BTS

BTS (Korean: 방탄소년단; Japanese: 防弾少年団), is a South Korean boy group formed by Big Hit Entertainment. The group's name in Korean and Japanese both directly translate to "bulletproof boy scouts”. On July 4, 2017, BTS officially "re-branded" the acronym of BTS to stand for "Beyond The Scene". The group debuted on June 12, 2013 with the single "No More Dream", followed by "We Are Bulletproof Pt.2".

The group’s members are: RM (Hangul: 김남준, Kim Namjoon, previously known as Rap Monster), Jin (Hangul: 김석진, Kim Seokjin), Suga (Hangul: 민윤기, Min Yoongi, also known as Agust D), j-hope (Hangul: 정호석, Jung Hoseok), Jimin (Hangul: 박지민, Park Jimin), V (뷔) (Hangul: 김태형, Kim Taehyung), and Jungkook (Hangul: 전정국, Jeon Jungkook). Originally created as a duo consisting of Kim Namjoon (Rap Monster), and IRON (아이언), Big Hit Entertainment went on to search for more members through their auditions. It had already been determined that Rap Monster, who had been an underground rapper before debuting, would be the leader of the group. Jin was streetcast to audition while he was a film arts student at Konkuk University and Suga was an underground rapper in Daegu before he auditioned.

J-Hope was active in the underground dancing scene before auditioning, while Jimin entered Busan High School of Arts as the top student in modern dance before his audition. V successfully auditioned for Big Hit in Daegu, then transferred to Korea Arts High School with Jimin. Jungkook auditioned for the talent search program, Superstar K, and, after he left the show, he was cast by multiple agencies. Jungkook ended up choosing Big Hit after witnessing Rap Monster perform.

Former member trainee, Jin Hyosang, is currently known as Kidoh and is a member of Stardom Entertainment's Topp Dogg. Former, as well as current members, have been featured on tracks of labelmates such as Lim Jeonghee's "Ashes, " Jokwon's "Animal, " Lee Hyun's "Bad Girl", Kan Miyeon's "Because I am a Stupid Woman, " as well as some 2AM tracks. BTS released their debut single album "2 Cool 4 Skool" on June 12, 2013, which consists of 7 tracks. This is considered the beginning of their “school trilogy”.

They released two music videos for their debut: one for the title track, “No More Dream”, and another for “We Are Bulletproof Pt.2”. Then, on September 6, 2013, BTS' first mini album, "O!Rul8,2?" (Oh, Are You Late Too?), was released. It features the title track, “N.O”, along with nine other tracks. Continuing the school theme, they released their second mini album, "Skool Luv Affair", on February 12, 2014.

The mini album features ten tracks, including the lead single, “상남자 (Boy In Luv)”, and the follow up song, “하루만 (Just One Day)”. On May 14, 2014, the group released a special repackage of the mini album, “Skool Luv Affair Special Addition”. It included a CD, 2 DVDs of the group’s showcase, and, in addition to the original tracklist, two new tracks: “Miss Right” and “좋아요 (Slow Jam Remix)”. On August 20, 2014, they released their first full-length album, "DARK&WILD".

It contains 14 tracks, including the title track, “Danger”, and the follow up single, “호르몬 전쟁 (War of Hormone)”. They released their first Japanese album "WAKE UP" on December 24, 2014. The album features 13 tracks, including the Japanese versions of "No More Dream", "Boy in Luv", and "Danger", as well as two original Japanese songs: "The Stars" and "Wake Up". The group kicked off their 화양연화 (The Most Beautiful Moment in Life) trilogy with the release of their third mini album, "화양연화 PT.1", on April 29, 2015.

The mini album features nine tracks, including the title track, “I Need U”, and the follow up single, “쩔어 DOPE”. The second part, "화양연화 PT.2", was released on November 30, 2015, and expands on the narrative from Part 1. The mini album features nine tracks, including the title song, “Run”. The last part of their 화양연화 trilogy, "화양연화 Young Forever", was released on May 2, 2016, and is a special album that features songs from 화양연화 PT.1 & PT.2, three new songs, and several new remixes.

