Does BTS Earn Their Spot at the UN General Assembly?
The answer is a definite ‘Yes’. Hear me out.
When it was announced that BTS will be giving a public speech at the UN General Assembly in New York (09/24/2018), some adults (mostly first world citizens) didn’t take it well. Probably because when people hear about boy group, they can only imagine rabid fangirls, despite the fact that this award-winning boy group that consists of talented POC continues to break barriers in the most conservative music industry. The “adults” took their frustration to Twitter, which I can confidently say a wrong move since Twitter is like a home forBTS’ fanbase, ARMY. Soon, mature ARMY tried to educate the clueless verified accounts who reacted negatively upon the announcement. Sadly, some of the reactors are Asian themselves.
As an ARMY, I’m overwhelmingly proud of them. I feel the boys truly earn their way to the UN. “What do you know about speaking at an important global event?” Well, I may be just an ordinary 25-year old working class citizen who doesn’t really achieve anything outstanding yet, nor have I spoken at an event with world leaders in front of me. But, I believe if somebody gets to be present in such an important meeting, regardless their day job/profession, he/she must have an immense influence. So, let’s start with BTS influence.
BTS is a global group with massive followers
Let’s start with the numbers. On the day this article is written, BTS has 16,4M Twitter followers, 7,34M people liking their Facebook page, 11,6M YouTube subscribers (for their BANGTANTV account, where they post vlogs/daily videos), while their agency’s YouTube account (where they post BTS’ music videos, comeback teasers, short films, and official announcement) has 17,2M subscribers, and 13,3M Instagram followers.
In 2017, according to 2018 Twitter Report, BTS takes over not one, but four of the most engaging hashtags in 2017. The hashtags are #Love_Yourself, #JIMIN, #BTS, and #DNA. As of April 2018, Guinness World Records has given the title of ‘Most Twitter Engagement (for a music group) to BTS as the group garners 330,624 retweets in average, beating its previous holder, Harry Styles. Recently, the group broke Taylor Swift’s record for the most viewed YouTube videos in 24 hours (with over 45M views within 24 hours). They also have more than 7B views in total for their YouTube videos. I told you, they rule the social sphere.
With great number, comes great responsibility
I’m glad the boys realize that with the power and influence they have, they make sure to use their platform to spread nothing but positivity. Here are some notable actions that BTS have promoted through their social media (mainly Twitter):
- They share art recommendations.
For music, they often recommend young independent artists under independent label or even no label at all). With this, fans get to discover new talents and support them. This impacts the artists as well (the artists name and songs are often trended in various search engine and music platform, spike of stream number, and many more, since ARMY are quite active), giving them chance to promote their album and let their voice be heard by many. Isn’t that what most artists want to achieve?
Since the leader of the group (Kim Namjoon/RM) is known as an avid reader, he sometimes shares his current or past reads. Personally speaking, the use of literature in their works helped me to get back to reading when I fell into a reading rut. Not only RM, the group has been consciously incorporating literature reference in their works, be it in their music videos, short films, album photo shoot, even trailers. It has been reported that in South Korea, the sales of ‘Demian’ by Herman Hesse spiked after BTS released their ‘WINGS’ album. Since BTS is a global group, this impact also reaches different countries, making the impact quadrupled the intended meaning. Take a look at this Twitter conversation and this confession:
Due to this nature, the fans can’t help but read and observe all the art reference and literature reference to understand the meaning behind BTS works. It doesn’t stop there, not only reading, enjoying, and observing art references, BTS invites ARMY to analyze their works critically and come up with their own theory and explanation.
- They do speak up about minority group
It dates back to 2013. RM recommended “Same Love” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with caption “This is a song about homosexuality. The song is twice as good when I listen to the lyrics.”
Again, in 2018, he recommended a song ‘Strawberries & Cigarettes’ by Troye Sivan, an openly gay artist, for a gay movie, ‘Love, Simon’. This wasn’t the first time the group has shown support towards Troye Sivan, member Jungkook and RM once covered ‘Fools’ by Troye Sivan. For their ‘Love Yourself 轉 Tear’ album, they also work together with MNEK, an openly gay artist from UK. To make it even clearer on where they stand, in an interview by Billboard, when the group was asked about their view of LGBTQ+, SUGA (Min Yoongi) replied in a short but definite answer, “There’s nothing wrong. Everyone is equal.”
