What did BTS members do before debuting with the group? How the band was formed? Here you will find the answers to these questions. Also, here are BTS profile, facts, and discography.
Known all around the globe, BTS is one of the most popular and loved K-pop boy groups. Called the Princes of Pop, they are the first in almost everything. BTS is the first among all K-pop groups to sing at the American Music Awards, to win various Billboard Music Awards, and to reach millions of followers on social media platforms (over 10 million on Twitter). The band consists of seven members who are not only performers but also co-producers and co-writers.
BTS used to mix dance-oriented Korean pop with hip hop. Throughout time, they became shifting towards fusion music. Yet, the band accents their attention on hip hop. Their art is mainly about social/personal issues. For example, in song lyrics, they talk about individualism, problems of today’s youth, mental health.
There’s no chance that even people not interested in Korean music haven’t heard of this band: the group was included on Times Top 100 and Top 25 lists of most influential people and even outpaced such celebrities as Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez winning the Top Social Artist award.
BTS – The Meaning of The Name
The name of the band has several meanings. One of them is that it stands for “Beyond the Scene”, their identity as a brand, which means influencing the youth to go forward despite the realities they may be facing. The other one is that it reminds of Bangtan Sonyeondan, the Korean expression explained as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. Hence, the band aims to get rid of the criticisms and stereotypes that are killing youth like bullets.
- Also Knows As: Bangtan Sonyeondan, Bangtan Boys, Beyond the Scene, Bulletproof Boy Scouts
- Members: Jimin, J-Hope, RM, V, Jin, Suga, Jungkook
- Debut: June 13, 2013
- Labels: Big Hit Entertainment, Pony Canyon, Def Jam Japan, Columbia Records, Def Jam France
- Fandom: A.R.M.Y
- Genres: pop, hip-hop, R&B, rock, EDM
The Life of BTS Members Before the Group
What did BTS members do before debuting? They all had different paths but eventually ended up together.
RM became the first trainee at Big Hit Entertainment. He was a sixteen-year-old teenager when Sleepy, a rapper he had known since some of his past auditions, persuaded him to audition. Eventually, RM was offered a spot as a trainee. In 2010, after this audition, the producer of the entertainment company became determined to start a hip hop band.
Suga, the second member of the group, originally started his path in the company as a producer. He was the contestant in “Hit It”, the rap competition hosted by Big Hit company. Even though he didn’t become the winner, executives offered him a position of a producer and a trainee. In one of his interviews, Suga shared that Bang Si Hyundai, the CEO of the agency, promised him that he wouldn’t dance and would only need rapping. So, a sixteen-year-old rapper accepted the offer. However, we all know that all members of any K-pop band perform quite complicated choreographies. You might want to read the related post 7 Most Popular K-Pop Male Solo Artists about his solo career.
J-Hope, the third member to join the band, was a fifteen-year-old rapper when he became a trainee. It’s not a coincidence that the first three BTS members are all rappers. It was initially supposed to be a hip hop group, not a traditional idol group.
J-Hope didn’t pass an audition for JYP Entertainment but passed the one for Big Hit Entertainment.
Jin, the fourth member, turned almost eighteen years old when he became a trainee of the agency. Initially, he wanted to become an actor, not an idol. However, an executive from Big Hit scouted Jim when he exited a bus! The future idol agreed to audition for the company and later was chosen as a trainee and a BTS member.
For Jungkook, the fifth singer to join the band, everything started in 2011, when he auditioned for the show “Superstar K”. By then he was thirteen. Similar to Suga’s story, he didn’t win the competition but caught the eye of seven entertainment agencies. Eventually, RM inspired him to join Big Hit Entertainment.
V became the sixth idol to join the band. At first, he came to the Big Hit audition to support his friend. However, he ended up passing the audition. It happened so that one of the executives noticed him and wanted him to audition. Back then V was fifteen years old.
Jimin became the last member to join BTS. At that time, he already was a well-trained dancer, so he decided to audition in Busan. The idol joined Big Hit in 2012 when he was sixteen years old.
You can find more information about the solo career of Jimin, V, Jungkook, and Jin on the article 8 Most Popular and Successful K-Pop Idols.
The group began its formation in 2010 and was getting ready to debut in 2011. Yet, the plans changed due to their reorganization into an idol group. The final line-up was announced only in 2012. Half a year before their debut, members of the band started grabbing the audience’s attention by sharing their song covers on SoundCloud, YouTube, and other social media platforms.
BTS Formation | Debut & Recognition
Finally, BTS debuted in June 2013. They released the album “2 Cool 4 School”, the first part of their “school trilogy”. In the album, we hear old hip hop mixed with the 1980s-90s elements. They were singing mainly criticism of the society that kills their dreams, their nervousness, and persistence concerning their future. The interesting fact is that RM and Suga changed the lyrics of “No More Dream”, the title track of the album, more than twenty times!
Music & Lyrics
In the second part of the so-called trilogy, the group continued with the theme of happiness and dreams and they wish to prove themselves but expressed their frustration with the education system in the country.
The third album of the series, “School Luv Affair”, focused on such themes as youth and love. It also became the first album of the group to be listed on Billboard’s World Albums Chart, where it took the third position.
By 2015, BTS shifted from the totally aggressive hip hop image to the emotional and playful sides of youth.
BTS Facts
- Time Magazine included BTS to the list of the “Top 25 Most Influential People on the Internet” and gave them the first position on “Best K-Pop Artists”, their another list. They recognized the band as a significant social media phenomenon that had a global impact.
