In Defense of BTS: An Open Letter to the American Entertainment Media
If you’ve spent five minutes on the internet recently, you’ve more than likely heard the name BTS. The seven member K-Pop boyband (the K stands for Korean, for all those new here) will be making their American televised debut on the American Music Awards this Sunday. They are all over Twitter and Youtube, and soon they will be all over your TV. It is the recent American promotion tour in anticipation for their AMAs performance that has led me to write this piece. I’ve been a BTS fan for a few months shy of a year. The respect and admiration that I feel for this band is what fuels my disappointment in how they’ve been treated by the American media. There has been some good, obviously, but the bad that has come out of these interviews has felt dismissive, demeaning, and unaccommodating to a group that has fought so hard and for so long for their seat at this table. Y’all mind if I talk about it?
I’m a young, 25 year old black woman. I spend a lot of time on Twitter and Tumblr, like most depressed, broke millennials do. Back in March, I started to see a lot of BTS circulating on my feeds. As one does when one is nosy, I wanted to investigate.
Now, this isn’t a biographical piece about BTS. Those exist, and they’re wonderful, but this ain’t it. This is a piece about what BTS mean to me, what they mean to their fanbase ARMY, the dedication and hard work they’ve put into their artistry, and why the American media should be talking about that during their introduction to America, instead of their celebrity crush, if they will be releasing albums in English, their craziest fan experience, and completely butchering which of them is which.
Here are the facts for those of you just tuning in. This will be quick. The K-Pop group is made up of seven boys: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook. They write and produce their own socially conscious music about the hardships young people face. Their music, aside from separate Japanese releases, is almost entirely in Korean. They spend hours upon hours in the practice studio perfecting their seemingly impossible, spine-breaking choreography. Their latest mini album, Love Yourself: Her, reached number 7 on the Billboard 200 and the lead single, DNA, peaked at number 67 on the Hot 100, both record breaking for Korean groups on the chart. Last March and April, they performed to a crowd of 60,000 people over five nights on the sold out North American leg of their worldwide Wings Tour. These guys are kind of a big deal.
Now, let’s get into it. The first thing that should be discussed when talking about BTS is the fact that while they’re being compared to huge acts like One Direction, *NSYNC, and Backstreet Boys, there’s a major difference: they’re doing it all in Korean. They write their music in Korean. They release their music in Korean. The fans listen to their music in, one mo’ time y’all! Korean. This is such a unique and barrier-breaking accomplishment that should be brought up time and time again until it stops being one of a kind.
Not only is the music written in Korean, but when I say it’s BTS behind these songs, I mean it. RM alone has 86 songwriting credits between their discography and his solo mixtape. Together the band has registered 269 credits with the Korea Music Copyright Association. These guys put in the work. Not just in their choreography, but in the studio as well. The questions that arise from this aspect of BTS alone could power American interviewers for a year. Where do they get the inspiration for their music? How did they develop their own, personal songwriting and producing styles? What comes first: the melody or the lyric? How does the song-making process change between creating a rap-led song and a vocal one?
As an introduction to America, you cannot have BTS without their ARMY. This got levels, y’all, so pay attention. BTS have forged a connection with their fans that is so unique, so deep, so lasting, and honestly? It’s unmatched. I’ve been in different fandoms going on ten years now, and I have never seen anything like this. Not only do they engage with their fans on Twitter, where they have 10 million followers. They also regularly livestream with fans on the Naver-run app V Live. There’s EAT Jin, a segment where Jin will talk to us while eating meals. Linked above, leader RM regularly streams after a comeback, giving ARMY an intricate, thoughtful, track-by-track insight into the album’s inspiration and production. On V Live they have Run BTS, a series in which they engage in team-based competitions that have included cooking, zombie-haunted amusement parks, sledding, bungee-jumping, dog training, and “spy mission” games. In their series Bon Voyage, two seasons strong so far, the members are dropped into a vacation spot where chaos always ensues. None of that includes their Youtube presence, where their channel BANGTANTV has posted 770 videos. These consist of Bangtan Bombs, which can be anything from a Halloween-themed choreography practice to a behind the scenes look at them shooting their latest music video. I’m not going to get into their Fancafe, Season’s Greetings, Summer Packages, Memories Of DVDs, ARMY Musters, tour commentary/rehearsal/practice footage, or yearly FESTA content. I’ll let y’all find that spiral for yourselves.
All of that content? In Korean. On V Live, there are subtitles available. On Twitter and Youtube, there are ARMYs whose accounts are dedicated to translating what seems like endless content, including song lyrics. In the recent interviews, BTS have been asked if they will ever release an album in English. From inside the fandom, that seems like an almost laughable concept. The language barrier perceived by the media is one that we’ve already found ways to break down.
