Idol Bts Quotes

It was a complete rejection of genre norms in Korea’s idol industry, where every frame of every video was perfectly produced for public consumption. BTS members were not just idols. They were rappers who released mixtapes and YouTubers who gave tutorials on music production and dance.

CHAPTER SIX: THE DARK SIDES OF THE KPOP INDUSTRY

Even in the most liberal of countries and cultures, it is not easy for a pre-debut trainee to publicly voice his complaints about the label’s CEO. And Korea is a country where idol groups cannot be launched without significant capital, time, and planning know-how. In spite of this, Bang Si-Hyuk had the members write their own blog posts and publicly share their thoughts and feelings as trainees alongside their mixtapes and journal entries.

I grew a flower that can't be bloomed in a dream that can't come true  —Fake Love, BTS

Frоm what K-pоp trainееs еndurе at thе start оf thеir "bооt camps" tо thе suicidе attеmpts, racism, and sеxual and physical assaults, thе truth abоut K-pоp stars and thеir industry is anything but glamоrоus

I think beyond the superficial accolades, at its core, fans stream and buy albums and merchs, because they want to show that they acknowledge the hard work of the artists and their staff. The stream count, album sales and awards are tangible proof that the idols’ music is good. That they are popular. That they are better.

Big Hit

La musica ha il potere di unire le persone» dissi. «Non importa l’età, il colore della pelle o l’educazione che ci è stata imposta, non siamo soli se condividiamo una canzone con qualcuno.

Ketika BTS membagi rasa sakitnya dan ARMY mencurahkan problem serta cerita kesulitannya melalui surat, media sosial, atau Fancafe, lalu BTS membuatkan lagu, rasanya ARMY seperti memiliki seorang teman, kekasih, kakak, atau orang tua yang akan mereka dengarkan.

This was the unique position BTS took from the beginning of their career, and the perspective they continue to take in telling their stories. Rather than follow the grammar of either hip-hop or idol music, they used the languages of both genres to talk about themselves.

Jung writes that people experience two kinds of fantasies; active, a normal part of a creative imagination and passive, something that happens out of the control of the individual.

Taehyung might do the same since he idolized the artist so much and him and Jungkook kinda shared the same 0.25 percent of a brain cell.

BTS, an acronym for Bangtan Sonyeondan, in English, Bulletproof Boyscouts, are a seven-member group hailing from South Korea. Echo thought it was funny that BTS had as many members as Voldemort had Horcruxes, in a way when she first saw them she believed them to be fragments of her soul.

I generally agree with the media analysis of BTS’ success, such as good music, great dance moves, high-quality music videos, fashionable styles, and looks, as well as sympathetic lyrics for the young generation and proactive communication with fans. However, other idols all have and pursue these factors. I think BTS’ success was an outcome of reinforcing these elements in more earnest ways.

After five years as a group, and many more spent training, who would the individual members be if BTS were to no longer exist?

The listeners who don’t empathize with BTS’ music tend to brush it off as their disgraceful period. But strictly in terms of musical achievement, the musical aim and authenticity that the producers at BigHit and BTS members intended were undeniably progressing toward creating their distinct identity. The playful and energetic appeal as idol through “Rise of Bangtan,” the refined sensibilities in “Coffee,” and the quirky experimental character of “Paldogangsan” coexist to feature a wide spectrum of the record, keeping you guessing where they will go next with enough potential in each direction.

But variety shows that feature a single artist or idol group exclusively serve a different purpose: these formats appeal strongly to fans of idol content, especially to fans of the specific artists the shows feature. They are the third-most awaited content for fans, beaten only by new album promotions and live concerts.

Later in 2017, BTS would have a three-day concert in the same location. Meanwhile, the official BTS Twitter and YouTube channels recorded a marked increase in comments in English and other non-Asian languages. The number of ARMY swelled across the world, and cyberbullying of BTS intensified proportionately. This was all completely unprecedented—not only to BTS, but to the Korean idol industry.

