20 Things You Didn't Know About BTS
It's unlikely that even the most loyal ARMY will know everything about BTS.
Over the past decade or so, a niche interest in K-Pop (Korean pop music) had been slowly rising in the west. That niche quickly became mainstream when BTS appeared on the scene.
Emerging in 2013 from Big Hit Entertainment with their debut EP 2 Cool 4 Skool, the group's music addressed the pressures of growing up too fast during the struggles of teenaged life in Korea, and they quickly became the voice of South Korea's youth. Despite a large fanbase in North America and Europe, it wasn't until 2015's I Need You that the band really started making an impact overseas, and they've gone from strength to strength since.
At the forefront of the Korean cultural wave Hallyu's push out across the world, their ARMY of fans has grown across cultural and generational gaps. Humbly crediting these fans with their success, BTS have built a huge social media presence around communicating with them, sharing intimate moments of their lives and revealing their off-stage personalities.
Combined with their socially aware songs, this openness has taken them to the top of the K-Pop world, allowing them to break chart records worldwide and winning new fans who otherwise had no interest in the Seoul music scene.
Here's 20 things that new fans may not know about RM, Suga, Jin, Jimin, V, J-Hope, and Jung Kook.
20. What “BTS” Stands For
Let's start with something longtime ARMY members will probably know, but newer and more casual fans may not even have thought to ask about. What does BTS even mean? Well, it's an acronym and there are two meanings.
The first is the original meaning of "bangtan-sonyeondan" which, when very roughly translated, is something along the lines of Bulletproof Boy Scouts. The name was conceived as a metaphor for them being able to withstand the "stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets" while still holding onto their ethics and values in spite of those who would hate them.
The second acronym was designed in English as they started to get a lot more fans in the West. This one, Beyond The Scene, was designed to show that they are going beyond the realities they're facing, and going forward with their lives.
All of which is quite deep for a band who were almost named Big Kidz.