Journey of BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan)

Bangtan Boys famous as BTS( Bangtan Sonyeondan), is a South Korean boy band which was formed in 2010 and debuted in 2013 under the banner of Big Hit Entertainment. Members of the group are Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook started writing and producing their own output. BTS basically a hip hop group, their musical style has evolved to include a wide range of genres. Their lyrics, often focused on personal and social analysis, touch on the themes of mental health, troubles of school-age youth and coming of age, loss, the journey towards loving oneself, and individualism. Debuted in 2013 with their single album 2 Cool 4 Skool then BTS released their first Korean-language studio album, Dark and Wild, and Japanese-language studio album, Wake Up, in 2014.Wings in 2016 was their second Korean album and 1 million copies were sold. BTS entered the global music market and became popular in United States as well and broke several sales record. From the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) they received the certification for their single ‘MIC DROP’and they were the first Korean band to achieve such recognition. BTS performed the first Korean act to top the US Billboard 200 with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018). BTS achieved four US number-one albums in less than two years, and RIAA certified Platinum which was the first Korean album Love Yourself: Answer (2018). In 2020, BTS became the first South Korean with their act to reach number one on the Billboard Global 200 and US Billboard Hot 100 with their Grammy-nominated single "Dynamite” and followed by "Savage Love", "Life Goes On", "Butter", and "Permission to Dance" which made BTS the fastest act to accumulate five US number-one singles. Over 32 million albums were sold on the Gaon Music Chart and BTS became the best-selling artist in South Korean history and holds the best-selling album in South Korea . BTS received six American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, 24 Golden Disk Awards, and nominations for two Grammy Awards and two Brit Awards. Outside of music, they partnered with UNICEF to establish the Love Myself anti-violence campaign, addressed three United Nations General Assemblies, and became the youngest ever recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit from the President of South Korea due to their contributions in spreading Korean culture and language. Name The group's name, BTS, stands for the Korean phrase Bangtan Sonyeondan which means "Bulletproof Boy Scouts". BTS in 2013 performing at the Incheon Music Center 2010–2014: Formation and early years BTS was formed in 2010 after Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-hyuk met RM and was impressed by his rapping skills and began to gain attention for their presence on various social media websites, as well as song covers on YouTube and SoundCloud. They started telling the stories in their song that people wanted to hear and were ready to hear, stories that other people could not or would not tell. We said what other people were feeling—like pain, anxieties and worries. That was our goal, to create this empathy that people can relate to. On June 12, 2013, BTS released their debut single album 2 Cool 4 Skool (the first entry in their "school trilogy" series), along with the lead single "No More Dream", which quickly fell off the charts. The album, however, reached the top five in South Korea on the Gaon Music Chart. Their subsequent single, "We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2", failed to chart. In 2 Cool 4 Skool, BTS employed an old-school hip-hop sound from the 1980s–90s. The single album's release was followed by several appearances on Korean music shows. Despite being unpolished, critics say these early live performances demonstrated BTS' potential. Expanding their endeavors to Japan, "No More Dream" was later re-recorded in Japanese and released in June 2014. In September 2013, BTS released the second entry in their "school trilogy": the extended play O!RUL8,2? This record was released alongside the single "N.O,". Despite several performances on Korean music shows, the single quickly fell off the charts. That same month, BTS starred in their own variety show, SBS MTV's Rookie King Channel Bangtan, in which members parodied variety shows such as VJ Special Forces and MasterChef Korea. At the end of the year, BTS was recognized with several New Artist of the Year awards, including the 2013 Melon Music Awards, 28th Golden Disc Awards, and the 23rd Seoul Music Awards. 2014–2017: Mainstream and international breakthrough Moderate success and first concert tour Exterior of the nightclub Troubadour (photo taken 2006) where BTS held their first concert in the US for free The last act of their "school trilogy", the EP Skool Luv Affair, was released in January 2014 and topped the Gaon Album Chart. It also marked BTS' first appearance on Billboard's World Albums Chart, peaking at number three. The album was supported by the singles "Boy in Luv" ; and "Just One Day". In August, the group also made their first appearance at KCON in Los Angeles. In August 2014, BTS released their first Korean studio album, Dark and Wild, which peaked at number two in South Korea. It was supported by two singles: "Danger" and "War of Hormone".The album served as a narrative extensional of the "school trilogy" and a transition into their next series. Following several appearances on Korean music shows, Celebrating Korean music icon Seo Taiji's 25th anniversary as a part of his anniversary project "Time: Traveler", BTS released a remake of Seo Taiji's 1995 classic "Come Back Home" in July 2017, reworking the sound and lyrics to similar sentiments toward societal change that Seo Taiji originally wrote with BTS now "maintaining its originally intensely dark feeling". BTS was later invited by Seo Taiji to perform as backup vocalists and dancers for eight songs in his Seoul Olympic Stadium concert held early September. Commercially, BTS continued to hit new career heights with the Love Yourself: Her EP, debuting at number seven on the Billboard 200. In South Korea, the EP sold over 1.2 million copies on the Gaon Album Chart in its first month The single "DNA" was released simultaneously with the EP and debuted at number two in South Korea. "DNA" also became the group's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 following Psy's "Gangnam Style". The following week, "DNA" rose to number 67 and became the highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 for a K-pop group, beating Wonder Girls' previous record at number 76. The following single "Mic Drop (Remix)" peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first top 40 entry for a K-pop group on the chart. Both "Mic Drop Remix" and "DNA" were later certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) making BTS the first and only South Korean artist to receive two certifications. "Mic Drop" went on to receive Platinum certification in November 2018, making BTS the first Korean group with a Platinum-certified single in the US. In December 2017, "DNA" and "Mic Drop" were released as a triple-A side single in Japan with the new song "Crystal Snow", which topped the Oricon Chart. BTS became the only foreign artist to have a single certified double platinum by the RIAA that year. They also became the first artist outside of the top three Korean pop music agencies (SM, YG and JYP) to win major awards at the Golden Disc Awards and the Seoul Music Awards, respectively. 2018–2020 BTS got worldwide recognition and huge success and Love Yourself album series Map of the Soul: Persona, stadium world tour and BTS World In February 2019, BTS attended the 61st Grammy Awards for the first time as award presenters following their appearance at the LA Grammy Museum in 2019BTS are also the fastest group to get three number one albums since the Monkees in 1967.[157] Map of the Soul: Persona later became the best-selling album ever in South Korea, with more than 3.2 million sales in less than a month. Prior to BTS, the best-selling lists were dominated by late 1990s albums, making BTS the only act formed after 2000 to be featured in the top 10 best-selling list. "Boy with Luv" debuted at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest in history for a Korean group in April 2019. "Boy with Luv" was certified Silver in the UK by the BPI for selling over 200,000 units.[160] BTS performed at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California before 60,000 fans Love Yourself: Her and Love Yourself: Tear both crossed 2 million copies in August. All three albums of the Love Yourself series have sold more than 2 million copies each in South Korea. In November, BTS became the first K-pop group to win Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock at the 2019 American Music Awards and Favorite Social Artist consecutively (2018 and 2019). Map of the Soul: 7, "Dynamite" and Be In January 2020, BTS released "Black Swan" along with a choreography art film performed by MN Dance Company as the first single from their fourth Korean-language studio album, Map of the Soul: 7. Album distributor Dreamus reported that stock pre-orders of the album reached a record-breaking 4.02 million, breaking the previous record of 2.68 million held by Map of the Soul: Persona. Later that month, BTS performed alongside Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diplo and Nas at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, making BTS the first Korean act to perform at the Grammys. In April, BTS became the first South Korean artist to sell more than 20 million albums cumulatively—previously Shin Seung-hun held the record with 17 million albums sold—making them the best-selling artist in South Korean history. BTS released their first English-language single, "Dynamite", on August 21. "Dynamite" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart becoming the fastest-selling single since Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017)—earning