I’d love to say that I did it all on my own, that I came into college completely sure of who I was and who I wanted to be, and forged my own path with that good old-fashioned butch swagger I always had. Since the moment I first saw you, you have always felt inevitable. The first reason lies in disparate interests and disparate directions. I have never seen or heard of a butch attracted to another butch, and I worry that this means that I cannot be butch myself. The 7 members provide sweet melodies and energetic tunes that can lift your spirits up once you tune in your headphones. You immediately burst into sobs, and you say, “I think I love you, too.”. But the band in question — Bangtan Boys, later officially known as BTS — would go on to completely transform the image of all-male boy bands in South Korean music and shatter conceptions of what breakout success looked like for South Korean bands overseas. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. “They do the big, boisterous, in-your-face dance video. “K-pop really likes the look and attitude of hip-hop, but not too much. But there’s one role that never changes: At 22, he’s the youngest. Through the three albums, BTS tells a story about falling in love, an inevitable breakup, and an epiphany about self-love. Their first three albums, making up the “School Trilogy,” continued on this theme, as well as critiquing other aspects of society. I occasionally make it out to the open mics and shows that the humor magazine editors host in their garage; you do too. them. First, I focus on the music’s melody, the emotion it conveys, and the mood it creates, and then I look for the lyrics’ translation. By being exposed to an environment with people I was not used to, I became aware of my huge lack of general knowledge and social skills, so, it made me feel uneasy. I've been dealing with depression & anxiety for years and bts has always been such a source of strength and inspiration for me. I’m halfway through my first month of college, sitting in a packed basement classroom on a late Thursday night for the first meeting of the campus humor magazine. Now that I think back on it, there was still room for a calm and thoughtful debate, and I did not grab my chance to debunk prejudice. It didn’t, however, include a group of teenage boys, then-recently assembled through a studio audition process, who were being meticulously polished and prepped for their debut. One can read that K-pop is a soulless music, whose success would depend only on a well-thought-out formatting, or that the impressive synchronization of the dancers reveals the prefabricated aspect of K-pop. Once I do, though, it feels obvious. They have won countless awards, such as the BBMAs, and easily beat other famous social artists, such as Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. More importantly, I’ve realized that I can love me for that, too; for being authentically, cockily, truthfully, loudly, unapologetically butch. It’s the latest achievement from a band that’s spent the last few years smashing one success metric after another, from spending multiple weeks on US charts to making a landmark appearance at the American Music Awards — the first of many American awards-season appearances since, including performing with Lil Nas X at the 2020 Grammys. And after months spent navigating a silent tension that underscores all our interactions, you and I begin to spend more and more time together. The name was chosen to represent the main goal of the group: to protect and to talk about the problems and worries of people in their teens and twenties. “Pied Piper” speaks of tough love and connection to their fans. seven years old. It is us never having to explain or justify our bodies and boundaries to each other. The reason for my joy became a source of sadness. “Maybe I made a mistake yesterday, but yesterday’s me is still me. K-pop began on April 11, 1992, when a hip-hop trio called Seo Taiji and Boys performed in a talent show on a national South Korean network. I soon realized the culture gap between my classmates and me, which put me in great discomfort. Assembled through auditions and years of grooming within an intense studio culture — the highly regimented system of idol group production in Korean and Japanese music studios — idol groups are polished to perfection, designed to present the very highest standards of beauty, dance, and musicality. Since I do not speak Korean, I usually listen to a song in two stages. Apart from their down-to-earth personalities, you cannot talk about BTS without mentioning the most obvious subjects for a musical act — their music and their lyrics. It really is a magic word, one that opens up a realm of possibility for me. In the speech, Namjoon reflected on his childhood and exposed his interpretation of the “love yourself” message. In Korea, “idol” groups are looked down upon even more severely than boy bands are by western audiences. It