THE BOYS FROM SEOUL: Or Why BTS is now The Biggest Band in the World

 It goes something like this.

137 million views in YouTube thirty-two hours after its premiere.  

If that is not crazy, then we no longer have a definition of sane.  But then again what is surprising is that we are not surprised.  If there was anyone to beat the record of BTS for YouTube views for a single day, then it is bound to be ... uh, BTS.

So in a single swoop, the Boys from Seoul knocked off their own record for last year's Dynamite with their much anticipated latest release Butter.  Yes, it was wild enough that when they came out with their first all-English song last August that the music world danced to their upgraded disco beat.  There is nothing short of unbelievable when you achieve even greater popularity and reach to a larger worldwide audience when everybody is locked up in their homes, imprisoned by the restrictions of the pandemic.

People are asking, "How could they have soared higher whereas other artists are literally scrounging for every available possibility to reach out to an audience and have their music heard?"  In that crowded world of pop music, it is anything but easy to find your own minute space and warrant attention from a distracted crowd. 

The answer to that is simple as it is complicated.  

These seven young men have been together for a decade and have become an organic unit that functions with as much precision as their choreography.  When Jeon Jung Kook dances and sings without missing a beat or expelling a distracting breath to miss out the rhythm of a song, then you know this is not an accident ... or a freaky coincidence: it is a product of years of hard work, training, dedication and focus.  And, yes --- something that Koreans and some of our Asian brothers are so proud of and which we are sadly lacking : discipline.

These boys are not one-note singers nor one-step dancers.  

If you watch their YouTube videos showing them in various phases of rehearsal, then you realize that their was not an easy journey to get to the top.  These boys literally fall on the floor, short of breath, withstanding pain in between numbers of their concerts. Members attest that Kim Seok Jin is more than his self-proclaimed monicker of Worldwide Handsome: he rehearses until the wee hours of the morning to make sure that he is up to par with the moves of his team members.

As the cliche goes, it is an even harder adventure to stay on top ... and boy, these guys and their management know exactly how to do it, how to go about it ... and better yet, how to raise the ante.  If ever this group of Korean boys assembled barely a decade ago got from way out there to high up beyond anyone's imagination, then it is because they worked hard for it. And deserve it.

BTS never fails to surprise.  

In the arena of popular culture where you think everything possible has already been done and redone, BTS changes the game plan.  

The boys and their management realized that what are accessible to them can be turned into channels to connect with the fans --- that ever loving, ever loyal Army that practically covers perhaps a fourth of the world's music loving population --- and create a virtual relationship into something real.

BTS has turned social media and the entire tapestry of the internet to their advantage.  

Whereas others can be destroyed by the cynicism and, yes, even evil that lurks in between the various apps and platforms, BTS made the worldwide web the vital and effective conduit to their fans.  After months of immersing myself not only in the music of BTS (as I found out that I am not the only senior citizen who holds such immovable loyalty for this fandom) but in the subculture of videos and still images they regularly provide their Army, I have come to realize that admiration has become such a shallow term.  That is not the kind of relationship you have with the group: you end up knowing them personally with the glimpses of themselves that they yield in their social media releases.

You are in awe of Park Jimin's dancing and singing skills --- but you are also made aware of his personal journey to get become the performer that he is today. When you see the video of the young man crying backstage because he made a mistake by missing a note of a song they are singing, you realize that --- hey, this is not just a kid who wants to reap the privileges of celebrity.  This is an artist driven by passion --- and you cannot look down on their brand  popular music as "so-so". This is not about manufactured showmanship that many tend to accuse the entire domain of KPop.  This is about focused dedication to one's chosen art. And the fans know about it because they are made aware of it.

That is it.  Because of social media and the internet, the relationship of BTS and their millions of fans may be virtual but personal.  Because of their consistent presence in the internet, they reach out to anybody willing to find out --- and reveal who they are as individuals as they are as a group.

We know of Min Yu Ki aka Suga and his overwhelming talent as a composer and music producer.  We know that Kim Nam Jun known as popularly as RM --- is the leader of the group not only by name but also serves as their spokesman (being most versatile in the English language) and hyung.

We are completely aware of Jeong Ho Seok or J-Hope's awesome dancing powers and sparkling personality --- or Jungkook's tattoos --- or that Jin is a terrific cook and has an entire show which shows him eating and savoring all the delicious food that gives him pleasure.  Things like that matter to fans --- especially now that they are all in various forms of quarantine confinement --- because they feel they have an intimate relationship with their idols.  This matters a lot because the connection becomes both solid and fluid. It is a fandom dedicated not only to the music of the Boys from Seoul but to who and what they represent in the here and now.

And what do they represent? Positivity. Focus. Inclusivity.

They openly talk to their fans --- mainly the kids --- about loving themselves, about the value of self-acceptance and embracing one's weaknesses as much as strengths.  They take active roles in making statements about controversial issues like racial prejudice, xenophobia and even poverty and hunger.  They are not mere dancing dolls but representations of the youth who use their music and popularity to matter in the world and push their followers to work for positive change.

It is no wonder why in a matter of twenty-four hours that their new single, Butter, accrued more than one hundred million views.  Fans and enthusiasts actually waited for that exact moment when the single was premiered --- followed by a tidal wave of reaction videos from all over the world.

And what should prove most exacting is that Butter is actually a tribute to their fans and an announcement that as a powerhouse, BTS  is here with its army.  The song is about the charm and magic of BTS that is "smooth like butter" with their ability to "melt your heart in two" because of their "superstar glow."  Taehyung even sang it inside the elevator in the MV : "...don't need no Usher ... to remind me you got it bad." As if it were not enough, RM raps, "Got ARMY right behind us when we say so ..." while the rest of the boys bodily spell A-R-M-Y to tell their fans, :"We got you ... you got us."

In a world fatigued by a pandemic,  discolored by politics and seemingly ruled by distorted reason and hate, seven boys from Korea come out singing and dancing and telling us, "We are going to be all right."  We believe them and love them for that.

So do we still wonder why they are what Variety Magazine branded as the Biggest Band in the World now ... even without the blessings of the Grammys?

Indeed at this point, only God know what they will do next --- or just how high they will get higher.  There is difficulty jumping into that entire mindset of comparing them to the Beatles because times were so much simpler in the early 1960s as it has become sixty years later.  BTS exploded into the cultural landscape --- over and beyond Asia --- but the world proving that talent, music and art knows no language, no cultural differences, no discrimination.  They happened at the right time and exactly the right place in human history.

And we are loving them for it. So ... " Get it! Let it roll!"