My Research Paper

Analysis

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BTS has many beautiful and well-crafted messages hidden within their songs for their many fans all around the world. It is because of this concept that "K-pop has become a new growth engine driving hallyu, with newly decorated idol group musicians (e.g., Big Bang, Girl's Generation, JYJ, and BTS) becoming popular in both Asian and Western countries in the 2010s" (Jin & Yoon, 2017). When fans take a look behind the meaning of a song, it changes what the song means in general. The song Spring Day seems like an ordinary song that is fun to listen and groove to but in all reality, it was written and dedicated to the victims of the Sewol Ferry Incident, an incident that had resulted in the loss of over 200 school children's lives on a school trip. This message is sweet not only to the victims but also to all of those who were involved and affected by it, making it very sentimental to the families of those children and other passengers aboard the ship.

BTS has such a large influence on the world that they are now a big part of Korea's culture. BTS' music has such power behind the lyrics and to listen to them, to really listen and understand the concept is to "understand Korea's cultural hybridity in terms of both its intrinsic nature in its content and, more importantly, within the structural contexts of Korea's culture industry." (Jin & Yoon, 2017). Every song that BTS has made has some background tied to either their fans or their culture, though there are more pertaining to the first. One member of the band in particular, RM or Kim Namjoon, has a song called Persona where he talks about himself and how he doesn't know who he is in his own country. He even goes as far as to question himself within the song and even refers to himself as 'president'. Not only are there cultural references in this song but also in BTS' song called Not Today, the boys also sing about the time they must go into the military and the music video for it shows all of them seeming to get shot while running toward something, leaving the youngest member, Jeon Jungkook, all alone at the very end before coming back together at the very end. This concept is interesting as all able-bodied men above the age of 18 are required to enlist in the military before they turn 28. With Jungkook being the youngest, it is possible that the music video symbolizes his band members leaving him behind in the military but he knows that they will never truly be gone as he has the best memories with them that he will never ever forget in his life.

BTS has a truly remarkable and unbreakable bond with their fanbase. Fans from all over the world, nicknamed ARMY, come together to support their favorite band and they will spread their love wherever and whenever as "ARMY, are notoriously organized, and capable of mobilizing the band's fanbase across social media platforms to impressive effect" (Thomas, 2018). Not only does ARMY have the power to support the band via attending concerts, they have the power to spread positivity through social media as well, which is a very big influence in todays society. People really don't know how much power ARMY holds, there is no number to describe how big this fanbase is as it grows every single day and if one ARMY has seen something, so has the rest of them, resulting in something being shared over social media more than a few times once it had been posted. This also goes for people who are not a fan of BTS and give the band lots of mean comments, who are also commonly referred to as 'haters'.

Continuing on the concept of 'haters' BTS has many ways to deal with these people. Though there are many haters toward BTS and some may have some valid arguments, some fans take that hate into consideration but that "hasn't stopped BTS devotees from singing along in phonetic approximation, screaming the band members' names in unison with their patented 'fan chants'" (Thomas, 2018). ARMY has seen everything go down between haters and the band and yet they still thank the haters for hating on one of the most well known K-pop group in the world. BTS does deal with haters on a daily basis yet they shoot them down in a hilarious fashion before the haters have time to actually say anything else about them. The agency BTS is signed under, BigHit Entertainment, also gets many reports about haters and deals with each rumor in a professional manner and with great dignity. The company and BTS have shown that they are not to be messed with as there has never been a scandal reported within the agency or the band itself and the band members know how to handle themselves in serious situations, though they may act like complete fools during their downtime. The fans love and admire each of the band's members and really don't care about the haters until it comes to one of the boys getting hurt, which does not happen often but the boys do get yelled at quite a bit while going through airports. Once something like that happens, ARMY's flock to social media to see who had said what and to console the boys that what the hater had said wasn't true at all. Just goes to show that not every fandom is as caring as this one.

Along with the idea of ARMY, BTS has the unique ability to change someone's life just from on listen. BTS has created such a large impact on social media that it has inspired many other minority groups to get what they want in life, "whatever the case, the new standard BTS has set for minority cultures is profoundly encouraging." (Park, 2019). Because the entirety of BTS is South Korean, which is considered a minority group, the seven boys within the band are able to really represent their country when they go on tour and have even been acknowledged by the president of South Korea himself, Moon Jae-In. BTS has been such a huge success that other people of the same, or different, race are now seen in a new light when they try something new and they are always seen in a good light instead of a bad one as they progress in that one area that they want to be successful in.

People listen to music every day, whether it's on the radio or through their phones, and some people are obsessed with listening to one song until they get sick of it. "There is music that you listen to in devotional silence, sitting upright in a concert chamber- the kind that elevates the soul" (Park, 2019) and there are some songs that BTS has produced that are treated like gospel music. And then there's "the kind of music that pumps and hammers the heart into a frenzy" (Park, 2019) which is also something unique that the band also has. Throughout these seven years, BTS has came out with many different songs, both with the full band, part of the band or with only one solo song by one member. And every song is nothing like the first, and it sends fans into a craze that they can't ever get out of, listening to the same song on repeat almost everyday or just singing at the top of their lungs to a new song that they barely know as they drive down the freeway. BTS changes lives as fans get completely obsessed with songs and can't get out of their feelings whenever the band comes out with a sad song or they can't stop rocking when the boys come out with a fast paced rock-esque song that gets the blood pumping as people bang their heads to it. And then there's that one song that speaks to a fan on another level and allows them to completely surround themselves in soft vocals and the sound of a piano being played lightly in the background. One song or another can completely change a life, maybe even saving one in the process and that one song can lead to the discovery of something truly precious that must be kept safe and protected. That thing is BTS as they are the ones creating that power behind the lyrics, they are the ones who truly care for their fans and they are the ones who know what it's like to have nothing as most of the boys came from that kind of lifestyle. The moral of the story is, BTS believes that all lives matter and that everyone deserves to be on this Earth and if they don't think they're good enough, then they have seven boys behind them that strongly disagree.