandom. Their fandom ‘ARMY’ is very diverse it is not only girls or teenagers but their fandom has people from all kinds of backgrounds. The fandom comprises both male and female, teenagers and older people (including senior citizens) . With this big and diverse fandom BTS is always packed with a hectic schedule ,touring all over the world performing in stadiums all over the world. In 2019 June BTS sold out one of the biggest stadiums in the world “the Wembley stadium” within 90 minutes and created history as one of the very few artists and the fastest to sell out Wembley . With this big fandom you might think it must have always been easy for them but its not. When they first debuted they were criticized for their looks, singing skills and because of less budget and other financial issues all the seven members had to share one single room and use their staff members and their managers car for their MV , over the years BTS has overcome all criticism and broke stereotypes and became a big hit in the USA . It wasn’t an easy journey to break through the US market being an Asian group but BTS did it with all their dedication and passion. Many people also say that BTS has paved way for k pop and other Asian based artists by breaking the US market. With their hard work , passion and devoted fandom BTS rose to international fame. BTS has been nominated and awarded various awards. BTS won 244 awards out of 357 nominations throughout their 7 year career . BTS has made various historic achievements throughout their career and here are the most important, memorable and biggest achievements of BTS
- BTS is the First K pop group to present at the Grammys.
- BTS is also the First K pop group to perform at the billboard.
- BTS has 7 Guinness records under their name
- Only artist with 20 songs at #1 on the billboard charts
- Various BTS’S albums are the best selling albums in the US
- Their “love yourself” campaign with UNICEF is the most successful campaign in the history.
From being the first k pop group to first ever boyband and first artists, Their list of achievements is never ending and counting! Even after they have everything they dreamt of fame , money , fans and big achievements they are really down to earth and kind. They always give credit to their fans ‘army’ , they support the LGBTQ community by donating and wearing clothes that support the LGBTQ community,breaking the stereotypes about masculinity by being open about mental health and spreading love. Recently they donated 1 million dollars to blacks life matter with their company and because of this even their fans the army started a project match a million and within 24 hours the army also donated 1 million dollars, not only this but the BTS army has done various donation projects all around the globe in the name of BTS , now that’s what we call devoted fandom. In the light of Corona and because of cancellation of their tour BTS donated 1 million dollars to the crew who lost their jobs . They have also made various records in the social media platform and every day the BTS Army trends various hashtags when a new content drops . According to 2019 data BTS had 2,199,192,809 mentions in Twitter alone . They are the first k pop artist to cross 20 million followers on Twitter. They have many other records in the social media platform. BTS is often dubbed as the ‘NATIONAL TREASURE’ of South Korea because of various reasons. Nearly 8,00,000 people visit South Korea every year because of BTS , which is nearly more than 70% of annual tourist number in South Korea. Recently with their latest single “dynamite” BTS topped the billboard hot 100 chart more than once and with their savage love remix (with Jason Derulo) BTS topped the billboard hot 100 chart simultaneously at #1 and #2 which is a rare sight. ‘DYNAMITE’ topping the billboard hot 100 chart made an effect of nearly 1.71 billion Korean won on the South Korean economy and it also provided job to nearly 8000 new jobs . They aren’t called south Korea national treasure for nothing. One more point worth mentioning when talking about BTS is the phrase “I purple you” which is a famous line among the fandom. I purple you is a phrase given by a BTS member ‘V’ (real name Kim Taehyung) during a concert. He said that as purple is the last color in the rainbow it has a great meaning. He said that I purple you means that I will love you and trust you forever, he later in the speech mentioned that he made it up , but ‘I purple you’ has evolved to become an important phrase for both BTS and their army. They often use “I purple you” as a substitute to “I love you” and the usage of this phrase and purple heart is very common within the BTS army.
Who would have imagined seven boys from Seoul will become like a family and create an identity for themselves in the music industry. BTS proved that nothing is impossible and hard work and passion always pays off.
“Love yourself, Speak yourself ”
‘the only time you should ever look back is to see how far you’ve come’ [lyric in butterfly]
BY Shree Nithya Pathangi, Chennai