- Forbes magazine stated that BTS was the most retweeted celebrity in 2016. Twitter itself labeled the group the most-tweeted-about artist of 2017. With over 500 million shares and likes, they became global leaders! Also, the band was included in the 2018 Edition of the Guinness Book of World Records thanks to its Twitter engagements.
- Their album “Wings” was placed on US Billboard 200 chart becoming the highest-charting K-pop album of all time. Furthermore, they set the record for album sales with 16,000 United sold out within a week.
- The single “Spring Day” broke into the top 10 on the iTunes chart. It became the first K-pop song by a Korean group to do so. The band broke one more record on iTunes Album Charts for taking the most number one spots held by a Korean group.
- BTS was elected the “Best Dressed Boy Group” at the Billboard Music Award (Vogue Magazine).
- They are the first K-pop band to be nominated for Billboard Music Award. Placed seventh on the Billboard 200 chart, their album “Love Yourself: Her” became the first K-pop album in Billboard’s top 10 chart. “Love Yourself: Tear” was placed at number one gaining the name of the number one album in America.
- BTS is the only K-pop band to make several entries on the Billboard chart (three and more).
- “DNA” became the group’s first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, getting the 85th position. “MIC Drop” feat. Steve Aoki, another release of the group, reached the 28th position on the Billboard Hot 100. “Fake Love”, one of their next singles, debuted at number ten on the same chart. Furthermore, the release is one of the few non-English songs to be placed on the top ten. They also have English songs placed on the Hot 100 chart. “Dynamite” is their first English song, which stayed on the chart for two weeks, making BTS the second group ever to achieve that.
- BTS ranked 8th on the Billboard Top Artist Chart at the end of 2018. The K-pop boy group ranked alongside Taylor Swift and Drake. What’s more, they became the second act of that year in the Group/Duo rating.
- Billboard became the first US magazine BTS had covered. It’s also the first time for the magazine to make individual covers.
- BTS is the first K-pop band to be invited to perform at the American Music Awards.
- BTS became the first Korean group to get to the first spot on the Apple service.
- BTS is the first K-pop band ever to get RIAA (Recording Industry of America) certification. Their release “MIC Drop” was certified gold (500,000 units) and platinum (over 1,000,000 units). The single was also certified double platinum by RIAJ (the Recording Industry Association of Japan). BTS is not only the first Korean group to earn it but also the only one to get more than one certification. Their other singles such as “DNA” and “Crystal Show” as well as the album “Love Yourself: Answer” were also certified gold.
- The music video to Fake Love became the fastest one to hit one million likes! It reached the mark within 39 minutes.
- BTS is recognized as the first Korean act to perform at a US stadium. All 40,000 tickets for their concert in America (as part of their 2018 world tour) were sold out in just 20 minutes!
- Love Myself, the UNICEF campaign of the group launched in 2017, has raised millions of dollars.
- BTS was invited to the Korea-France Friendship Concert (Paris, 2018), where they performed. The South Korean president and over 400 officials attended the concert.
- StubHub stated that BTS had one of the world’s best selling concerts of 2018. The first place was taken by Ed Sheeran.
- The group’s music video to the single “Life Goes On” is their 27th to hit a hundred million views.
- BTS became the first K-pop band to become a nominee at the Annual Grammy Awards. Their single “Dynamite” earned the category of the “Best Pop Group Performance”.
South Korea passed the “BTS law”, according to which all popular K-pop celebrities would be allowed to delay their mandatory service.
BTS Discography
| Albums: | Studio albums: Dark & Wild; Wings; Love Yourself: Tear; Map of the Soul: 7; Be; Compilation Albums: The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever; The Best of Bangtan Sonyeondan – Korea Edition; Love Yourself: Answer; 2 Cool 4 School (Japanese); The Best of Bodan Shonendan – Japan Edition (Japanese) Japanese: Wake Up; Youth; Face Yourself; Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey Single Albums: 2 Cool 4 School Japanese: No More Dream; Boy In Love; Danger; For You; I Need U; Run; Chi, Ase, Namida; MIC Drop/DNA/Crystal Show; Fake Love/Airplane Pt. 2; Lights/Boy With Luv |
| EPs: | O!RUL8,2?; Skool Luv Affair; The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 and Pt. 2; Love Yourself: Her; Map of the Soul: Persona |
| MVs: | No More Dreams; No More Dream Dance Version; We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2; N.O; Boy In Luv; Boy In Luv Dance Version; Just One Day; Just One Day Dance Version; Just One Day Facial Expression Version; Just One Day One-Take version; No More Dream Japanese version; Boy In Luv Japanese version; Danger; War of Hormone; Danger Japanese version; I Need U; I Need You Original version; For You; For You Dance version; Dope; Fantastic; Run; I Need U Japanese version; Run Japanese version; Epilogue: Young Forever; Fire; Fire Dance version; Save Me; Blood Sweat & Tears; Spring Day; Not Today; Not Today Choreography version; Blood Sweat & Tears Japanese version; Come Back Home; DNA; MIC Drop Steve Aoki Remix; MIC Drop Japanese version (full and short versions); With Seoul; Fake Love; Fake Love Extended Version; Idol; Idol feat. Nicki Minaj; Airplane Pt. 2 Japanese version; Boy with Love feat. Halsey (+ Army with Luv Ver.); Heartbeat; Lights; Make It Right feat. Lauv; On; Black Swan; Stay Gold; Dynamite; Dynamite B-side; Dynamite 70’s Remix; Dynamite Choreography Version; Life Goes On; Life Goes On: On My Pilow; Life Goes On: In the Forest; Life Goes On: Like An Arrow |
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