feels like coming home. “I don’t think it really hit me how big they were until I moved to Korea in 2014 and talked to the children. Time goes on, and I undeniably fall in love with you, which I only realize during winter break when you are in Chicago and I am in LA. In that respect, BTS may be truly a K-pop revelation. In September 2017, BTS launched their new album series titled Love Yourself. Tomorrow I might be a tiny bit wiser, and that’s me, too. V dons one at the end of his solo after wistfully singing, “Have I lost myself? Despite the praise given to the album, I wasn’t a big fan of “Best of Me.” The song was a collaboration between the Chainsmokers and BTS. They create and manage most of their own social media presence. A K-pop commentator who goes by the mononym Stephen ran a weekly podcast, This Week in K-Pop, from 2013 to 2017, which chronicled new releases in K-pop and inevitably documented the rise of BTS. BTS gave me a reason to love myself. However, the DJs always seem to stick to the same tune, especially in songs like “Roses” and “Something Just Like This,” previous songs in which they have collaborated with artists like ROZES and Coldplay. Regardless of what happens between us, I will always hold dear the quiet rebellion we shared our freshman year. Tomorrow I might be a tiny bit wiser, and that’s me, too. Then I looked even deeper into their lyrics and found out about their strong engagement and values. Since then, I have never loved a group as much as I love BTS. Why did I feel like I did not belong? The album’s intro, performed by Jimin, has the vocalist believing fate brought them together with their love, who is the “blue penicillin” saving them. They thought I was smart, so that’s who I became. The right one begins with embracing your flaws and mistakes and forgiving yourself for them. I have no idea where I’ll be two years from now, or two months from now, for that matter. In 2016, she wrote a profile of the band that argued that they were changing the nature of K-pop through their interpersonal approach to image-making. Sometimes we don’t even do that, and I just stare at you walking around with your hands in your pockets, clunky black headphones obscuring your ears. Essay About Myself 1735 Words | 7 Pages. Rolling Stone’s list, which appeared two months before Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” included groups like Big Bang, Girls’ Generation, and 2NE1 — the greatest bands of what’s generally thought of as the “second generation” of pop groups to emerge during K-pop’s rise to international prominence. The 27-year-old Kim Seokjin, a.k.a. You go from sitting at my desk while we watch movies to sitting next to me on my bed while I play guitar, acting like I can’t see you staring at my hands. But he’s unquestionably the baby of the group — and arguably its most popular member. The amount of self-reflection you put in your songs made me also question about myself, my fears, insecurities, loves, hopes, and dreams. It is shamelessly reinforcing aesthetic stereotypes — shaved heads, button-downs, carabiners, combat boots — and reveling in the stares we receive in public. Get our newsletter in your inbox twice a week. “I Need U” was a refreshing, personalizing step away from hip-hop toward an R&B sound, while “Dope” openly celebrated the endless grind of their lives: “Over half of the day, we drown in work / Even if our youth rots in the studio / Thanks to that, we’re closer to success.”. It is a golden Los Angeles afternoon the summer before my freshman year of college, and it feels like a weight is lifted with each lock of shoulder-length hair that falls onto the salon floor. For helping find my dream and for giving me that motivation and cheering me up. Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis may have come earlier than we thought. One Direction notoriously followed in the wake of these many groups by practicing a similar transgressive physical intimacy; in that fandom, Larry Stylinson shippers in particular essentially codified for the ARMY how to micro-analyze body language, onstage and off. The Rhizomatic Revolution Review [20130613], (1). You, with your curly brunette crop, wearing a black and teal windbreaker zipped up to your chin. But self-love is not easy, right? It demands courage and forgiveness to face your true self and accept your imperfections. Countless books advise you to “go easier on yourself” even as you “fake it until you make it.” BTS’s message is different. With you, I realized that it is okay to be a woman who breaks all the rules, and to want other women who break all the rules, and that there are women who will love me for that. Their first single, “No More Dream,” was an ode to teen apathy, a rebellious rejection of Korean traditionalism. At the end of the same year, RM released “Always,” a song that opened with the lines, “One morning, I opened my eyesAnd wished I was deadI hoped someone would kill meIn this loud silence.”