Just like with all industries, the idol industry has its own know-how regarding certain “standard” roles. Though they are not explicitly stated to be idol industry standards, once this production know-how has been established within several key companies, it soon becomes a standard the whole industry must follow in order to succeed.

Through their unique dance routines, SM Entertainment’s idol groups were redefining music, and the music industry’s consumers did not remain simply as listeners, but became fiercely devoted fans.

In August 2015, three months after the release of THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENT IN LIFE PT. 1, V Live, which offered a variety of Korean idol content directly to fans, had been running a beta version on Naver. On V Live, artists could communicate instantly with fans through online live broadcasting, which they could initiate spontaneously or prearrange for a specified time, and reply to fans’ comments there and then. This was the start of the “self-produced content” era.

With the advent of V Live, self-produced content made by the idols and their representatives themselves, so-called “teasers,” became much more important. Continuously handing out teasers in this way meant that even when the idols weren’t working on an album, fans couldn’t look anywhere else.

Run BTS!, the variety show started by BTS and Big Hit Entertainment on V Live, was the final piece of their new ecosystem of activities. For idol groups, not only did special appearances on variety programs allow fans to enjoy domains beyond music, but they were also important in highlighting each member’s unique personality. Both before and after 2000, the first generation of boy groups in Korea formed the basis of their popularity through variety show specials.

the production of idol variety shows remained exclusively within the domain of the broadcasting companies. Idol groups affiliated with large management companies would also regularly make their names known through variety show specials as soon as they debuted. But broadcasting companies also had to consider their ratings, and it was standard to cast popular idols.

Through their unique dance routines, SM Entertainment’s idol groups were redefining music, and the music industry’s consumers did not remain simply as listeners, but became fiercely devoted fans. In addition to this, with BIGBANG and 2NE1, YG Entertainment had fused the international hip-hop and pop trends of the time with the structure of K-pop melodies. They also utilized street and high fashion—something rarely attempted by idols before then—and through this, their influence went beyond the fandom, to the masses and the fashion industry itself.

the term “checks” is commonly used within the idol fandom community in Korea. When a particular idol begins to become popular or experiences a comeback, anti-fans perform checks, meaning they use various reasons to criticize the idol or foster an atmosphere in which it’s okay to do so. If there really is no way of performing these checks, they resort to bringing back up things that were already laid to bed years ago, doing what is called “BUMP” (Bring Up My Post), and trying to muster up negative press. These actions create a situation in which idols are essentially unable to step a foot out of place,

the BTS who appeared to be the Korean idol industry’s “baepsae” or “imposter.” Even if others saw them as “baepsae,” they sprinted on and on and tried to jump the walls standing before them.

for Korean idol groups, it went without saying that dance music would be chosen as the title song, which would be accompanied by elaborate choreography based around the concept of “kalgunmu.

They also utilized street and high fashion—something rarely attempted by idols before then—and through this, their influence went beyond the fandom, to the masses and the fashion industry itself.

Run BTS!, Big Hit Entertainment carried idol variety programs over into the realm of self-produced content. Making their own variety program was a huge gamble for a smaller-sized company. In the end, however, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Run BTS! was more successful than not only Rookie King: Channel Bangtan and American Hustle Life, but all idol variety shows of the time.

As it has for BTS, the self-generated content era has made the emotional relationship between idols and their fandom closer and more enduring.

English wasn’t the only problem. This was of course the first time a Korean idol group had become so popular in America, and the US media didn’t only ask the group about BTS, but about the idol industry, and the Korean popular music industry as a whole.

Korean idol groups’ contract renewal is one of the most unusual things about the industry. As can be seen from BTS’s debut process, in the case of most Korean idol groups, their companies invest a huge amount of capital and people power in production. It is also the company’s job to bring together the members to form the group, and the members of course sign a contract with the company.

idols that have debuted, the contract with their company generally lasts seven years.