The gestures above may seem simple in the eye of some people. But, take into a consideration that in 2018, BTS is now widely popular and in South Korea, people are getting punished for being in a gay relationship. They’re surely not afraid of standing up.
In 2017, the group released a repackage album titled ‘You Never Walk Alone’ with ‘Spring Day’ and ‘Not Today’ as their title tracks. While ‘Not Today’ is a banger, ‘Spring Day’ is a mellow hip-hop track about missing someone. Though never confirmed, nor denied by the agency and the group, the single is believed by many to be a tribute for the victims of the heartbreaking Sewol Ferry incident under the regime of the controversial President Park. The incident becomes one of the most traumatic history of South Korea. Mrs. President vowed to ban and blacklist artists who are critical toward the government during the incident period. Later, the media found out that Big Hit Entertainment and BTS members gave generous donations to the family victims discreetly. In July, a father of the victims tweeted out about the song.
In August, when Halsey visited the group (they met at the BBMAs 2017), the boys gave her chocolate. After a little investigation, ARMY found out that the boys bought the chocolate from an amazing company. See the tweet below:
The fans also found out that SUGA used a mirror from a brand called MARYMOND.
This isn’t the first time they supported MARYMOND, see below:
Not really about minority group, but a positive influence nonetheless. They care about environment too!
Despite their busy schedule, the members encouraged Korean youth to cast their votes and use their voice.
- They initiated ‘Love Myself’ campaign with UNICEF
Known to be vocal about social issues, with focus on the youth community, BTS and their agency decided to approach UNICEF first and eventually joined forces in a humanitarian anti-violence campaign ‘LOVE MYSELF’ aiming to #EndViolence and to create safer environment for youth. A 2-year long campaign so far has reached more than 1 million USD from the proceeds of ‘Love Yourself’ series (including albums and merch).
According to the campaign’s official website:
BTS and its label Big Hit Entertainment have jointly prepared a LOVE MYSELF campaign, starting early 2017. They were very careful when choosing an appropriate partner. They needed a partner that could pursue and sympathize with their messages through a campaign, philosophy and leadership, based on proper scale, organization and experience.
#ENDviolence is a global campaign project that is currently being staged around the world. It is primarily aimed at protecting children and teens from violence and encouraging preventive measures. This aim has a common ground with the values pursued by BTS.
Now, with over 1,154,593,599 Korean Won (apprx. 1037171.43 USD), the fund will be used “to protect and support child and teen victims of domestic and school violence as well as sexual assault around the world. Also, this will be used to provide an education to local communities for violence prevention, according the website.”
When I went to Seoul last month to attend Love Yourself World Tour in Jamsil Stadium, I saw UNICEF booth. So many ARMY lined up (I came late to the venue, hence I didn’t get to experience it since the line was long and the concert was about to start shortly after I arrived). However, I could really feel the passion from ARMY to participate. You can read more about the booth here. Beautiful, isn’t it?
Their influence spreads out and is extended by ARMY
BTS members are active philanthropists. Since debut, they’ve been participating in charity and socially conscious projects and TV shows. In 2014, BTS joined Hope Delivery, which is a program by Love Food Bank where BTS helped poor children and grandmas by delivering food to them. In 2015, during the celebration of K-Star Road’s 3rd construction, BTS donated 7,187 kg rice for people in need. They visit orphanage regularly (even made friends with the children and became their role models!). Members have personally donated money and things to various charity even to their former junior high and high school (for example Jimin gifted signed BTS albums & new uniforms to his juniors at Busan’s Hoedong Elementary School for their graduation). BTS also donated to ALS Fund without doing the infamous ice bucket challenge. Like I have mentioned before, they secretly donated to Sewol Ferry’s victim families. And many more.
This philanthropic nature apparently rubs off on the fanbase. ARMY around the world keep participating in charities. But, there was this one historic moment in the fandom that will give ARMY a chance to become humanitarian ambassadors for their surroundings.
Well, as a background story, it’s been a culture in K-Pop fandom to send gifts to idols. However, when it comes to BTS and Big Hit, of course they wanted to do something revolutionary (like they always did). So they decided to break this crazy culture (personally, I find this perplexing because my God if you’re not familiar with K-Pop, you wouldn’t know how far fans would spend their money on gifts). The agency and the members took turns to inform the fans. They wanted fans to stop sending gifts and asked fans to use the money for themselves or their beloved ones. Read the members heartfelt letters to ARMY about the gift here. Now, they only accept fan letters in envelope.
