When BTS just debuted in 2013, their agency, Bighit, wasn’t a very well known or rich company. (The three big agencies in Korea were SM, JYP, YG) So the agency couldn’t provide them with so many resources or opportunities to go on shows like the other groups. (In the beginning, they even had to go on the streets to promote their own concerts in person.) They were originally going to be a hip hop group similar to another group in the YG Entertainment, but Bang Si-hyunk, the CEO of Bighit, decided to make an idol group that can ignore the restrictions that Kpop was known for, and make socially conscious music.
Their name BTS actually stands for “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which is “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean. The name refers to the group’s strong desire “to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets”. Although they had received lots of criticisms saying that they were ugly, or that their raps were awful…they worked hard and got their first ever music show win with their lead single “I Need U” of their third EP “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1” in 2015.
Now, seven years after that, they have achieved much more. In the US, they won a total of 4 AMA awards in 2021, most of their title songs stayed on the the Billboard charts for many weeks, and they were nominated for Grammy two consecutive years. BTS has even spoken at the United Nations twice, being the first Kpop group to ever do so.
The next post will be about the possible reasons for the extraordinary popularity of BTS. 💜