I truly wish the American interviewers who were given access to BTS this week had understood that relationship a little more. Maybe it would have given them some insight into why fans don’t need an English album, especially when the band has been clear in expressing their desire to stay with their Korean roots. It could have explained why BTS seemed hesitant to label their fans as “crazy” or “weird” or “obsessive”, and instead talked about how much their fans love them. They also buck the notion that all their fans are hysterical teen girls (for the record, there’s nothing wrong with being a hysterical teen girl, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise). They are fully aware that their ARMY is diverse in more ways than one. A more productive way of figuring out how they feel about their unique fan culture would be to ask why exactly they provide so much content? Why is that something they’ve deemed important in their group identity? How do they decide where to go during Bon Voyage, and can I come for season 3? How does it make them feel, knowing their fans have had such an impact on translating and making sure BTS is understood and heard by everyone, regardless of language? It is very telling that even as BTS have risen up the ranks and become global superstars, the amount of content, their engagement with their ARMY, and the sincerity that is imbued in every video, every tweet, every fancafe letter, has only risen, as well.
As RM has said, BTS is half and half. One half is their ARMY, massive and unmoving in their devotion. And the other half are the BTS members themselves. With such a massively packed schedule, it is understandable to an extent that as an introduction, American media could not delve too deep into the individuality of all seven of these members. However, a disservice was done to BTS, less so because of the amount of members they have, and more so because not all the members are fluent in English. The lack of effort displayed by American entertainment media with regards to accommodation for the language barrier was lazy at its best, and xenophobic at its worst.
For reference, only the leader RM is fluent in English. The rest have varying degrees of comfort in speaking the language. During the flurry of interviews back in May, during which BTS won the Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards, RM was their sole spokesperson. He not only had to translate the bombardment of questions for himself, but also six other people. Upon his shoulders rested the responsibility of making sure each member felt their voice was heard, even if it was in a different language.
This time around, BTS brought a translator to help. For all the interviews I watched, they were utilized in two. The bulk of the questions, which ranged from “describe how you all met and came together as a group,” to “describe how you feel about performing for the first time at the AMAs,” to “what kinds of music do you listen to?” fell on RM to answer in a rushed, limited timeframe. The rest of the members were relegated mostly to short English soundbites or one word answers, as none of them were given time to hear the question properly from RM or the translator if needed, or to get their thoughts and words together in English, considering they are not native speakers. This is not to say that the other members did not get to speak at all, or that they did not feel comfortable, but it is an indictment on the part of the interviewers. It is their job to make the proper accommodations for each guest to feel welcome. It would have benefitted both BTS and the viewers and listeners to get a more accurate portrayal of the individual talent, musical ingenuity, genuine friendship, and care that flourishes between all seven of these men.
Had American interviewers and media personalities done their research on BTS beforehand, they may have been able to guide or lead the members into a more engaging conversation and making sure all were included in the maximum way. It is hard not to feel resentful of all the perspectives from the members America will miss out on during this “introduction to BTS”, because American media does not understand that this particular group (and other K-Pop groups and non-English speaking groups that will surely follow behind them) does not fit into their pre-made box.
Had the structure of the interviews allowed for more time to account for language adjustments, there are so many questions for BTS to be asked. During their MNET Comeback Special after their latest album was released, Suga detailed his struggles pre-debut. They included having his music stolen, a lack of money, and the turbulent emotions (some which were addressed in his spitfire, passionate mixtape, Agust D) he experienced. What advice would he give to other struggling artists who may be discouraged in breaking into the music industry? How does he feel as a producer to have his music for other artists nominated for Korean awards this year? How does RM strike the balance between being the leader of the group and also just a member? Does the music he writes for BTS influence his own solo music? How did J-Hope use his background as a dancer to transition into become a rapper, vocalist, and songwriter? As the team’s lead dancer, will he be involved in creating any of their future choreography? I would love to know what creative pursuit V wants to tackle next, as he has already made his acting debut in Korea, and consistently shares some of his personal photography with fans. RM mentioned a few times that Jungkook had started his own music producing. Is he following the styles of any of the older members in particular, or is he focused on creating a sound like is uniquely his own? Jimin has stated that he wants to collaborate with his own members before working with other artists. Are any collabs in the works, and if so, what is the process like to combine his own creative desires with just one or two members, instead of the whole group? During Bon Voyage season two, Jin told fans that he has learned to make himself happy by making others happy. Does he have any personal goals or accomplishments to reach for himself that would fulfill his happiness? For the group as a whole, what made them want to focus on ending violence with the Love Myself UNICEF partnership? Will they promote other causes in the future that align with their values like this one?
BTS have a lot to offer their fans and the music industry at large. They are helping to change what popular music sounds like and looks like. With their ARMY behind them, they are showing how relationships between the artist and fans based on respect, admiration, and love can flourish and cause both parties to change for the good. They deserve a better introduction to America that showcases their intelligence, artistry, humility, and their sincerity and genuine kindness that draws so many fans, regardless of age, color, or language, to them. As BTS are showing, the landscape is changing, and here in America, our entertainment media and accommodations for those that challenge it must change, as well.
Questions about celebrity crushes, favorite foods, and dating can be cute, maybe even fun, to hear from celebrities sometimes. For an act like BTS, a Korean group pushing back against what is known in popular music, asking these questions instead of learning about their unique, record-breaking, boundary-pushing climb to the top feels like a particularly reductive, disparaging way to introduce them to a country that has already shown itself to be receptive to what BTS has to say.
