Turn “ON” The New BTS Album
Image courtesy of Koreaboo
By KENDELLE GRUBBS ‘20
On February 21st, the hit Korean boy band BTS came back with their new album Map of the Soul: 7 with their lead single “ON.” This album features twenty songs: five from their previous album Map of the Soul: Persona plus fifteen new tracks, ranging from the power ballad “00:00 (Zero O’Clock)” to the fast-paced rap diss track “UGH.” Popular artists like SIA, Troye Sivan, and Ed Sheeran had a hand in the making of this album with SIA’s being featured on a digital exclusive version of the “ON.” MOTS: 7 is already the best selling album of 2020, having sold approximately 4.02 million albums in pre-orders, according to Forbes, and it is by far the best selling South Korean album of all time. While BTS is breaking records left and right, the most important aspect of this album’s release for me is how connected I feel to it.
This album hits a little different than the rest of BTS’s albums. In the past, I’ve struggled to find which album I can consider my favorite given that each album is so different and full of gems that I couldn’t hold one above another, but 7 is by far my favorite. At 4 am, I woke up to watch the release of the music video for “ON” and was instantly shocked. The video started off with rows of dancers clad in all black imitating a drumline. The dancers were of a multitude of races, and starting the video off such with diversity deepened my love for my boys. K-Pop has a pretty big reputation of cultural appropriation especially of black culture. It’s 2020, and we’re still seeing Korean artists wearing locs and cornrows just to toss them away for the next concept. To see BTS and their company Big Hit Entertainment taking the steps to incorporate the people who have been denigrated from the K-music industry and feature them center stage shows a level of care and progressiveness towards important issues.
After the release of the music video, BTS released the full album, and I dutifully listened to the whole thing until my body reminded me that I still needed sleep since the next school day would start in only a couple of hours. The album is a message of their history together as a group and their love for their fans and each other. This album doesn’t feel like cheap pop songs made for radio play but rather an honest tribute towards their progression as musicians. The variety of genres like the Latin-inspired song “Filter” or the 80’s hip-hop track “Intro: Persona” keeps listeners on the edge of their toes for what’s next and exposes those listeners to a range of new music styles. Adding onto their capabilities as artists, BTS stays involved in their music process with each member having writing or producing credits. The group’s leader RM was even involved in 17 out of 20 songs on the new album.
A day after release, Big Hit released a behind-the-scenes video for “ON,” and I felt an immense sense of validation after watching. “ON” included instrumentals from UCLA’s marching band and backing vocals from an all black gospel choir. Marching band and gospel is such an important aspect of black culture, and seeing those faces involved in the music process for my favorite group connected my often contradicting blackness and identity as a kpop fan. The video focused on the theme of how music transcends any barriers, including language, and can be used as a way to unify people in a time full of division. The range of identities incorporated in BTS’s music reflects the spectrum of people who support them. During a time where music seems like it's on the decline and the passion that was once there is long gone, BTS rises up and shows why they’re the biggest boy band in the world.