. Tickets for their current sold-out tour are in high demand, with an average price of $452, the most expensive of the summer. The 7 Best Halloween Movies to Watch With Your S.O. “If you were to be like, ‘Who’s the realest K-pop band,’ I’d be like, ‘... None of them?’” Stephen said. Accessories Can Take Your Look From Ordinary to Model off-Duty Real Quick, 9 Spooky Tattoos To Get You in the Halloween Spirit, 8 of the Coziest, Most Comforting Accessories You Need to Bring Some Softness to Your Dorm. Ad Choices, Butch4Butch: How Loving Another Butch Helped Me Learn to Love Myself, "With you, I realized that it is okay to be a woman who breaks all the rules, and to want other women who break all the rules, and that there are women who will love me for that. It said, ‘What kind of hero is the youth of today looking for? But to Stephen, the real lesson of BTS’s success isn’t about the band’s ability to transcend the norms of K-pop; it’s about K-pop’s rapid ascension into the mainstream. I would confidently share new music and group findings with my non-K-pop friends, trying to pull from them a tiny sign of acknowledgment. And for once in my life, I’m okay with the not knowing. “What’s up?” you ask, and what I have wanted so desperately to tell you — to scream from every rooftop in the city of my heart — spills forth. But Stephen and his co-hosts were initially skeptical of the band. But that would just be a disservice to you, and to everyone and everything else that’s helping me along the way. I guess my life so bored. I was becoming so desperate to belong that I tried to mold myself into becoming what I thought society expected of me. And no wonder: The internet is teeming with gigabytes of media in which the members of BTS display zero interpersonal boundaries, are physically affectionate, and generally behave in playful, intimate ways that deconstruct heteronormative masculinity. Hence, I isolated myself, as showing my true self could hurt me even more (I thought). 1 on the platform, ahead of Beyoncé and Harry Styles. by Elxse. In the speech, RM reflected on his childhood and what the message of “love yourself” has meant to him. This series was dedicated to telling the story of the process of loving yourself. Why did I take Calculus BC? positive value? With their dashing looks, talent, and style, they have captured millions of hearts, starting from Korea to any country in the world. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, as well as the first to have a single land at No. On September 24, 2018, BTS gave a speech at the UN General Assembly as part of their LOVE MYSELF campaign, launched a year before to support UNICEF’s #ENDviolence campaign. – Lee Sami The brightest stars, your most visible and important features, are your flaws and your mistakes. After spending my adolescence feeling like I’d be trapped forever in a vapid, neverending suburbia, spring break made me see my future — school, graduation, a career, escape — in a new, more tangible way, rather than a vague, nebulous concept not extended to people like me. Listeners, IC3PEAK And Four More Russian Artists You Won’t Find On Putin’s Spotify List. BTS does not have a recognizable style, which is what makes the band unique and outstanding. This sense of variety is clearly shown in Love Yourself, proving that BTS is capable of being versatile without losing their sense of charm. Hire a Professional to Get Your 100% Plagiarism Free Paper. While watching them on their 2017 “Wings” tour, she said, “there was a moment that really stuck out.”, “There’s a song the three rappers do called Cypher 4. A love that’s based on changing or hiding your true self can never be fulfilling and will ultimately tear apart. I’m home from college for a moment, coming up on the two year anniversary of that fateful haircut. It feels like deliverance. Coincidentally, this is when BTS released Love Yourself: Her, the first installment of the Love Yourself series. And they covered Seo Taiji’s ”Come Back Home”: In essence, they found a way to imbue their musical style with substance. Not only are they excellent singers, rappers, dancers, and performers but they also produce their own songs! Studios systematically ironed out most of the personal expression and socially conscious music that Seo Taiji was originally known for — after all, it’s hard to express yourself when you’re contractually forbidden to have a personal life. To conclude the series, they dropped Love Yourself: Answer. RM first made his name as an underground rapper; still in his teens, he was frequently spotted spitting verses alongside his friend Zico, who would go on to become the leader of the K-pop group Block B. That album made me comfortable with doing more things that I wanted to, instead of worrying about what others thought about it. But the development of the Love Yourself series took the group beyond merely critiquing society and is their attempt at offering some