Because of this, fans around the world can focus more on charities and philanthropic works in order to create small changes around them. Now, fanbases around the world are more likely to raise fund and create charity projects inspired by the members. For example, for RM’s birthday, fans adopted crabs, koala, and whale (these animals are all RM’s favorites). For the youngest member’s, Jungkook’s birthday, inspired by how Jungkook moved to Seoul from his hometown Busan at a young age to achieve his dreams to be a singer, @OneInAnARMY (a global charity account for ARMY) donates to KKOOM (means dream in English), an organization that focuses on orphans. Honestly, it’s impossible to put everything in this one post.
Funny enough, recently, and for his birthday (March 9th), SUGA kept his promise of 4 years ago, and donated high quality beef to 39 Orphanages, writing a note with ‘ARMY’ in it. So the orphanages really thought that ARMY did it. It was done secretly but ARMY found out and Bighit confirmed it. Like idols like fans? Or like fans like idols?
Even when it has no relation to the members, ARMY are actively participating in charities.
Their works are infused with thoughtful social message, encouraging words, and beautiful analogy
On top of all those, their works are highly relatable. Take a look at some of my favorite lyrics.
In which they talk about loneliness:
In the middle of the vast ocean
One whale speaks softly and lonelily
The fact that no matter how much they shout, it won’t reach
Makes them so gravely lonely that they quietly shut their mouths
The song above is titled ‘Whalien 52’. Have you heard about Hz-52 whale? It’s dubbed as “the loneliest whale in the world” because it communicates at different frequency than others of its kind. Yeah, the whale exists. It’s not some kind of fiction.
The story begins in 1989. An array of hydrophones called SOSUS, built by the US Navy to detect enemy submarines, picked up some strange signals. They were whale songs, and they were similar to blue whale calls, but there was one big difference. The key notes of the song were at a frequency of 52 Hertz. To human ears this is a low bass note, but it is significantly higher than the blue whale, which sings between 10 and 40Hz. Fin whales also seemed like an unlikely fit, since they sing at 20Hz.
Read the full story about the lonely whale by BBC here.
For a group that’s labeled as “manufactured”, the lyrics of Whalien 52 proves otherwise. The way BTS illustrates loneliness and link it to Hz-52 whale is painfully beautiful and unique.
Mom said the sea is blue
She said to let out your voice as far as you can
But what to I do? It’s so dark here and there are only different whales speaking entirely different words!
The word Whalien is also a wordplay, a mash-up between the word ‘whale’ and ‘alien’ from alienated which means to feel isolated or estranged.
Lonely lonely lonely whale
Singing alone like this
Will I ever shine so brightly?
Lonely lonely lonely whale
Like this, try calling once again
Until this song that doesn’t have a response
Reaches tomorrow
In which they (sorta) roast baby boomer generation:
Through this banger, ironically… this is one of the most political songs from BTS.
In which they talk about how the society has set an unforgiving pressure for the youth to live their lives:
Throw a fast ball on the after school studying
Disobey the hell like society pardon the dream
Ask yourself about the profile of your dream
Become the subject of your own life, away from suppression
-No More Dream
I have a long way to go but why am I running in place?
I scream out of frustration but the empty air echoes
I hope tomorrow will be different from today
-Tomorrow
I don’t have a dream
To have a dream, is sometimes scary
To just live like this
To survive like this is a small dream to me
To have a dream, to grasp a dream
To breathe, is sometimes too much to handle
Saying this person’s living like this, that person’s living like that
The world’s swearing at meThe world doesn’t have the right to swear
What is the way to dream a dream
Since they never taught us that
In the made up dream, sleep-talk of tears
Waking up from a nightmare, for you
Now let’s try to smile everyday, in that paradise
-Paradise
In which they criticize society:
On being addicted to smartphone
Could you turn off your cell phone?
Or put it in your pocket?
Everyone says it’s smart
And the times have gotten better but we’re rushing twice as much
Sometimes, I miss the times when people talked face to face
Communication increased but between us is a noisy silence
-Could You Turn Off Your Cell Phone?
