BTS!

Hello beautiful people, today I bring you one of the best bands in the K-pop world.

BTS (방탄 소년단; Bangtan Sonyeondan) is a South Korean boy band formed in Seoul in 2010. It is made up of seven members: Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. They debuted on June 13, 2013, under the company Big Hit Entertainment, with the song "No More Dream", included in their first single 2 Cool 4 Skool. they are characterized by creating conceptual albums with influences on literary and psychological works.

How was BTS born?

It all started with songwriter Bang Si-hyuk, founder of Big Hit Entertainment studio and author of hits like "One Candle" by g.o.d. and "Like the First Time" by T-ara.

Bang, in his own words, was a very insecure man about his work despite his talent, and for this he admired artists who could express their personality through music. Along those lines, he made the effort to combine both ideas, honest musical expression and creative anxiety, to prepare for the birth of BTS.

This was how BTS was formed with seven members, who trained in all artistic aspects and contributed their best qualities to have an excellent group. Little by little they achieved success, appearing as a small group in the shadow of large producers with more budget, battling their way to the top and being sincere in their songs, which usually spoke of social problems that its members identified in themselves.

This combination of sincerity with music, the ambivalence of the rap genre combined with the current popular trend and a total openness with their fans on social networks, made the members of the group into real idols, and since they reached stardom, their followers believe blindly in them and give them their full support through voting, nominations, buying tickets and making them global trend.

Their fanbase is called A.R.M.Y, which is an acronym for "Adorable Representative MC for Youth", their anniversary date is July 9th and they are a loyal army of fans who always accompany them worldwide.

MEMBERS:

• RM (Kim Nam-joon born on September 12, 1994). He is a rapper and was the first member of BTS. Before that was known as a young rapper within the underground scene with his friend Zico, who would later lead the K-Pop band "Block B".
  
  He has been part of different collaborations with artists such as Warren G, Wale and Fall Out Boy. Thanks to his knowledge of English, he is the group's translator when they are abroad and was the one who put together the speech that was presented at the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2018.
  
• J-Hope (Jung Ho-seok born on February 18, 1994) Rapper and Dancer, is described by fans as a "ray of sunshine", due to his tender and charismatic personality. He has become one of BTS's top songwriters, frequent choreographer, lead dancer, and one of the top three rappers.
  
  In March of 2018, he released his first and long-awaited mixtape "Hope World", of seven songs and was positioned in the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. 
  
• Jimin (Park Ji-min born on October 13, 1995) He is one of the group's vocalists. In addition, he is one of the top three dancers, he studied at the contemporary dance school and has expressed messages with his body along with the lyrics of his songs.
  
  He is considered a very sentimental and perfectionist person, always working on himself to push himself beyond his career. Being one of the youngest of BTS, he has a great attachment to social networks, being the main member who publishes on the official networks of the band.
  
• Jin (Kim Seok-jin born on December 4, 1992) He is the oldest member of the group, and is frequently the one who deals with having a mentoring role within the group, along with numerous jokes as "father" of the bandmates. He is one of the main vocalists and usually tends to go viral for being considered the most "gallant" of the group, earning himself the nickname "Worldwide Handsome", which he gladly carries.
  
• Jungkook (Jeon Jung-kook born on September 1, 1997) He is the "baby" of the group, growing in with BTS's success in front of all his A.R.M.Y. He has a great talent in dance as well as singing, being part of the vocal line. Also called "Golden Maknae" since, despite being the youngest of the group, he can dance, sing and rap, as well as draw, edit videos, take photos among other talents.
  
• Suga (Min Yoon-gi born on March 9, 1993) He is one of the top three rappers in the group. His nickname comes from his favorite position in basketball as an escort, but some comment that it was actually Bang who chose that nickname for him because of his personality: sweet and generous.
  
  As well as the other two rappers in the group, Suga also stands out as a music producer. Within his studio "Genius Lab", a large number of songs by the group are worked on, as well as his solo facet, called "Agust D"
  
• V (Kim Tae-hyung born on December 30, 1995) V for victory that was the reason why the young man chose the letter as a nickname, it is also understood for its versatility in the arts, he is one of the vocalists and dancer. He has a "unique" personality, playing a lot with his members and stealing more than once the main light of the presentations. His charm has made him one of the group's most popular members. 
  