It was supported with the release of three music videos for the album’s three new songs: “불타오르네 (FIRE)”, “Save Me”, and “EPILOGUE: Young Forever”. The entire trilogy focuses on the theme of “youth” and is considered by some as the group’s turning point in musicality and popularity. BTS released their second Japanese album, "YOUTH" on September 7, 2016. The album features 13 tracks, including Japanese versions of "I Need U", "Run", "Fire", and "Save Me", as well as three new original Japanese songs: "Good Day", "Wishing On a Star", and "For You".

On October 10, 2016, the group released their second full length album "WINGS". The album consists of 15 tracks, including the title track, "피 땀 눈물 (Blood Sweat & Tears)", and a solo track for each of the seven members. The seven short films that acted as teasers for the album and the music video for “피 땀 눈물 (Blood Sweat & Tears)” are all heavily influenced by the novel Demian by Hermann Hesse, as confirmed by the group. Following the immense success of WINGS, BTS announced that they would be releasing an extension to their second album that would contain stories that they hadn’t been able to include in its initial release.

On February 13, 2017, the repackage of their second album, “You Never Walk Alone”, was released and it includes three new tracks: “Spring Day”, "Not Today”, and “A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone”. It also includes an extended version of a previous track, “Outro: Wings”. Two music videos were released to go along with the album: one for the title track, “Spring Day,” and another for “Not Today”. On July 4, 2017, BTS released an official remake of Seo Taiji and the Boys' (서태지) classic song, "Come Back Home", as the start of Seo Taiji's 25th anniversary remake project called "TIME: TRAVELER".

The group's remake of "Come Back Home" is the first official remake of the song since it's release in 1995. Rap Monster and J-Hope personally took part in writing the rap lyrics for it and a music video was released the next day for the special track. In August, 2017, BTS announced the beginning of their newest series, Love Yourself, by releasing a set of posters featuring the seven members of the group. Following the release of the posters, Big Hit released four videos that altogether makeup the "LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel '起承轉結'".

The videos are not directly linked to an album, but are supposed to set the tone and story of the Love Yourself series, which is a series of albums that will continue into 2018. On September 18, 2017, the first part of the new series and the group's fifth mini album, "Love Yourself 承 'Her'" was released. The album features the title track, "DNA", and the track, "Best of Me", which features a collaboration with the producer duo, The Chainsmokers. The album tells the different stories of young adults falling in love.

The album ended up selling over 1.7M units in South Korea and peaked at #7 in US on Billboard 200. "DNA'' peaked at #67 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, making them the highest charting K-Pop group at the time. ''DNA'' was also performed on the American Music Awards which marking their American television debut. On November 24, 2017, they released a remix of their song "MIC Drop", with Steve Aoki and Desiigner titled "MIC Drop (Steve Aoki Remix)" as a single. The single reached #1 on US iTunes, making them the first Korean group to reach #1 on US iTunes.

The single debuted at number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the group's first top 40 in the country. On May 18, 2018, the second part of the new series and the group's third full length album, "Love Yourself 轉 'Tear'" was released. The album features the title track, ''FAKE LOVE'', and the track 'The Truth Untold which is a collaboration with the DJ Steve Aoki. The album explores themes relating to the pains and sorrows of separation.

The album ended up selling over 2.0M units worldwide (and counting) and debuted at #1 in US on Billboard 200 becoming BTS' highest-charting album in the US, as well as the first K-pop album to top the US albums chart, and the highest-charting album by an Asian act. It is also the highest sales week for both BTS and a Korean act in the United States, and the first album primarily in a non-English language to top the Billboard 200 since 2006. "FAKE LOVE'' debuted and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, making it the first time a K-Pop group hit the Top 10. ''FAKE LOVE'' was also performed on the Billboard Music Awards. Their official fanclub is named A.R.M.Y: Adorable Representative M.C for Youth.

Official site is http://bts.ibighit.com/.