South Korean boy band BTS performs onstage during the KIIS FM's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball at the Forum ... [+] Los Angeles in Inglewood, California on December 6, 2019. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty ImagesI should not have to remind you how successful BTS’s new album, Map of the Soul: 7, is going to be. The numbers have spoken for themselves time and again: The album has held steady at No. 1 on Amazon’s CDs & Vinyl bestsellers chart for weeks, and its accompanying stadium tour has produced numerous sellouts. Hours before its release, Map of the Soul: 7 is already the fastest-selling album of 2020, eclipsing 4 million global preordersâ€"roughly quadruple the pre-release sales of Taylor Swift’s Lover. BTS are all but guaranteed to earn their fourth consecutive No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, and Map of the Soul: 7 will likely show a vast sales and streaming improvement over its predecessor, Map of the Soul: Persona. Beyond that, it’s anybody’s guess how high the album and its singles will soar, but BTS seem well on their way to shattering a number of records with their latest release.
All of this is to say: With Map of the Soul: 7, BTS continue to stake their claim as one of the biggest musical phenomena in the world by every conceivable metric. And it’s time listeners and critics worldwideâ€"but particularly in the United Statesâ€"get the memo.
BTS have expanded their global fan base every year by releasing a series of increasingly sophisticated albums, crafting lavish music videos and embarking on tours that dwarf all but their most ambitious pop peers. Last year, they became the first group since the Beatles in 1996 to earn three No. 1 albums in less than a year. They became the top-grossing touring group of 2019, and they’re tied with Psy for the most Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 among Korean artists, a record they’re likely to secure for themselves with Map of the Soul: 7’s lead single, “ON,†featuring Sia. In a year where established pop stars like Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez have to repeatedly implore fans to buy and stream their music in order to hit No. 1, it’s remarkable to watch BTS continuallyâ€"and seemingly effortlesslyâ€"swell in popularity with each successive album.
Yet some Western institutions and listeners still feel the need to qualify BTS’s success or dismiss it due to the group’s predominantly young, female fan base. Case in point: the 2020 Grammys, which showed their cultural blindspot by neglecting to nominate BTS for a single category, but still booked them to perform at the ceremonyâ€"as guests in Lil Nas X’s star-studded “Old Town Road†ensemble performance. As MTV News’ Erica Russell previously noted, many of the U.S. awards they have won have been in social media or international categoriesâ€"impressive feats, certainly, but also evidence that critical institutions continue to “other†BTS and refuse to hold them in the same regard as their Western contemporaries.
BTS’s stratospheric success isn’t a fluke, and they didn’t become global pop sensations overnight. The septet has steadily, methodically built its fan base over the past seven years, further refining its sound on each successive release while incorporating other genres into its musical palette. BTS’s genre eclecticism doesn’t play like a cynical attempt to game streaming algorithms, but a genuine desire to broaden their musical horizons and draw inspiration from other sources. Meanwhile, their record-breaking music videos continue to elevate the medium and express the nuanced ideas present in their songs.
The truth is simple: BTS have become one of the biggest artists in the worldâ€"no qualification necessaryâ€"because they outwork nearly all of their peers. Their thematically rich songs and music videos are the work of artists who are constantly honing their craft and building their global fan base as a result. No one-note, flash-in-the-pan artist could replicate, let alone build upon, BTS’s level of global stardom for four successive albums. With Map of the Soul: 7, BTS will extend a years-long cultural reign that is literally Beatlesque in stature. It’s time for skeptics to stop writing them off as a fluke or pop fluff. They’ve become one of the biggest musical sensations in the world by virtue of their work ethic and creativityâ€"and they still might not have reached the peak of their powers.
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