Before I talk about the main part of this article I will go ahead and say this. I am an unapologetic K-pop fan. There. I have said it. I have been a K-pop fan since 2008 and I absolutely detest "Gangnam Style" To me, that song is The viral K-pop song that became a "fake" gateway into K-pop for many. But I digress.
Several of K-pop artist and songs have taught me a lot of things about love, mostly, and life. A few K pop acts have stood out to me, but there is one who truly champions above them all. If you have not looked at billboard.com recently, I suggest to take a peek at their list of the most talked about artists of the year.
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Of course, we had several iconic works dropped within this year from American artists. But if you look at the list, you would see one South Korean act that stood out from many. They go by the name Bangtan Sonyeondan or BTS for short. BTS was formed by a small company named Big Hit Entertainment. The group consists of seven young men with ages between 19-24 who hail from different regions of South Korea and not originally from Seoul. They made their debut with a track called "No more dream," which already set itself apart from all the other K-pop songs that were released that year and the previous year.
With the topic of the song being about having dreams and aspirations, the pressures of school, especially on high school students, and society's expectations, BTS was already making a statement that is seldom made in K-pop. The music sold me first. I didn't care too much about the group itself until the year after their debut.
I found a show called "American Hustle Life" that featured BTS in LA learning about the origins of Hip-Hop. I saw each member's personality shine through and found myself falling for them hard. It was just like the first time I got into K-pop. What got me the most is that every single member contributed to, writing and/or produced, their very own albums from beginning to now.
Over time, I learned much about them from the leader, Rap Monster, having a 148 IQ, but chose a rap career over being in the top school in South Korea to Rapper Suga suffering depression while spending foodless nights and working days at 16 years old making music. This group faced a lot of negative feedback at their beginning. From their appearance being un-Idol like (ugly, fat, wannabes) to their music and demeanor calling them a joke.
This group had gone on to break many of K-pop records, made records themselves, and stood in several international charts for weeks longer than the "big league" Kpop groups from the major record companies. This year, they stated that their goal was to win a Daesang (Grand Prize) for Artist of the year. They achieved that goal on December 3 of this year. Tears flooded their faces with joy and gratitude.
This group fought all adversity facing them from the media and now they are currently one of the highest praised groups in the world from South Korea. What has the group taught me? With hard work, perseverance dedication, passion, and true friendship among people who have similar goals, everything that you wish to achieve or accomplish will come to pass.
