Topping charts and breaking new records every other week, if not daily, is nothing new for BTS anymore. From 1st in K-pop to 1st Act globally, BTS has been paving their own way into the unknown, while simultaneously paving it for their K-pop contemporaries. At the same time, they have also been outgrowing the K-pop genre, into something that’s been popularly known in the fandom as BTS-pop.
“Dynamite,” the group’s first all-English single, found its way back to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 this week, making for a total of three weeks at No. 1.
Furthermore, “Dynamite” is also ranked at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, Billboard Global 200, and Billboard Global 200 Excluding US charts concurrently; becoming the first act ever to have a Perfect All Kill on the Billboard charts, now nicknamed BAK (Billboard All Kill).
Credit for 3 images: @billboard
But at this point, does ARMY expect BTS to achieve such great heights without a wave of discriminatory treatment from the Western world? Of course not. Only minutes later, Billboard posted a few tweets breaking down the ‘reasons’ behind the success of “Dynamite,” in an attempt to push their agenda that BTS could only have achieved this feat because of the various remixes of “Dynamite” that were released. These tweets attempting to degrade BTS’s success were met with rightful backlash from the fans and asking Billboard if the tweets were really necessary and why there were there no such analytical tweets for Western artists - as it’s become an industry standard to bundle albums and singles with tons of (sometimes ridiculous) merchandise to achieve higher rankings on the charts. The tweets were also flooded with evidence of astonishing numbers of remixes released by popular Western Artists, while others called Billboard out on its prolonged xenophobic behavior towards the band.
Not too long ago, RM, the leader of BTS, also candidly opened up about this unjust treatment in their interview with Reuters. He stated:
“Since we’re Aliens to the Music Industry for America, we don’t know if there’s a place for us or not. The Grammys aren’t like the Hot 100. It’s not numbers; we don’t know what’s going on.”
Days later, Big Hit Entertainment’s new Weverse Magazine, published an article that highlighted another racist incident that the members experienced earlier this year that occurred when BTS visited SiriusXM for a radio show. “The Howard Stern Show’s” host Howard Stern, revealed that SiriusXM writer Sal Governale made the following remark:
“There’s no way those guys don’t have the coronavirus.”
These microaggressions, one after the other, created an uproar amongst the fandom, who more often than not are the main source of support against Industry gatekeeping, xenophobia, and general prejudice. Years of mistreatment by their own industry, as well as that of the Western Industry, has taught the fandom to protect their idols with fierceness, passion, and a side of cold, hard evidence. The constant use of demeaning terms like ‘toxic’ and ‘rabid’ from mainstream media in describing the fandom further adds to their belittling of the band. Fans have likened these situations to the Spanish idiom “Throwing stones and hiding your hands.”
Credit for image: EW.com
But even then, the name of BTS remains unforgettable — written all over the charts — with them appearing on award shows all over the world. No amount of denying and living under a rock can stop BTS from doing what they do best - creating music and inspiring millions at one go.
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Written By: Ananya
Edit By: Ash
Checked By: Clare
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