This is biography BTS (방탄소년단, 防彈少年團, Bangtan Sonyeondan, Pangt’ a Sonyǒndan), also known as Bangtan Boys, are a South Korean boy band formed in Seoul in 2013 and composed by RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. Originally hip hop, the band has since embraced a wider range of genres, and in their music, they were formed by Big Hit Entertainment, BTS debuted on June 13, 2013, with the single 2 Cool 4 Skool and with subsequent works they have consolidated their reputation as a band.
In 2017 they introduced K-pop to the U.S. market, breaking several sales records and becoming the first Korean band to receive certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for the single Mic Drop. The band is the first South Korean artist to reach the top of the Billboard 200 with the album Love Yourself: Tear (2018), and has since replicated that ranking with all three subsequent records, becoming the first band after The Beatles to achieve four top positions in less than two years.
BTS is the best-selling artists in South Korea, with over 20.3 million physical records since their debut in March 2020, and Map of the Soul: 7 (2020) is the best-selling record in South Korean music history. In 2018, they were the second best-selling artist in the world according to IFPI, helping to revitalize both the global music industry and the South Korean economy, contributing over 5.5 trillion Won indirectly to South Korea’s annual GDP.
On 24 October 2018, the President of South Korea awarded them the Order of Cultural Merit for their collaboration in spreading Korean culture around the world, and in 2020 they were awarded the James A. Van Fleet Prize for their contribution to the promotion of relations between South Korea and the United States.
BTS is the acronym of the Korean name of the group, “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which translates as “bulletproof boy scouts”: it implies “blocking stereotypes, criticism, and expectations that, like bullets, aim at adolescents, preserving their values”. In Japanese, they are known as “Bōdan Shōnendan”. which has the same meaning.
In July 2017 it was announced that “Beyond The Scene” had become the reverse acronym for BTS to reflect the change in meaning that the name had taken on in the four years since its debut. The new brand identity gave the acronym “BTS” the meaning of “portrait of growing youth”, to indicate that the band members were “overcoming the realities they were facing”, and received the award for best brand identity at the iF Product Design Award 2018.
Both meanings of their name are reflected in the musical themes addressed by BTS.BTS began to take shape in 2010, when Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-hyuk was impressed with the rap skills of the band’s future leader, RM.
Auditions are then opened to write the other members. Initially, the band, for which the names Big Kids or Young Nation are also considered, is conceived as a hip hop team similar to 1TYM, before being reassembled into a more traditional idol group when Bang decides that contemporary youth rather needs “a hero who, even without saying a word, can offer a shoulder to lean on”.
Between 2010 and 2011 he appeared as a guest artist in songs by other artists, while the line-up underwent several changes before arriving at the final one of 2012, formed by RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin (Park Ji-min), V and Jungkook (Jeon Jung-kook), who a few months before their debut began to make a name for themselves through their blog.
June 12, 2013, saw the release of the debut single 2 Cool 4 Skool, the first chapter of the “school trilogy”, completed in the months following the release of EPO! RUL8,2 and Skool Luv Affair and characterized by an old school hip hop sound.
At the end of the year, they receive the award for Best Newcomers to Melon Music Award, Golden Disc Award, and Seoul Music Award, while Skool Luv Affair reaches the top of the Gaon Albums Chart and marks their first appearance in the Billboard World Albums Chart, reaching the third place.
23 April 2014 the band enters the Japanese market with the compilation 2 Cool 4 Skool/O!RUL8,2. On June 14th BTS take part in the Bridge to Korea festival in Russia, judging a K-pop cover dance competition and performing in front of ten thousand people.
In July they hold their first concert in the United States, at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, for 200 non-paying spectators, and participate in the Kcon in Los Angeles the following August 10th.
After a preview concert at Hannam-dong’s Blue Square, the first Dark & Wild studio album is released on 20 August. Although it came second in the Gaon Chart, it did not achieve the success it had hoped for.
Discography
2014 – 2 Cool 4 Skool/O!RUL8,2?
2014 – Dark & Wild
2014 – Wake Up
2016 – The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever
2016 – Youth
2016 – Wings
2017 – The Best of BTS
2018 – Face Yourself
2018 – Love Yourself: Tear
2018 – Love Yourself: Answer
2020 – Map of the Soul: 7
2020 – Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey
