BTS becomes first K-pop group to win at Billboards

BTS receives its award as Top Social Artist. (Big Hit Entertainment)

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Akansha Arya

The pop group BTS, whose name is an acronym for Bangtan Sonyeondan and which is commonly translated into English as “Bulletproof Scouts,” has become the first-ever K-pop group to win a Billboard awards.

BTS took home the award for Top Social Artist, defeating the famous singer Justin Beiber who had won this award for the past six years.  BTS has also become the first Korean pop group to crack the top 40 of the Billboard 200 album chart with their album "Wings" released in October last year.

BTS, a seven-member pop group that debuted in June 2013 with the single "No More Dreams" from their album "2 Cool 4 School," tells the story of everyone who gives up their dreams to live according to society’s expectations and asks everyone to live their own dreams. They have won several “New Artists of the Year” awards. However, BTS’s first breakout came after releasing the album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1” in 2015, which showed their mature side. The title song “I Need You” brought them their first win ever on SBS MTV's “The Show,” and it was also a hit in various major Korean charts.

After that, the follow-up of the first album was “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2.” It became their first album to break into the Billboard 200 charts, debuting at No. 171. In 2016 the final version of “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life” was released. It was an extended version of the earlier two versions, with a few more tracks added. It was titled “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever,” landing again in the Billboard 200 charts at the 107th spot. The title song “Fire” scored the group its first No. 1 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart.

After that, they never turned back. In 2016 BTS became the first Korean pop group to crack the top 40 of the Billboard 200 charts, coming in 26th with its album "Wings," released in October last year. Again, the group hit the Billboard 200 charts in 2017 with the album "Wings: You Never Walk Alone," an extended version of the "Wings" album.

BTS also became the first Korean pop group to hit the Billboard charts four times. This is not the first time BTS has gained international attention. Recently, BTS has also won the Shorty awards for its strong social media presence.   

At home, BTS has won many awards, including two daesang or grand prizes -- one of the biggest awards in the Korean music industry -- in 2016. The first was for its album "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever" at the Melon Music Awards in the “Album of the Year” category, and the second daesang in the "Artist of the Year" category was won at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards. By winning two daesang, BTS became the first artist not from one of Korea's three largest entertainment agencies -- SM, YG, and JYP -- to win a daesang award.

BTS has slowly been moving up the Billboard charts over the past few years. Here, the pop sensation performs on the show M-Countdown on Mnet, a music channel. (Korea.net Flickr)   

The group is known for composing and producing its own songs. Min Yoongi, whose stage name is Suga, has earned a name as a producer, as has Rap Monster, the leader of the group. The group is known for its playful and cheerful personalities. BTS is growing at a rapid pace on all social media platforms, such as Twitter and VLive. Its interaction with fans through media and, of course, its good music has created one of the strongest fan-bases out there, officially called the BTS Army.

However, the journey for BTS has not been that easy to reach this point. All the members have struggled to reach here. Almost all the members come from a rough background, struggling for their dreams, struggling to escape from society, from their parents. We can all learn from them that hard work really pays off and that there's no shortcut to success. 

BTS recently successfully wrapped up its tour to Chile, Brazil, the U.S., Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. This sold-out tour started in Seoul. BTS will now head to Australia for a concert to be held on May 26, 2017 and then to six cities in Japan from May 30 to July 2 for the Wings Tour.

The growing popularity of Korean TV shows and pop music in East Asia and elsewhere -- abbreviated as the "Korean Wave," or Hallyu -- is already spreading across the world. The question arises, "How will this winning affect K-pop at home and around the world?"

K-pop is spreading around the globe. Winning this award will affect K-pop at a huge level. It will not only draw attention from all over the world, but it will also change the perception at home, and also increase competition. While many Korean pop bands shy away from controversial topics, such as loneliness, mental health and bullying, and instead focus on love or party songs accompanied by dance-heavy music videos, BTS has been singing about socially and politically relevant topics. As Rap Monster said in a recent Billboard interview, “These topics, like you said, they're important, right? They should be spoken about by someone. Someone should talk about it. If someone should talk about it, then it feels like we have to talk about it. It's very much an honor that we have the power and get attention from our fans when we use our voices more.” Suga has also pointed out that, when asked about these issues and the way in which they are uncommon in Korea and in K-pop, “Worldwide, our young generation shares the same issues socially and politically. I think that young people feel the same way about similar issues, and BTS wants to cheer them up with our songs and talk about our feelings and social issues. There are people who think negatively and there have been people who react negatively towards BTS' music. However, I think it's way more important to make music with those issues because I think it's important to encourage people to fight for those issues.”

BTS is not only succeeding in the domestic music industry as well as at the international level, but is also setting a standard for pop bands that will come after them. The group is setting an example to deal with different social and political issues and reaching the masses through its music. It might affect K-pop songs, changing them from just being love, party and beautiful songs, helping them to deal with different social and political issues with music. It will also help Korean pop get more recognition in parts of the world where no one has ever heard of K-pop. There was a time when listening to K-pop was considered absurd, but now the time has come. K-pop has become a trend.  

wisdom117@korea.kr

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