2009, the Korea Fair Trade Commission established a “standard exclusive contract for performers” so that popular culture artists, including idols, could protect their rights and interests when signing to a management company.

the Korean idol industry was growing at a rapid pace, the issue of contract renewal in the seventh year became a drama that got everyone—the company, the group, as well as the fans—worked up. At the turn of the new millennium, large management companies like SM, YG, and JYP had all achieved a level of success that made failure of any of their debuted artists the exception. They therefore wanted to recontract their artists, even if that meant changing the conditions of the contract to a certain extent in order to benefit the artist. However, the artist may ask for even better conditions, and satisfaction with the financial terms is only the beginning. Even within a single group, each member may want different things depending on their personality, preferences, and style of working.

Most group members who were offered a contract renewal after seven years had been successful enough to have already achieved fame and fortune in their twenties. No matter how good the contract conditions were, they could very easily break away from the group and pursue a solo career, or even leave the entertainment industry entirely if they so chose. Or perhaps they had bad blood with the company or the other members and didn’t want to renew. This is why it is uncommon for all members of a successful idol group to renew their contracts. Their love for the fans aside, the members can’t help but consider their own lives before contract renewal.

all seven members re-sign, but they also agreed to a seven-year contract, longer than their first contract, which had in fact ended up as five years. Considering that the period for renewed contracts is generally shorter than the first contract, this was a case almost unparalleled within the Korean idol industry.

lyrics tell the story of someone who is afraid that the one they love will turn away if they see their true face, and so, they wear a mask. There are various possible interpretations of “mask” here, but from BTS’s perspective, the mask could be the image they present as idols before the fans.

IDOL” challenge was therefore changing this trend. People’s spontaneous participation and responses were an important part of the promotion, and this was something beyond Big Hit Entertainment’s control. Of course, because it was BTS doing the promotion, you could expect the reactions to j-hope’s challenge video to be good. However, it wasn’t at all possible to predict how many ARMY would really dance along with j-hope, or how many of the general public outside of ARMY would take part in the challenge.

BTS are an idol group. However, for BTS, this brief definition contains countless stories. They trained incredibly hard to become idols. As soon as they became idols, they were rejected and denigrated for doing hip-hop and for being from a small company. Even once they’d become stars, with all the attacks fired at them, they had to comfort the fans. Following that, they suffered through all the concerns that came with being idols, and they worried that they were wearing masks in front of their fans.

This is connected to the way idols are viewed within the Korean music industry, and also within Korean society as a whole. Idols were often belittled as having inferior musicality to other kinds of artists, for reasons including the fact that the company directs the production, that they don’t write their own songs, or even that they’re really good-looking or dance onstage. On top of this, there is also the highly misogynistic assumption that because fans of idol music tend to be women in their teens and twenties, the music must be of a poor quality.

SUGA shares his thoughts about the word “idol”: ______I’m well aware that people talk about idols as “seven-year singers” and “manufactured products.” But it’s just a difference in how much you express yourself, and on the whole idols have similar concerns.

Within the Korean idol industry, experimenting like this was no different from intentionally trying to ruin yourself. In Korea, idols are seen as offering up a fantasy. In their music videos, whether the concept involves smiling brightly or rebelling against the world, in most cases this is all part of the same objective: looking cool.

more and more idol groups began to release albums as a series under a single concept just as BTS had done, and the importance of “story-planning”—the so-called “Universe”—was also becoming clear.

There’s a real irony to all of these stories because it was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENT IN LIFE series that put BTS and Big Hit Entertainment on the fast track to success. It was also the start of a drastic shift in which the Korean popular music industry’s influence would expand worldwide, and even idol groups who, like BTS, had debuted in smaller companies had hopes of reaching the top.

Getting a number one on a chart music TV program is a rite of passage for every idol group in Korea. Each chart music TV program runs weekly. Every terrestrial channel has its own, and put together this basically means that, other than Monday, there’s one on every day.

Following the cyberbullying directed at BTS, cyberbullying of idols within the fandom stuck around almost like an institution.

The cyberbullying of BTS foreshadowed the changes brought to the Korean idol industry by the advent of social media, as well as the personality of the idol fandom. Cyberbulling that took place either out of random hatred for an idol or for the purpose of carrying out checks, began to occur far more frequently among the consumers of idol music than in the past.