solutions. Role of Students in Disaster Management in USA, A Manifesto for the Position of School Prefect, Cleaning, Decontamination and Waste Management. She can’t quite understand that there is more than one way to be a woman, ways that don’t involve men or long hair. “I think I love you,” I whisper, trembling slightly. Not every group has set roles, and most roles change over time. While they had debuted from a small agency in relative obscurity, BTS had gained a moderate level of success in 2015 after the release of their two part series, “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life (화양연화).” Their star was certainly ascending in early 2016, but they were far from the juggernaut they would become in the next two years. The song is contradictory, vaguely explaining the struggles of fame and success, and how attention can’t always be on them. Colette Bennett is an entertainment reporter and a huge fan of BTS (she’s seen them in concert four times since 2014), but even though she liked their music, it took a while for her to take their message seriously. These contents enabled me to learn more about their personalities, and I couldn’t help but feel genuinely attached to them because of their sincerity, hope, and passion. His sincere consideration profoundly touched me, as I had never seen an artist doing that before. The group was first conceived of after RM’s underground rapping caught the attention of the president of their company. Rather, it seems like they need a hero who can lend them a shoulder to lean on, even without speaking a single word. But Bang also struggled with his position within the industry. Composed of three rappers (RM, SUGA, and j-hope) and four vocalists (Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) the group derived its acronym from its Korean name, Bangtan Sonyeondan (방탄소년단), which translates as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts.”. Their debut single, “No More Dream,” discussed the problem of children throwing away their futures and dreams for mindless studying. So it was in this atmosphere, one of uncertain success, continued struggle, and frequent criticism that the Love Yourself series was born. Then college came around. The album, which marks the band’s return after a brief hiatus, features collaborations with the likes of Sia and Troye Sivan. You gave me the best of me, so you’ll give you the … Through this song, I believe that BTS wants to tell us that this is not the right path. BTS, the band that changed K-pop, explained, The Supreme Court will hear a case that could destroy what remains of the Voting Rights Act. I am who I am today, with all my faults. In a 2018 interview with the South Korean newspaper JoongAng, he described how he originally thought of BTS as consisting of gentle, sympathetic idols who could mentor their fans: I recently came across a company document from [2012,] the year before BTS debuted, in which we were debating what kind of idol group to create. This sense of variety is clearly shown in Love Yourself, proving that BTS is capable of being versatile without losing their sense of charm. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. And, as Stephen noted, BTS’s international success has been landmark, even if it’s been built on giant shoulders. Difference does not scare me as much as it used to because it is what makes someone unique. The speech came about a year after the group first launched their “Love Myself” campaign, a partnership with UNICEF’s End Violence program that has so far raised over a million dollars through proceeds from album sales and other merchandise. Collectively, this K-pop generation is rapidly changing the conversation and pushing the limits of what K-pop is allowed to be. I will forever love them for that." No other song could have concluded the Love Yourself series as well as “Idol.” In this upbeat and colorful song, they talk about being their true self, that they are not going to change who they are because of other people’s opinion. Stephen told me that it took a while for the hosts of This Week in K-Pop to realize how big BTS had gotten. Just read the local articles on the topic and analyse the language used to describe K-pop. When BTS came out with this Love Yourself series, I finally felt like somebody understood me. the golden child, because he’s a bit of a wunderkind in terms of talent. Not someone who dogmatically preaches from above. They frequently write their own songs and lyrics. The Melania tapes bust the “Free Melania” myth. I was finally free to change who I was. Why did I try so hard to be valedictorian? They even snagged a couple of Guinness World Records for their incredibly engaged fanbase. https://ther3journal.com/. “We always thought the next big group to cross over would be a girl group, somebody like Twice,” he told me. At a first listen, the message can sound horrifying. On December 22, 2012, the group released a number of Soundcloud clips featuring its seven members rapping in Korean and English — including a rap cover of Wham’s “Last Christmas.”