On a Seoul summer’s day in South Korea, BTS took the world by storm with the release of its ‘soon-to-be’ “Billboard Hot 100” No. 1 hit single, “Dynamite.” Songwriter David Stewart talked about timing, stars aligning, key changes, and the world needing something light-hearted and fun as being key contributors to this success. Forbes attributed it to a paradigm shift, ARMY, and English lyrics combined with increased airtime. Feature writer/critic Chris Molanphy took it one step further with his Slate.com article, speculating that with BTS’ song “ON” landing the No. 4 spot on “Billboard’s Hot 100” earlier this year, a No. 1 hit for BTS was inevitable.
Let’s backtrack now to an in-house radio interview in 2017 with Ryan Seacrest, where BTS chats on-air with fans. One fan spoke with Jungkook, and much to his surprise the caller greeted him first with ann-yeong-ha-se-yo followed by the words han-gug-jal-mal-mot-hae — meaning their Korean is not that good. It was noticeable from the members’ smiles that they were impressed with the fan’s attempt to speak those two small sentences in Korean. Between the caller’s few words of spoken Korean and Jungkook’s attempts at speaking English, it was a heartwarming exchange.
The next fan began their conversation with how they enjoyed the English lyrics version of “Mic Drop.” This was followed by the question, “will you guys produce a whole album in English?” RM replied to this with “will we produce the whole album in English? That’s the question?” Yes RM, that was the question, and this wasn’t the first time it had been asked or answered, nor would it be the last.
Situation One (April 2017): Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-Hyuk tells Billboard that he doesn’t believe “in releasing full English songs to the U.S. market,” despite knowing that other K-pop groups have done this in the past.
Situation Two (November 2017): “On Air With Ryan Seacrest” and RM replies to a fan that while there might be plans to explore English version songs, they’ll have to wait and see.
Situation Three (December 2017): Billboard journalist Caitlin Kelley queries how “seven South Korean boys get their messages across to international audiences.” In response, a group of dedicated fan-based translators share their experiences of why they translate BTS content, not just in English, but in multiple languages. Why? one might ask. To help fans feel more connected to BTS, their music, and their messages.
Situation Four (May 2018): Guardian article title reads “English is no longer the default language of American pop” as BTS’ album Love Yourself: Tear secures the No.1 spot on Billboard’s 200 album chart. BTS would later go on to chart a total of four No. 1 albums in less than two years. The three additional albums are Love Yourself: Answer, Map of the Soul: Persona, and Map of the Soul: 7.
Situation Five (September 2018): This article by Sonya Field (proud ARMY and Managing Editor of Hypable.com) highlights a growing belief amongst ARMYs that “BTS has already proven they don’t need to release an album in English.” The author does highlight that BTS’ music could be more widely accepted by the American music industry if they were to produce all-English speaking songs and/or albums, but is quick to counter this with a critically reflective ‘but why would they?’ statement.
Fast forward to March 2019, and BTS makes a bold statement in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly. When it comes to being true to who they are as artists, their language, and their culture are very much a part of that identity. RM emphasizes, “we don’t want to change our identity or our genuineness to get the number one. Like if we sing suddenly in full English, and change all these other things, then that’s not BTS.”
Riding on the coattails of that statement last year is the knowledge that less than three weeks ago, BTS released their first (and perhaps only) all-English song called “Dynamite,” which landed the most coveted position of “Billboard’s Hot 100” No. 1 song. Even more surprising is the number of spins or radio airplay that “Dynamite” achieved when it erupted as “Pop Radio’s Most Added Song” on its release.
To say that the US music industry was confused that BTS released its all-English song after vowing in previous years that they wouldn’t is an understatement. However, if you ask ARMYs why this happened and why now, the answer is very simple. The one thing that BTS looks forward to the most in this world is performing live on stage for ARMYs. When this was taken away from them as a result of the pandemic that swept across the world earlier this year, BTS needed to find a way to help themselves overcome the anger and frustration they were experiencing. Likewise, they knew that ARMYs were suffering as much, if not more than they were. From that, the desire to find a song that could restore hope and joy back into the hearts of their fans became a priority for BTS.
And the rest, as they say, is history!
“Dynamite” has successfully become a beacon of hope and joy for millions of fans across the globe, making RM’s lyrics “Ladies and Gentlemen, we got the medicine” even more poignant. Even non-fans are now bopping to its happy-go-lucky, disco-laden vibes as well. What started out as a “no we won’t” soon became a “let’s give this a try.”
As BTS bathes in the bewilderment of their second week at No. 1 on the “Billboard Hot 100,” ARMYs are now questioning if we (BTS and ARMY combined) can achieve this same milestone with a Korean song, while the rest of the world is still wondering when BTS will produce a whole album in English.
Some things change, some things don’t!
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Written By: Shelley
Edit By: Mheer
Checked By: Aury
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