Though running the real path to success, they were also the ongoing targets of large-scale cyberbullying. The reason for this we’ll never know for sure, but there’s also no need to know. Perhaps the hateful comments that first started to appear on articles announcing their debut had been a prediction of what was to come. BTS were subjected to abusive language for being from an unknown company and criticized at public events for being idols pursuing hip-hop. The first large-scale cyberbullying attack on BTS was because they had “sold too many records.

in the world of idol music, kalgunmu was the law of the land.

At the time, pre-debut promotional initiatives for K-pop idol groups generally meant publicizing the audition process through music channels on cable TV, or having members feature on reality shows. But instead of appearing on television, BTS members expressed their genuine selves to audiences through vlogs posted on YouTube.

Big Hit Entertainment made plans for an official social media presence on platforms used commonly by fandoms—such as Twitter, e Daum cafés, and KakaoStory—and established tailored goals and content styles for each platform. For instance, one of Big Hit’s goals after BTS’s debut was to attain a specific number of new followers on days BTS featured in a music program. This new approach to promoting an up-and-coming idol group played an important role in establishing a unique identity for BTS. Videos on the blog showcased unpolished compositions by the trainees, choreography practice in tiny practice studios, and glimpses into members’ genuine trepidations as they spoke into the camera without any airbrushing.

A common misconception outside the idol industry was that management companies were in charge of everything about the music, taking the lead in musical creativity. But even the most finely produced songs cannot shine if the idols performing them are untalented or unwilling.

Even in the most liberal of countries and cultures, it is not easy for a pre-debut trainee to publicly voice his complaints about the label’s CEO. And Korea is a country where idol groups cannot be launched without significant capital, time, and planning know-how.

Look at how idols these days go into acting, we'll let you become an actor eventually." That's how they convinced me. They were very persuasive. -Jin

a rapper from the Hongdae stage and a contemporary dance major who started out as a break-dancer making music in the same team. But approximately eight years later in early 2020, BTS would combine elements of both disciplines in “Black Swan.” This melding of contrasting talents occurs sometimes in the K-pop industry, where idol groups are normally composed of a variety of positions such as rapper, dancer, and vocalist.

it wasn’t uncommon for a member of an idol group to also be working as an actor at the same time. While some members specialized in singing and dancing, others were more known for appearing in variety shows or dramas on television, pulling in audiences from outside the idol market. As Korea’s idol market expanded with the rise of BTS’s popularity and more acts began performing overseas, fewer idols ventured into acting.

Jin had entered university as an acting major. His interest in idol music sprung from his curiosity about artistic activities in general.

What Bang Si-Hyuk learned in this process was that idols moved to a completely different beat compared to the music industry that came before. Idol music exploded onto the scene with the debut of Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992, and with the 1996 debut of H.O.T., an industrialized production system was put in place. BTS debuted as the idol system approached the twentieth year of its golden age. Its first teenage fans were now in their thirties, and as fandom culture developed over the years, the content and standards the fans demanded also became clearer.

Managеrs wеrе еvеn knоwn tо film thеir idоls' sеxual activitiеs and usе thе fооtagе against thеm

However, some people—like B-Free—act as if they are judges at an audition, publicly passing judgment on idol groups' musical identities in spite of not having that authority.

Idols by nature anyway, They shush me and look down on me

It was the perfect opportunity for RM to clarify his own thoughts as he struggled between his identities as a hip-hop artist and an idol. —It was extremely important to me, having unloaded something like that. The hurt was still there, but [the interview] comforted my heart in some ways...Bad things have to happen for there to be good things. And I thought at the time, "Oh, something like that happened, but thanks to that, people are coming to reach out to us.

This vibe helped the entire team acclimatize to idol life. Jimin recalls how he felt: RM and I talked a lot. We weren't really famous or anything, but we couldn't exactly spit on the streets without consequences at this point...And we were gradually building up a sense of responsibility to know the value of our work.