DISCOGRAPHY:

South Korea:

Studio albums

    Dark & Wild (2014)
    Wings (2016)
    Love Yourself: Tear (2018)
    Map of the Soul: 7 (2020)

 Reissues
    Wings: You Never Walk Alone (2017)
EPs
    O! RUL8,2? (2013)
    Skool Luv Affair (2014)
    The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1 (2015)
    The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2 (2015)
    Love Yourself: Her (2017)
    Map of the Soul: Persona (2019)

Compilation albums

    The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever (2016)
    The Best of BTS: Korea Edition (2017)
    Love Yourself: Answer (2018)

Japan:

Studio albums

    Wake Up (2014)
    Youth (2016)
    Face Yourself (2018)

Compilation albums

    2 Cool 4 Skool / O! RUL8.2? (2014)
    The Best of BTS: Japan Edition (2017)

SOCIAL IMPACT:

In 2018 the group was named by Forbes magazine as Korea's most influential and powerful celebrity on their Korea Power Celebrity list. In October 2019, BTS members became the youngest recipients of the "Order of Cultural Merit" by the South Korean government, in addition to being named "Leaders of the New Generation" by Time magazine.

On the other hand, in December 2018 in a study by the Hyundai Research Institute was revealed that BTS contributes approximately $3.63 trillion USD to the South Korean economy each year, in addition to being the reason why one of each 13 foreign tourists visited the country in that year.

In February 2019 the IFPI revealed that BTS was the second best-selling artist worldwide in terms of physical, digital, and streaming platforms, being surpassed only by rapper Drake.

The following month the same organization announced that the albums Love Yourself: Answer and Love Yourself: Tear ranked second and third respectively on the list of best-selling albums worldwide in 2018, while in April 2019 Spotify announced that BTS was the first Asian artist to exceed 5 billion streams on the platform. The group was also named one of the most influential people of 2019 on the Time 100 list.

Undoubtedly BTS is one of the most influential boy bands in the world, they are unique, fun, they produce most of their songs, they have a very special relationship with their fanbase, they don't let a day go by without contributing content to their social networks, they are charismatic.

They transmit messages of improvement, they are not afraid to talk about depression, loneliness or political issues. Its lyrics refer to social issues, empowerment, mental health, the emotion of love and the understanding of the human being. BTS have a campaign called Love Myself in association with UNICEF, to raise awareness about child abuse.

Since its debut, BTS has focused on the young generation being reflected in their music by telling their own stories and experiences. Thus, in a letter addressed to the group, the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, recognized the sincerity and inclusion of diversity as the keys to their success, writing that "each of the seven members sings in a different way. who stays true to himself and the life he wants to live. Their melodies and lyrics transcend regional boundaries, languages, cultures and institutions".

Most viewed videos on youtube:

This band has it all, if you listen to their songs I assure you that you don't want to stop.

XOXO LI.

MONSTA X!

Hello beautiful people, how are you doing with the quarantine? What are you doing to not get bored?

Today I come to talk to you about music, specifically a band from the world of K-Pop, MONSTA X or 몬스타 엑스 (monseuta-ekseu) in Korea, モ ン ス タ ー ・ エ ッ ク ス (Monsutā ekkusu) in Japan.

MONSTA X: "MON" means "my" in French, "STA" means "star" in English, and "X" refers to the variable existence. Therefore, the name means "My existing star".

CAREER

Pre-Debut

They became known through the project "NO.MERCY", a reality survival show from 10-Diciembre-2014 to 11-Febrero-2015, produced by Mnet and Starship Entertainment to choose the members of the new boy group of the company "Starship Entertainment". The program had the participation of 12 trainees: JooHeon, WonHo, Shownu, KiHyun, HyungWon, MinHyuk, KwangJi, YooSu, MinKyun, YoonHo, #GUN & SeokWon.

The tests were designed to bring out the dance, singing and performance talents of the participants, as a prize the team or the winning participant had the opportunity to publish a single or collaboration with the guest artist. Among the singles released during the program are: Who are You? from YoonHo and SeokWon, Pillow from Soyou and Giriboy with Kihyun and Coach Me from San E and Hyorin with JooHeon.

