BTS: A New Wave of Culture For Music

In recent years, Korean pop band BTS has become a prominent figure in the music industry. Just this past week, these seven young artists won the Top Social Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards with 94 percent of the votes in their favor. This is thanks to their massive following throughout the United States. The BTS fanbase, nicknamed the ARMY, tweeted out nearly 40 million tweets with the hashtag #IVoteBTSBBMAs, breaking the record of most tweets sent out in 24 hours with a specific hashtag.

BTS shows off their brand new Billboard Music Award after the show.

How did BTS gain such a large American following? In addition to their looks that have millions of girls swooning, both their content and their artistic image appeal to many different cultures, specifically the United States. With electronic dance tracks such as DNA and Mic Drop, mixed with their hip hop dance moves, Americans find their songs entertaining and lively, despite the fact that many of them are not sung in English. Undoubtedly, many people are also attracted to their level of synchronization, contributing to the aesthetic of their performances. It always seems as if they are all controlled simultaneously, working as one machine to entertain their audience.

BTS has contributed to music and culture in the United States in many ways. Being a Korean pop group, their music has popularized the language in America’s music industry, similarly to Latin American artists. They have contributed to a new genre of music that not only encompasses K-Pop music, but music from countries throughout the world. The amount of support they receive from their American fanbase shows how acceptance of other ethnicities is beneficial for our culture. They inspire diversity and reinforce the idea that music is a universal source of entertainment in society, regardless of culture or language.

Millions of fans are now waiting in anticipation for their BTS World Tour, which is coming to America this fall. All eleven locations in the United States have already sold out within minutes of ticket sales going live, however other locations have yet to be filled. If you have the opportunity to see BTS in concert, definitely go and experience them for yourself. They also have many of their songs available on a variety of streaming services, including their most recent album called Love Yourself: Tear, which features music sung in Japanese.

There is no doubt that BTS has grown to be a cultural sensation for American pop culture. Their music, dance and production truly speak to the new generation of listeners throughout the world, and encompass many aspects that appeal to American culture. They are diversifying the industry by mixing the sounds of American dance music with the language of Asian countries. BTS has proved to be a unique contribution to the music industry by creating a niche for music of other languages in American culture and inspiring diversity.