Have you ever noticed that BTS albums follow a specific format? They start with a track labeled as “Intro” and end with an “Outro.” Some have “Skits” and some have “Interludes.” They also include rap-heavy tracks known in the hip-hop world as "cyphers." Starting from the second album, O!RUL8,2?, their Cypher tracks started getting numbered. In total, there are now four.
Let’s first define what Cypher means. In hip-hop, cypher is a freestyle circle. But, as we see with “Outro: Circle Room Cypher,” BTS’ “Cyphers” aren’t freestyle tracks. In their case, Cyphers are just circles, referring to the practice of taking turns one after the other. The traditional cypher definition does not apply to BTS, but they call them that to emphasize that the tracks are heavy on rap, without doubt, the perfect occasion for them to showcase their rapping skills.
The word cypher also has two definitions. As a noun, it is “a secret or a disguised way of writing; a code.” As a verb, cypher means to “put a message into secret writing; encode.” From these definitions, we gather one meaning, which is putting out an ambiguous message in an indirect form which is to be decoded by the receiver. This is interesting because we can connect this definition to how the BTS rap line delivers their “Cyphers.”
What is the intent behind writing these “Cyphers”? It has something to do with their story— more specifically, the background of RM, Suga, and J-Hope. RM and Suga already had experience with rapping before their debut. Both are equipped with enough knowledge of the genre’s history. J-Hope, on the other hand, has a background on the dance side of hip-hop; he had to study and develop his rapping skills after joining Big Hit Entertainment.
The agency wasn’t a known label back then, and hence, BTS had to start from scratch as a team with fewer resources than other K-pop groups. Coming from a little-known company is one of the reasons that brought the group a huge amount of backlash. They were looked down upon, severely criticized, and constantly undermined because they came from an impoverished company.
“Damn the hip-hop pride, idol rapper? Cut that bullshit
He’s essentially an idol shit anyway – they look down on me”
—Cypher Pt. 1, O!RUL8,2? (Translations by Genius)
BTS’ rap line had to receive the heaviest negativity from people. One example is their incident with rapper B-Free.
B-Free outwardly showed his disapproval of the rap line for considering themselves as “rappers” even after becoming “idols.” He jabbed that despite rap being their specialty, they shouldn’t be called rappers because they’re part of an idol group. He disregarded the rap line’s talent just because they came from a K-pop group. It was a prejudiced insult.
The B-Free incident is only one example from a barrage of disrespect BTS receives up until now. As a result, the group often conveys their experiences and pours out their emotions through music. For the rap line, their way of opening up about the discrimination they faced both offline and online was through the “Cyphers.”
The “Cyphers” share a common theme: all are directed towards their haters. They are for people who underestimated them, had zero faith in their dreams and abilities, and continuously tried to bring them down. Through an interesting mix of wordplay and rap-style combinations, RM, Suga, and J-Hope go back and forth switching up their individual flows to showcase their rapping skills with their verses. Through these “Cyphers,” they prove to their haters that they deserve to hold up the “rapper” title. “Cyphers” are more than diss tracks, listeners have to dive in deeper and dissect every phrase to truly understand the depth of their messages.
This is the reason why these songs are considered as cyphers in the first place. Not only do they somewhat follow its traditional definition of freestyle circle, but they are also cryptic— the rap line never makes direct references to whom they created the song for, but instead they use subtle references to give a hint of who their target is.
“I love I love I love myself
I know I know I know myself
Ya playa haters you should love yourself”
—Cypher Pt. 4, WINGS: YNWA
The world of “Cyphers” is a place haters shouldn’t dare enter, and they do a great job in proving that BTS aren’t people you can easily mess with.
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Written By: Euni
Edit By: Mheer
Checked By: Esma
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