On consumerism
With shoes worth a couple hundred, padded jacket worth a couple thousand
With a watch worth a couple hundred you feel good about yourself
Education goes over the hill and student identity goes over the hill too
The class system of the 21st century is divided into two
Those who have and those who haven’t
Those who wear the shoes and those who don’t
Those who have the clothes and those who don’t
And those who try hard to get those things
What’s going on? Are you falling behind on the trend?
You whined and complained to get it, did I strike a nerve?
In your padded jacket, your greed fills it up
Even after seeing your parents’ curved spines, you’re so coldhearted
You complain that all your friends have it and that they should buy it for you
(Ayo baby) stop being so immature
You won’t freeze just because you don’t have that jacket
Fill your head with good sense before it’s too late
-Spine Breaker
On their government
Have ears but don’t listen
Have eyes but don’t see
We’re all dogs, pigs, become dogs because we’re angry*If what you see on the news is nothing to you
If that comment is nothing to you
If that hatred is nothing to you
You’re not normal
-Am I Wrong
Note: *the song was released in 2016, which came shortly after a Ministry of Education official, Na Hyangwook, reportedly said that South Korea needs a caste system, and described the average person as “dogs and pigs” who should be treated as such. Yikes.
On living by YOLO concept**
I want to be cruisin’ on the bay
I want to be cruisin’ like NEMO
No money but I wanna go far away
I don’t have money but I wanna relax
No money but I wanna eat Jiro Ono’s sushi
-Go Go
Note: **Go Go is a social commentary, criticizing about their own generation who tends to live by today without thinking about the future (YOLO)
On scolding their fans to prioritize their study
Now stop watching and study for your test
Your parents and director hate me
Video clips, pictures, tweets
V app, Bon Voyage
I know, you can’t help what you like
But stop, interpret the music video later
You have so many pictures of me in your room anyway
It’s not just one hour, it’s a whole year that’ll disappear
So this song is an award I’m giving to you
Good
-Pied Piper
In which they ask us to love ourselves:
I’m the one I should love in this world
Shining me, precious soul of mine
I finally realized so I love me
Not so perfect but so beautiful
I’m the one I should loveI may be a bit blunt, I may lack some things
I may not have that shy glow around me
But this is me
My arms, my legs, my heart, my soul
-Epiphany
Loving myself might be harder
Than loving someone else
Let’s admit it
The standards I made are more strict for myself
The thick tree rings in your life
It’s part of you, it’s you
Now let’s forgive ourselves
Our lives are long, trust yourself when in a maze
When winter passes, spring always comesYou’ve shown me I have reasons
I should love myself
(I’m learning how to love myself oh)
I’ll answer with my breath, my path
The me of yesterday, the me of today, the me of tomorrow (woah)
(I’m learning how to love myself)
With no exceptions, it’s all me
-Answer: Love Myself
You gave me the best of me
So you’ll give you the best of you
You found me. You knew me
You gave me the best of me
So you’ll give you the best of you
You’ll find the answer, in the galaxy inside you
-Magic Shop
Magic Shop is a tribute to fans, produced by the youngest member, Jungkook. The song talks about creating a magic shop (magic shop here refers to a term used in pyschology. Read more here) inside each other’s mind to help heal each other. BTS believes in ARMY. This song is them saying, “See what have you done for us? You lift us, you bring out the best of us. Now, you can do that to yourselves.” Definitely one of my favorite songs from BTS.
Their story inspires millions
Being told that they’d never make it made BTS grew taller and bigger. Their underdog story shapes who they are. For me, BTS is the epitome of “good things come to those who who work hard and patient”.
BTS didn’t have good things handed to them on a silver platter. They never had famous senior artist from their agency to help them builds a network within the cutthroat industry. The industry is dominated by Big 3 force (SM Ent., YG Ent., and JYP Ent.), so people didn’t really look at them after they debuted. They didn’t have their first win in music show after they debuted in 2013, while most groups from Big 3 got their win almost immediately after debut. BTS had to wait for two years to finally received their first win. They were called gay, and were told by underground rappers that an idol hip-hop group would never be true to the essence of hip-hop. They were rarely invited to TV shows or variety shows. Even when they got invited, they got cut from broadcast, and sometimes were ridiculed because the little power they had.
Throughout their career, BTS have faced some of the most harmful controversies that could potentially damage their career. They were accused of sajaegi (not proven). Sajaegi is an illegal and punishable act of buying their own albums, usually done by the agency or entertainment company to spike sales number. They were accused of plagiarism over ridiculous things such as album photo concept, hair color, uniform, font, even music video props like sink!
