Dynamite

Up until 2016 when Korean boy band sensation, BTS, hit the Billboard charts with their single “FIRE”, America had no idea what to expect from the Korean Pop (KPOP) industry. 

An important, but influential factor international KPOP fans forget is how much power the reputation of an entertainment company holds. Talent and maintaining beauty standards is only half of what it takes to be a successful idol in the industry; an entertainment company’s influence and connections allow for opportunities like longer time slots during award shows, propaganda news articles, and rumor control. 

In their rookie years, BTS lacked this specific resource and constantly found themselves at a disadvantage. Whether it was suddenly shortened performance slots or plagiarism accusations and death threats, the group was forced to endure it, simply because at that time, BigHit was not reputable enough to defend their artists. Despite all this, BTS was able to revolutionize the KPOP industry as they not only began topping the Melon charts in Korea (the equivalent of Billboard Charts in the States), but also began to seep into international music charts. In 2017, their single, “FIRE,” hit the Billboard Charts, and the group flew to Las Vegas, Nevada, making them the first Korean pop group to attend the Billboard Music Awards (BMAs). The band took home their first BMA award, as well as the Top Social Artist award, which up until then, had been awarded to American artist Justin Bieber for six consecutive years. Since then, the group has been busy going back and forth between Korea and America as they are continuously invited to perform their hit songs on multiple award shows and even competition shows. Needless to say, their fandom rapidly increased as they suddenly transitioned from receiving plagiarism accusations and death threats to receiving love from fans all around the globe. While this does bring a sense of pride within the ARMY fanbase, it begs the questions about whether or not all the traction the group is receiving from America is deterring them from being what they truly are, a KPOP group. It is absolutely valid and admirable that BTS’s main goal was to have the world recognize KPOP as a legitimate genre. They alone have single-handedly opened America’s eyes to see the talent and potential Korean artists hold. However, in order to do this, the group had to take into account the fact that they would not be catering to their original audience anymore. They would have to modify their content so that their music would be more palatable to all listeners, which is exactly what they hoped to achieve with their 2020 single “Dynamite.”

Over the years, BTS has become world-renowned for the messages behind every song in every album. From their debut single, “NO MORE DREAM,” the group hoped to relay to their audience that they should do what they love and follow their dreams, instead of succumbing to Western societal standards. Since the majority of the group were teenagers at the time, this particular piece made a lasting impact on Korean youth who were, and are, constantly pressured to fit around the nation’s expectations for education. With the freedom to be heavily involved in their music production, BTS focused on sending a specific message to their fan base: “to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim at adolescents like bullets,” hence their band name, “Bangtan Sonyeondan” or “Bulletproof Boys.” The group then went on to produce music that emphasized the importance of self-love, which immediately kickstarted their “Love Yourself” series and UNICEF campaign. That being said, it is hard to believe that such a group would release a song with surface-level lyrics like “cup of milk, let’s rock and roll.”

To give a bit of background context, “Dynamite” was BTS’s first all-English song and broke several records, one of them being a world record as it hit 101.1 million views in twenty-four hours. It seems that their solution to keeping the world interested in the KPOP phenomenon was to release a song that could be understood universally, but their all English song contradicts this. Prior to BTS’s work, it seems that the only reason why KPOP’s fame had been limited to the confines of Asia was due to the language barrier, and while “Dynamite” breaks that damper, it fails to completely represent the essence of KPOP: the Korean language. The group’s effort in producing a song palatable to the Western music industry created a piece that has become a stark contrast to the rest of BTS’s discography. In fact, the lyrics do not seem to relate to the whole of the world, but only to America. “Dynamite” references famous American figures like Lebron James, as well as movie figures like King Kong, and while this is relatable to the average American, it fails to give the same sense of familiarity to the rest of the world. 

It is intriguing to think about why BTS’s previous songs like “ON”, which was only released a couple months prior to “Dynamite”, was not attractive enough to break world records. The group’s “Map of the Soul: 7” album commemorated the group’s seven-year anniversary and released the main song “ON” with “a declaration that [BTS admits their] destiny and [their] shadows and lights at the same time,” RM told the Today Show. This would have been a significant milestone to celebrate, but it only received around 48 million views within the first twenty-four hours. In multiple interviews, including one with Jimmy Fallon on his “The Tonight Show,” the group expressed their desire to win a GRAMMY. It seems that “Dynamite” was also the golden ticket to this goal since there has not been one foreign language song that has been honored with the award. As the group had hoped, BTS was nominated in the “Best Pop Duo” in the GRAMMYs. Although the results have not yet been announced, it’s difficult to understand why BTS felt compelled to represent KPOP with an English song, but if the objective was to display potential, they could have done so with a Korean song.