The Eve of FESTA--Wishes for several more Six Years' of BTS miracle
Six Years of Blood, Sweat, Tears to the Shine, Dream, Smile now
With
all the records BTS has made during the 6 years since debut, the world has been
trying to replicate the miracles they created. Regardless of the success or
practicability, the great amounts of imitations and the sacrifices made in
compensation to the world fame attempt have made it self-evident: the unprecedented
miracles are admirable.
But
what are the miracles on the foreground? By definition, the word miracle shows
incredibility in the happening of human world. However, by reflection and
back-tracing, the great accomplishments of theirs are not undeserved. Some came
with years of creation after digging into their hearts, life and surroundings;
some followed their passion and taste in music, hip-hop and dance into the
tough training; some joined the team after voluntary participation in the keen
competition of Korean show biz audition……their success is not a fairy tale of a
pauper turning into a prince, but a kingdom built up stone by stone.
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| BTS at the Grammy's, 2019 |
In summer 2013, with the average age of 19, the seven boys debuted with the
song No More Dream, using their passion and power to show their courage and persistence
toward their dreams. The strong hip-hop rhythm echoed with the beating of young
hearts. However, the great environment of Korean show biz did not identify with their music style—partly idol stage, with beautiful vocals and good looks;
partly hip-pop, which, on the contrary, features ego-centric rappers with no
modification. Despite their industrious seeding in various social networks even
long before their debut, still not too many bought the rookies’ album.
Fortunately, the producer company, Big Hit Entertainment insisted on allowing
them to show this unique style, while at the same time, imposed rigorous
training on the young dreamer-artists. Members were even sent to various
countries to learn skills of a higher level—singing, dancing, composing, sound
and film editing, etc. At the end of 2014, they tried to breakthrough by
debuting in Japan and world touring among 18 cities around 13 countries.
In
2014-5, their unique style gradually gained attention through the two albums
named “Most Beautiful Moments in Life”. Strong rhythms of raps co-exist with
heart-touching melodies, and most of the lyrics are reflections of the seven
minds—sweet inspiration from nature, desires and reflections on love, life
struggle in human society, and continuous self-dialogues. The natural, raw, unpretentious
appearance of their music brought much comfort to the pressure-bitten Korean
society but still, they didn’t break through in album sales, due to the strong
stereotype in the circle. They didn’t dream big, only wishing their music to be
heard.
Not
just heard by the in-circle, the boys also decided to continue the path set out
in 2015, in keeping the messages of their songs international, starting with
small concerts in the US. It’s literally inconceivable to know that the now
world-renowned heartthrob boy group used to tout their own concert tickets,
begging people to come from all corners of the streets. In those struggles,
however, the boys grew, of course, into someone who understood fame does not
come in cheap. This year, 2019, coming back to the same city, LA, the boys feel
comforted to see the fully booked stadium, and they have proudly performed two
awe-inspiring, powerful sold-out shows.
Besides
the US, the boys also started to tour the world. They constantly gave their
fans different stage performances, surprising the audience again and again whenever
they showed up. Concerts are never dull nor predictable even in the eleventh
show. The sincerity and conscientiousness in caring about the feelings of fans
are unforeseen in other performers or groups.
Despite
the first two obscure years when they were stumbling along, partly because of
the mixture of two music genres, partly due to the boys’ ambiguous self-identity,
the group started to snatch minor victory from the jaws of defeat in April,
2015, with the album “Most Beautiful Moments in Life, Pt. 1.” BTS won five No.
1s on Korean record charts. Seven months later, the second album of the same
series, with the theme song “Run,” won another five No. 1s. In-between these two,
members also released their personal creations sporadically, amply showing
featured talents of each boy.
2016
was the time when they became full-fledged and ready to take flight. With the
perfect synergy of the beautiful chorus and their synchronized dance moves, the
boys brought to the notice of the world their passionate concerns about people
via their strong music sense, and issues like school bullying, sex slaves of
Japanese soldiers in WW2, and the sunken Vessel Sewor accident, were thus brought
to the spotlight of the world via their songs or MVs. The year saw another two
successful albums: “Most Beautiful Moments in Life, Special,” and the regular
album “Wings.” Their MVs thus became all-kills and they won prevalent
recognition and big awards in both Melon
Music Award (MMA) and Mnet Asian Music
Awards (MAMA). In the award reception speech, they shed sweet tears and
group hugged tighter after all the sweat in the past four years.
Through
the fans’ voluntary devotion, the worldwide fandom grew immense. Consequently,
BTS broke the consecutive winning of Justin Bieber on the Top Social Artist
Award in Billboard Music Award (BMA) in 2017, becoming
the first Asian group winning this award. But it wasn’t until they gained recognition of the Grand Acclaim Award at MMA in Nov. 2017 did they feel the truth happening: the world has really
noticed them! Better yet, BTS
not only has kept being the Top Social Artist till now, but also surprises the world by winning the Top
Duo/Group Award in BMA this year, hitting a higher note
on the many world records they have gloriously snatched earlier.
Meanwhile, the great fandom, called Army World, is voluntarily finding new things to celebrate every day, to the extent of making an encyclopedia of their own: the Armypedia. BTS has become ubiquitously successful. This month, let’s join the celebration of their hard-earned titles on the sixth anniversary of their debut.
Not becoming an Army until Mar. 2018, I failed to take part in the whole six years in the past, but I do wish to go along with you, Worldwide Army, for several more six years in the future. Let's shine, dream, and smile together with Bangtan in our microcosmos.
posted by Joanna @ 1:04 PM