I thought this was an ocean but it’s a desert
A medium-sized, ordinary idol was my second name
Countless times we get cut from broadcast
Someone’s empty spot is our dream
They say some of these kids can’t make it cause their agency is too small
I know, I know, I know too
Times when the seven of us had to sleep in one room
With foolish hope that tomorrow will be different before we fell asleep
We saw the mirage in the desert but we couldn’t grasp it
Praying that we’ll remain in this desert till the end
Praying that this isn’t truly our reality
-Sea
But, they rose above all, with a classic BTS way. Didn’t get an invite to popular shows? Nevermind. They created their own variety shows, ‘Run!BTS’ and ‘Bon Voyage’ in VLIVE. Bang Sihyuk PD (CEO of Big Hit Entertainment) even admitted that he didn’t want the boys to go to variety shows because he didn’t want to see the boys got belittled and wants the public to know them from their works. Through songs, they channel their frustration. Also, check out their legendary saga of ‘Cyphers’, a 4-part diss tracks addressed to their haters (including the underground rappers).
So thanks
For believing in someone like me
Dealing with these tears and wounds
So thanks
For becoming my light
For becoming the flower in the most beautiful moment in life
-2! 3! (Hoping For More Good Days)
Through hard work, determination, talent, and patience, BTS has earned their fans and public affection in the most genuine way. Their story is the type of story that you’ll share to people around you. The type of story that will never get old. I believe this story has inspired millions (including me) to not easily give up, to keep working hard, to believe that there will be a change as long as I’m working on it, and to always be genuine to myself and people around me.
What did I say?
I said we’d win, didn’t I?
I couldn’t believe it (really)
Could we win it?
This miracle that isn’t a miracle
Did we make it?
(No) I was here
You were the one that made your way to me
I do believe your galaxy
-Magic Shop
It’s okay come on when I say one two three forget it
Erase all sad memories
Smile holding onto each other’s handsHoping for more good days
If you believe what I say then one two three
If you believe then one two three
Hoping for more good days
If you believe me then one two three
If you believe then one two three
Hoping that everything will change when we say
-2! 3! (Hoping For More Good Days)
Lastly, they fit with the agenda for the upcoming UN General Assembly
Unlike some journalists who have spread a rumor that BTS will be performing, hence resulting in salty responses from the “adults” such as… “If they want to perform, UN General Assembly isn’t the place. There are other venues for that,” UNICEF confirmed that BTS will be there to take a part in the launch of UNICEF’s new program, “Generation Unlimited”. They’ll be delivering public speech in relation to the new initiative.
According to UNICEF’s official website, “Generation Unlimited” is a program “…to get every young person into quality education, training or employment by 2030, next week at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. Generation Unlimited will tackle the global education and training crisis currently holding back millions of young people and threatening progress and stability.”
This agenda fits BTS as they continuously speak up about millennials and the education system (starting from their debut song ‘N.O’). In an interview with Billboard, the group was asked about the future of millennials.
As RM explained to Billboard, “To be honest, from our standpoint, each day is stressful for our generation. It’s hard to get a job, it’s harder to attend college now more than ever. Adults need to create policies that can facilitate that overall social change.”
“Right now, the privileged class, the upper class needs to change the way they think,” he continued.
Still think BTS doesn’t deserve to be at the UN General Assembly?
Since Day-1, their name means to ‘protect the youth from the “bullets” of societal pressure and judgement through their music’. I’m happy that they stay true to their roots and keep doing what they’re doing. They have watered their roots and it’s now blossoming into something beautiful. They’re not perfect, they’ve made mistakes, learned from it, and fixed it.
Majority of people let stereotypes of typical Korean boy group dictate their judgement. Hopefully, after reading this, the “adults” can understand that social and even political message can be crafted tastefully in a form of bright, kind individuals who dance in shimmering outfits to their heart’s content. I hope non-fans can see how BTS’ spirit in becoming the voice of youth has been unwavering over the years. I hope the society can see that ARMY is now an agent for a change in their household, their school, their workplace, and their neighborhood. Though belittled and underestimated, BTS and ARMY have proven that they’ll rise above and eventually… be alright.
I’m not a superhero
Don’t expect a lot
I can be your hero
I’m not sure whether that even makes sense
But, I really need to do it
Who’s gonna do it if it isn’t me?
-Anpanman (BTS)