. A few months later I cut my hair again, a DIY affair in another lesbian’s dorm room. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, their December 2017 single remix “Mic Drop, The big business of BTS, the K-pop band that’s changed music, Two of the year’s best movies are coming to Netflix, In Netflix’s Dick Johnson Is Dead, a father and daughter imagine his death with humor and love, Netflix’s American Murder is mesmerizing even if you’re already familiar with the Watts murders, Get ready for Halloween as the Vox Book Club reads Mexican Gothic, Amy Coney Barrett’s Judiciary Committee hearing is still on, despite the Senate recess. The Love Yourself series reflected all the things I was struggling with. I immediately fell in love with this splendid world, different yet mesmerizing. To BTS. “I try to be as butch as hell.”. BTS, a seven-man K-Pop hip hop group, has been a creative inspiration to me in ways that I didn’t believe would be possible for my cynical-of-mainstream heart and mind. You are the first butch I’ve ever met in real life. Then at the end of 2017, the Love Yourself series was born. I think I have unconsciously intern+alized this general opinion and found myself thinking the same, even though I love K-pop. “‘Dope’ is probably my favorite video of all time,” Stephen said. Everyone in the White House cluster who has said they tested positive for the coronavirus. I got to a point where nothing was uplifting me. They did this by mixing their openness on social media with blunt and honest lyrics — and owning their status as an underdog group battling to succeed against other bands who came from established studios with larger budgets. Sign up for the At that time, “Singularity” really resonated with me. But loving yourself is not an easy task. The Butch, capital B, like a figure on a tarot card, existed purely within the realm of mysticism for me before this, a specimen I admired from afar, never thinking I could know one, and definitely never thinking I could be one. It gave me hope again. Until you accept those darker aspects of yourself, the shadows among the light, the “self” you love won’t be your true self but an idealized version. Throughout 2017, fans systematically bombarded North American retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon with pleas to stock BTS’s new albums — and then promptly pushed the albums up the sales charts. These are the White House officials, lawmakers, and others who reportedly have the coronavirus. All rights reserved. As BTS paved their own way, I also wanted to follow mine. Elsxe. Jim Carrey debuted as Joe Biden, Alec Baldwin is (still) over playing Trump, Chris Rock nailed it, and we hope everyone stays healthy. Of course, I'm still learning to love myself, but lately, more often than not, I have this overwhelming feeling of love for who I am and the person I’m trying to be. I could not find my younger confidence, and I started to lock myself in. The introspection work that I started thanks to you helped a lot in learning how to accept myself. I was and still am a multi-fandom fan, but BTS holds a special place in my heart; The joy and excitement I feel watching them and listening to their music for hours are indescribable. By merging K-pop with English-language groups, the account could more accurately reflect the relative popularity of K-pop bands to their Western counterparts. You, me and a few others are at the one restaurant on campus open past nine, and I’m more invested in my penne alla vodka than the conversation we’re having, but I jolt my head up as soon as you say it. All rights reserved, Save Time On Research and Writing. The refrain is, ‘I love, I love, I love myself / I know, I know, I know myself.’, “I looked around me at hundreds of people in their 20s cheering every word, and I thought, ‘My god. 4 winners and 2 losers from Saturday Night Live’s season premiere. The message, not always fully covered by the media that reported on the speech, is more than the boilerplate feel-good sentiment it’s sometimes reduced to, often with the stipulation that the message is more radical in Korean society. Jung Hoseok, a.k.a. Though BTS had attained a certain level of financial success, they were the frequent target of attacks and ridicule on the internet, including accusations that their company had inflated their sales (proven untrue after the company, Big Hit Entertainment, requested an official investigation) and that they were guilty of “plagiarism” because they had performed wearing school uniforms after another — and at the time more popular — boy group had worn school uniforms for their concept the year before. But he also wanted the band to be able to be sincere and genuine — not immaculate idols groomed amid studio culture, but real boys who shared their authentic personalities and talents with the world.