BTS: Social phenomenon

The local music industry was born already enslaved to the Americans and the British and at certain times to the Spaniards, too. Of course, there have been some periods of brilliance like during the Manila Sound Era but that now seems so long ago. But I was not about to take it some notches lower still to allow space for the invasive Korean pop acts. So I resisted and I resisted. No K-Pop for me. It is taking business away from Pinoy Pop.

But there is no stopping K-Pop. Korean everythings are everywhere. That means Korean fashion, make-up, food, movies, TV series, novels, music, etc. Why, one can adapt an all-Korean lifestyle and not want of anything and everything would be of very good quality, too. There is nothing half-hearted about the way the Koreans do things. They always put forth their best. In return, consumers can expect and enjoy the best that the Koreans offer.

The same goes for the Korean pop idols. The producers and managers set a bar for excellence and everybody just follows suit. The output may not be suited to everybody’s taste but you can count on big-budgeted, top-quality productions by the best looking performers all the time. So please the eyes and the ears and the rest of the senses will be right along soon. That was what BTS did and it has now become one of the biggest most popular acts in the world.

I took note of this when BTS was given the Top Social Artist Award at the recent Billboard Music Awards. It was the group’s second time in a row. Then, a few days later, I was browsing the Spotify Viral 50 Chart when I was inundated with sight of the title of one K-Pop track after another, a number of them all by BTS.  They have 10 songs in the chart. Then, just before I started writing this piece, the Billboard news flashed on the web. BTS made No. 4, the first Asian act to do so, in Billboard’s Artist 100 chart. Oh, and its Fake Love video is already counting millions in hits. BTS is not just big. It is phenomenal.

BTS stands for Bulletproof Boy Scouts because the name repels bullets and other ammunition directed at the boys. Or they are Bangtan Sonyeondan or Bangtan Boys or if you want to be, to the letter about it, Beyond The Scene. It is a group of seven very good-looking boys who dance, sing and rap that was put together by Big Hit Entertainment. BTS was introduced with the album 2 Cool 4 Skool! with the single No More Dream in 2013 and it has been only uphill for the boys ever since.

It was the album Wings that brought BTS to international prominence. It made its US splash when Wings reached the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and its singles Love Yourself: Her and DNA entered the Hot 100 hit list. Then, EDM stars Steve Aoki remixed the BTS track Mic Drop and featured Desiigner. Mic Drop reached No. 28 in the Hot 100 and was certified a Gold seller by the Record Industry Association of America. 

I am envious. In 1980, Korean artists were going around in balangot hats like Freddie Aguilar’s and singing Anak. Look at where they are now.  I am still in resistance mode to K-Pop but there is no ignoring them.  

BTS is made up of Jin, 26; Suga, 25; J-Hope, 24; RM, 24; Jimin, 23; V, 23; and Jungkook, 21. They all dance, rap and sing. They also write songs and are record producers and arrangers. They were named No. 1 in Forbes Korea’s Power Celebrity list. They notched the Most Twitter Engagements of a Music Group meaning their tweets were liked or retweeted over half a million times worldwide. Please note that the boys only have one Twitter account together. They do not make individual tweets.

Here now is the BTS-dominated Top 20 of the Philippines Viral chart: Fake Love by BTS; The Truth Untold by BTS and Steve Aoki; Sangria Wine by Pharrell Williams and Camila Cabello; Magic Shop by BTS; BBoom Bboom by MOMOLAND; Airplane Pt. 2 by BTS; This Is America by Childish Gambino; Walls by Juan Miguel Severo; NEKKOYA (Pick Me) by PRODUCE 48; Anpanman by BTS.

Nights by Elise Huang; Like That by Kris Wu; Love Maze by BTS; Back To You by Selena Gomez; LATATA by (G) I-DLE; Sana by I Belong To The Zoo; Paradise by BTS; So What by BTS; 134340 by BTS; and Outro: TEAR by BTS. 

BTS actually has 10 songs in the chart. Intro: Singularity is at No. 27.