BTS their first chart topper and making them the first all-South Korean act (second Asian act overall) to earn a number one single in the US On August 31, BTS made their MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) debut with the first live performance of "Dynamite" and won four awards: Best Group, Best Choreography, Best Pop Video, and Best K-pop (the last three for their music video for "On"). On October 14, they performed the single at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards and won the Top Social Artist award, becoming their fourth consecutive year of winning the award. On October 2, BTS released a remix of Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo's single "Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)". It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking the group's second number one entry in the US. "Dynamite" remained at number two, making BTS the fourth group (after the Beatles, Bee Gees, and OutKast) to simultaneously occupy the top two spots on the Hot 100. The single also topped the Billboard Global 200, becoming their second number one entry and making BTS the first artist to have multiple songs top Billboard's recently created global singles chart. With this, BTS achieved their third consecutive number one on the Hot 100 in just three months—the fastest of any band since the Beatles in 1964 to do so—and became the first group in the chart's history to have two number one debuts, as well as seven songs appearing simultaneously on the chart. "Life Goes On" became the first song performed primarily in Korean to debut in the top spot. The group won the Special International Music Award at the 62nd Japan Record Awards. 2021–present: BTS, the Best, "Butter"

and "Permission to Dance" BTS performing "Butter" at the 49th American Music Awards on November 21, 2021 On March 4, 2021, BTS was named by IFPI as its its Global Recording Artist of the Year for 2020—BTS was the first Asian and first non-English speaking group to top the ranking. "Butter", which was the second English language single was launched by BTS on May 21.The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band held an online concert, titled Permission to Dance on Stage, on October 24 in Seoul. On November 23, "Butter" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. BTS, titled 7Fates: Chako, which is a fictional webtoon was released onJanuary 15, 2022 which surpassed 15 million views globally in its first two days of availability and became the highest-viewed title ever launched by Webtoon Musical style BTS co-write and produce much of their own output. Since their inception, BTS have had an emphasis on hip hop as their musical base Lyrical themes Since their inception, BTS have believed that telling their story is the best way for the younger generation to relate to their music. Writing the majority of their own lyrics, the group incorporates universal life experiences, such as sadness and loneliness, in their work and turn them into something more light and manageable In 2018, songs such as "No More Dream" and "N.O" from their school trilogy were described by Tamar Herman as being motivated by their experiences with South Korea's emphasis on education and called for change to the education system and societal expectationsTheir experiences with youth culture in South Korea inspired the songs "Dope" and "Silver Spoon" from their youth trilogy, referencing generational disparity and millennials giving up of romantic relationships, marriage, children, proper employment, homes, and social life in the face of economic difficulties and societal ills while facing condemnation from the media and older generations. BTS performing at the Korea-France Friendship Concert in Paris on October 14, 2018

Impact Main article: Cultural impact and legacy of BTS On April 29, 2019 Time magazine named BTS on their "The 100 Most Influential People" of the year list, giving them the nickname "Princes of Pop. In 2020, BTS became the first non-western and non-English speaking artist to be named IFPI's Global Recording Artist of the Year. In South Korea, BTS accounted for 41.9 percent of album sales in the first half of 2019, up from their market share of 25.3 percent the previous year. A video series, "Learn Korean with BTS," was launched in March 2020 on the web platform app Weverse, intended to "make it easy and fun for global fans who have difficulty enjoying BTS' music and contents due to the language barrier." The idea for the project emerged in reaction to fans asking for English subtitles for BTS' videos.Fans demanded for subtitles in English after implementing this idea. Global acceptance of this group has led them to address the 73rd United Nations General Assembly and perform before 400 officials, including South Korean president Moon Jae-in, at the 2018 Korea-France Friendship Concert in Paris, a summit celebrating the friendly relations between France and South Korea. That year, BTS also became the youngest ever recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit.