I consider myself to be very open-minded when it comes to music and that’s why I tried listening to BTS (and other K-Pop artists) after being convinced by ardent K-Pop fans that they were worth a try. And of course, any group with such a massive following deserves a listen. So, I heard them. You know what my first reaction to one of their albums (the name of which I do not even remember) was? Fucking hated it. I don’t even know why I didn’t like them, but I didn’t. And that’s fine.
But then, soon after that, the album Love Yourself: Tear debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 (which is a big fucking deal) and I wondered why that happened. So, naturally, I had to give them a try again. And I did. Still didn’t like them. It sounded better than before but didn’t quite enjoy it. Watched some of their videos – and they REALLY impressed me. The effort that must have taken to make something that beautiful and well-synced blew my mind and I couldn’t help but appreciate that.
Fast forward to today, I knew nothing more about BTS, but after having a late night call with a (female) friend of mine who wouldn’t stop raving about BTS and how talented they were, they were on my mind. So, I decided to give them a try again. I had been feeling extremely low for the past few days (because life can get rough sometimes) and I thought “Well, let’s see if these guys can do something about it.” I started playing their top songs on Apple Music. And quite unfairly, they hit me with FAKE LOVE, to begin with. I swear I wasn’t ready for that banger. But within moments, I was headbanging and dancing in my room (quite badly obviously; I have my skills, dancing is really not one of them). I was flabbergasted. Great songs like DNA, IDOL, Blood Sweat & Tears followed and I was in awe. How did I suddenly fall in love with something that I didn’t like at all before?
But I cannot just state that I liked it and be done with it. For you guys, I’ll explain why. I’ll explain what’s good about them (according to my SUBJECTIVE opinion; you’re free to disagree, but I promise you that ARMYs aren’t going to leave you without a fight – and they can be really merciless at times). Let’s consider three things that you might judge a Pop album on: Production, Content, Vocals.
Production:
Imitation is the best form of flattery. If so, people really flatter BTS because every music industry in the whole damn world has taken BTS’s sound (and some like Bollywood have shamelessly copied it multiple times). That speaks for how good it must be. On LY:Her, you have everything ranging from delicate R&B on ‘Serendipity’, to electronic dance beats on ‘Best of Me’, to Daft Punk inspired electronic jazz on ‘Pied Piper’ (which is also my favourite track on the album), to bass-heavy but still smooth ‘Dimple’. There’s so much variety on the album but it doesn’t feel jarring at all. The songs go well together and make a complete EP styled album. It’s not just a good K-Pop album, it’s a good Pop album. With this album, they achieved something K-Pop had not achieved before – a global sound. It’s a landmark.
Content:
One of the most popular internet arguments against BTS (after “You look like girls”) is that they do not talk about things in a way that someone like Lorde or Taylor Swift or Camila do, that their lyrics don’t really mean anything. If you’re one of these, please open your pants and turn around because you deserve some spanking. Let’s take examples.
Exhibit 1:
Follow the sound of the pipe, follow this song
It’s a bit dangerous but I’m so sweet
I’m here to save you, I’m here to ruin you
That’s from Pied Piper. If you, yes, you the rock fanatic, are as smart as you claim to be, you can easily understand the metaphor there, right?
My pipe awakens everything
That sound burns you up even more
You’re pulled by it, you react
I’m endlessly blowing
I’m your guilty pleasure
You can’t escape
Never
Exhibit 2:
Our meeting is like a mathematical formula
Commandments of religion, providence of the universe;
The evidence of destiny given to me
You’re the source of my dream
Take it, take it
My hand reaching out to you is my chosen fate
That is from ‘DNA’. That’s a love song that’s going to make you feel. You’re going to tell me those aren’t good lyrics? Get your head out your ass, please.
Vocals:
Okay, now I will admit that vocals are not BTS’s biggest strength, but if you listen to their songs, they don’t just sing. They give us melodic choruses, catchy hooks, and spit fire bars at times too. And being a hip-hop fan, BTS has their golden hip-hop moments. RM is really good at rapping. Jungkook controls his voice brilliantly and no one really has a “bad” voice in BTS or is not good at singing. They’re obviously not up there with Adele and Lorde however. And that’s okay. Because neither are pop stars like Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, or Justin Bieber.
BONUS: VIDEOS:
Okay, I cannot even explain how good their videos are and how good they are at dancing. You will just have to watch for yourselves. Even when I didn’t like their music, I was a fan of their videos. They were enthralling and the dance sequences continue to blow me away. Rest assured, I am going to wait for every BTS video now. And they are so young it blows my mind. Seven 20ish-year-old guys doing things that I cannot even imagine doing. Their success is well-deserved. They have taken K-Pop (and Pop) to another level. And they’ll go down in history for that.
In conclusion, I’ll say that if you are open-minded when it comes to music and are willing to explore different genres of music, you should check out BTS. Cannot speak for other K-Pop groups, but BTS is GREAT. And if you have heard their music and didn’t like it, don’t worry, you’ll have your BTS moments.
Now the only reason I have to hate BTS (and this is serious) is that every girl I want is after them. NOW I CAN’T HELP IF I AM NOT THAT TALENTED OR GOOD-LOOKING NO! #FeelsBadMan
The Rhetoric Life 