It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to thoroughly analyze how and why BTS are that artist to beat, but many still like to challenge the facts. Perhaps making it a goal to “beat” them is the root of it all next to a list of other things. Quite frankly, it’s becoming charming to see the persistence in continuous disbelief that everything that Bangtan have earned is suspicious. But I’ll agree, it is a bit of a sight to see the universe continuously deal them a nearly perfect hand. However, after years of blatant attempts to blacklist and outcast the group — even going as far to request political involvement — what did you expect?
BTS have been a group for almost nine years and they have yet to peak, at least musically. They’re the only artist from their generation that has been able to modify their sound and grow with it just as naturally as water flows in a riverbed and their status in the industry never fluctuate. There has not been a single plateauing of their career. Not even during the pandemic when the entire music industry was at a standstill. That alone, in this generation of music, is a feat in itself. Because when everyone else had broken deals, disbandments and other disappointments, they came out on top with more than what they went into the uncertainty with.
And still with no album in 2021.
On one hand, you can easily say this is thanks to ARMY for not having their loyalty and priorities waver. Thanks to them, they grew in numbers and found ways to continuously keep BTS’ presence as consistent as it would have been if they were actively touring and promoting. Through streaming parties, fundraisers, and other purple pastimes, ARMYs managed to not only cement the groups presence in spaces they once didn’t have an audience to but they were active in demanding the respect BTS deserves from their peers and outsiders alike. Mobilizing the way they did allowed the foundations for the future to flourish more than they had before. Not because they had to but because they wanted to.
The funny thing about the idea of “paving the way” is many have this watered down idea of what it actually means. To Them it means being popular amongst peers, having a lot of fans, having brand deals or your social media account being the most followed, liked, etc — being a viral sensation. Popularity is barely scratching the surface. First of all, people have to actually like you. Nonetheless, viral popularity does not equate to influence which is the foundation of having an impact — the key to what “paving the way” actually is.
Influence comes in many different ways. This is exemplified in advocating for social issues and the result could be followers mobilizing to support the cause. Let’s say, like funding a campaign to end violence and neglect around the world. Then, it can snowball into your followers sharing other campaigns that matter to them and spreading awareness and support in a similar fashion.
Another could be where the individuals take advantage of their status and their followers’ consumer abilities and aid in education about their culture and traditions. This can be executed by releasing textbooks to study their native language and partner with schools worldwide to make learning the curriculum fun.
Then impact enters the chat. Here, an artist could collaborate with individuals and groups that share similar manifestos. They could use the vessel of music to create a space for healing or healthy escapism and also spread awareness for the issues aforementioned. Maybe even introduce a niche audience to the world of fine and performance arts through a global exhibition, free of admission. The end result is their followers gaining a new perspective to the world around them, their artist and maybe themselves.
That’s just a few… But that has an influence, an impact. That is “paving the way”.
But again, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist.
Because that’s the second funniest thing. They: the media, the rest of the K-Pop and Western industries, and even their peers. They know.
It’s not about “becoming too westernized”, it’s about the fact there’s nothing left for BTS to win nor lose in Korea so they chose to no longer engage in spaces they exceeded the criteria for, to “give other groups a chance” and aim higher. Instead of taking advantage of this courtesy, They have convinced themselves it’s still an unfair playing field because they feel it was handed to them and not earned the way the underdog story They’re so obsessed with had it mapped out. They have unconsciously put this pressure over their groups heads to be like BTS down to JK’s toenail. Saying X group had a humble beginning like BTS but fail to see that it was not the case but rather the fans choosing to stunt their growth early on to force a rags to riches story, even with groups from companies known for utilizing their privileges. Similarly, They’ve managed to box their groups into specific categories thinking “BTS can’t beat them here” and not realizing there are other factors at play that affect their groups position amongst their peers. Knowing that, yes, things are no longer measured the way they once were but forgetting why that is. This twisted savior complex to disguise the inferiority complex residing beneath is killing these groups realtime. And to overcompensate, they deflect their failures as fans by trying to belittle everything BTS is and will become.
But also, some of them really don’t like their groups or just use the name to be a part of the conversation; to feel relevant. So there’s that.
Now I don’t know the ins and outs of K-media but it’s safe to say their petty actions are not because they believe BTS are these arrogant idols with their shoulders too high because I’m sure they’ve encountered people who fit that description. No, it’s because of how untouchable the group is without their backing. The K-media is not used to being the ones outside looking in with everyone else and having to wait for content. Nor are they particularly used to having a bit of freedom to discuss the group how they see fit. This entitlement has gotten them into trouble on more than one occasion and being checked for it publicly has probably never been done before since k-pop was created. Instead of heeding several warnings, they do this two-faced performance of retaliating one day and being kind the next. It’s hard to tell where they really stand on the spectrum but there’s still the active abuse of power that happens more often around award season than during promotions. I’m sure there are layers to the selective reporting and the backhanded congratulations that occur in that medium but I digress.
Overseas is not that different. If anything, it’s worse. Because it’s not about them being an act that will “fade out” like One Direction or a fad altogether. This far into their career, it’s about them being a threat to their status quo. It’s the fact they are a foreign group that doesn’t speak English and have surpassed their pop darlings and their precious Beatles. It’s definitely not about their fanbase being large. It’s about ARMYs actively pushing to be acknowledged as more than “obsessed fangirls’ and consuming in numbers never seen before which has disrupted their idea of fan behavior. It’s the way ARMYs have become a branded entity that can operate outside of BTS and create a demand for a market that barely thrived in western spaces before BTS debuted there. ARMYs forcibly normalizing treating BTS with as much respect as they do with their darlings is a threat to their relationship with power over fans. Because it is forcing their hand and starting conversations for reform they never expected to come from such a demographic. The media weaponizing stigmas of K-Pop and opening spaces for racism and vitriol when mentioning BTS is because they’re bitter it’s not slowing the groups momentum and dampening their spirits. They obsessively pray for a gotcha moment and hold their breaths for a scandal thinking it will be the catalyst of their “downfall”. To their faces, they try to paint pictures of ARMY leaving them to fall, constantly hyper-focusing on questioning how much they “worry it’ll all end as fast as it began” and bringing up their enlistment because they believe it will solve their problems — getting rid of BTS. But still, as always, BTS being seemingly unbreakable is a wall they haven’t figured out how to break down. And with ARMY, they’re met with an immense amount of support for the band they can’t quite dismantle.
They’re stuck.
In addition, their peers on both sides have gone through the stages of grief to get to where we are today: everyone begging for a chance of the same success BTS has or trying to have their moment to “share” it with them. And by share I mean the audacity of some people taking advantage of BTS’ name and what they stand for to get their No. 1 etc etc saying its “business”. (Like some kind of film noir villain.) But that’s a conversation for another day.
Anyways.
There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious. There’s nothing wrong with a little competition. There’s nothing wrong with a flashy interview to get the people going. No one ever said it was. The issue is how people are going about striving for it and how far they’re willing to go to get it. The coordinated defamation and allegations, the shady shit talking in interviews, trying to put them in a box, the intentional erasure of BTS from the conversation and the attempts to dismiss anything they have ever achieved domestically and internationally. The bitterness of these people has consumed them so much they’re trying to live in blissful ignorance of the fact BTS nor ARMY are their enemies and that the real threat to their success is themselves.
But again, They know this.
It’s a hard pill to swallow. I get it. No one, not even BTS or ARMY even fathomed a third of the success and influence BTS has had over the course of their career. There are plenty of people on the list that could have been a domestic success and still could but the problem is the priorities of their fans and companies.
The time wasted trying to imitate concepts and personas could be spent finding sounds and curating content meant for their groups and fans interests. Perhaps it’s so engrained in the K-pop industry to imitate and not create that the concept is entirely lost on them. This is not to say being influenced by others is to be ashamed of (because Blinding Lights, Say So and Don’t Stop Now had K-pop stuck in disco pop for two years) but this copy-paste concept strategy for the sake of staying in trend is doing more harm than good for a lot of artists.
And at this point, it’s like beating a dead horse into the ground to say pulling your weight as a fan matters more now in the digital age than it did a decade ago. Streaming the music. . . buying the music. The accessibility to K-pop is too damn great for people to be entitled to a success that still takes work to achieve. I know it sends shivers down your spine but if you wont bite the line to make your job a bit easier, don’t complain. Don’t point fingers. Look in a mirror. Do better.
But again, you don’t have to bite at all. Just like BTS didn’t have to leave some of those spaces so your groups could flourish in their own ways. So that they could claim titles for themselves without living in their shadows.
Conclusively, it can be said for certain that BTS will be the only K-pop group to break the West like this. It causes no harm to anyone to agree the opportunities made available to groups before and after them were because of their efforts. It’s really time to let the whole “it should’ve been X” go because it never will be them. Never at this magnitude either. The long lasting impact BTS have had on the collective will continue to be far different than others’ brief accomplishments during the previous generations. It’s not to dismiss their successes but let’s all be honest here, BTS have done so much more than looking pretty on various western stages. BTS have done far more for K-pop than needed to and so much more for the country of South Korea itself. Despite knowing the magnitude of Bangtan’s influence, the projected hatred towards the group has only done them a favor. These counterproductive acts only push BTS further and further to the head of the table and in the faces of those who tried to turn a blind eye where they’ll continue to influence and impact others on a global scale. All that should matter to others is whether or not the people following in their footsteps will make the moves necessary to not let the momentum die out again.
But you already knew that, huh?