On January 28th, in the 8th episode of the show, after the fifth participant in the competition was eliminated, I.M a young rapper raised abroad, was introduced as the new trainee who would join "NO.MERCY" to fight for a position in the new male group.

On February 11th, the seven official members of the group called "MONSTA X" were announced through an official image. These would be: JooHeon, WonHo, Shownu, KiHyun, I.M, HyungWon and MinHyuk.

DEBUT

They debuted in May 2015 with the EP Trespass, which was followed by the EP Rush also in 2015, after that the group announced the name of their fandom: “Monbebe”, a word of French origin that can be translated as My babies. At the end of 2015, Monsta X won the most important awards for new stars such as the Best Newcomer award at the K-Music Awards, the Daum Official Fancafe Awards Rising Star Award and the Best Rising Group award. by Simply Kpop.

The following year the group returned with the EP The Clan Part. 1 Lost, first part of the series "The Clan", which was published between 2016 and 2017.

The Clan Part. 1 consisted of six songs, among which stand out: Ex Girl along with Wheein from Mamamoo, All In, Unfair Love and Because of U. After being released the mini album was positioned in the rankings of South Korea, Japan and the United States, entering Billboard's US World Albums at number five.

The Clan Part.2 Guilty, published on October 4th, included the themes: Fighter, Be Quiet, Blind, Queen, White Girl and Roller Coaster, co-written by Jooheon and I.M along with Giriboy, Jam Factory and Mafly, among others. That same day, the music video (MV) for Fighter was released, a topic that has currently exceeded 12 million views on YouTube.

MONSTA X CONSOLIDATION

After their debut, the group managed to consolidate with the single Beautiful, a theme included in The Clan Pt.2.5: The Final Chapter.

A few months later the mini album The Code was published, whose main theme was DRAMARAMA. The video for this theme alludes to time travel and is a storyteller like the videos for All In and Shine Forever, this one focuses on the life of each character and the events that connect them.

The group returned in March 2018, with The Connect: Dejavu, an album that continues with the science fiction concept presented in The Code, the main theme of the new album was Jealousy, a song with a marked sensual and passionate style, that impressed the fans. The video was released on March 26th, 2018 and currently has over 29 million views.

After this we were amazed with Take.1 Are You There a complete album with a powerful adrenaline-packed single Shoot Out, an intense choreography and a somewhat “sinful” message. It achieved #7 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Take.2 We Are Here was released on February 18th, 2019 and it's a continuation of Take.1 Are You There, kind of like the answer you thought you didn't needed but that you expected, it reached #4 on the Billboard 200 chart.

MONSTA X IN THE UNITED STATES

After the world tours, the band received a lot of attention in the country, thus participating in television programs, interviews for news channels, radio programs and even took part in the famous iHeartRadio “Jingle Ball Tour”.

They signed with the California label “Epic Records”, with which they will do all their promotions in English, they also released their first album completely in that language called All About Luv, which fuses sounds, styles and feelings in a sea of songs that express love, disappointment, sensuality and fun; This album has collaborators as Pitbull in the song Beside U, French Montana in Who Do You Love and Will I AM in the remix of Who Do You Love.

Monsta X is one of the K-Pop bands that knows how to transmit a message through their songs, they are geniuses when it comes to putting together the concept on their albums, having visuals and choreographies that express the lyrics and melody, they have earned the love and respect of all the fans worldwide, and despite the fact that one of its members decided to leave the group due to a problem, they have not stopped surprising and being magnificent.

If you still do not dare to listen to them, I recommend you do so, you will not be disappointed.

XOXO Li.

THE K-POP WORLD!

 

Hello beautiful people! today I'm going to tell you about the K-pop world.

The Asian continent has been considered for many years as a mystery to all those who inhabit this side of the world; their mysticism, their ways of thinking, their food, customs and, of course, the way they physically look, have been the focus of attention for people who inhabit the so-called western world.

Since the 1990s, and even earlier, the oriental cultural movement began to permeate the rest of the world in a much more evident way. Although only until 2012 with the ‘Gangnam Style’ have we been fully aware of the Asian cultural presence on this side of the world, before that ‘Dragon Ball’, ‘Sailor Moon’ and even ‘Mario Bros’ had invaded our lives.

What did happen with Psy's 'Gangnam Style', was that the musical current of a region of the world that for many seemed unknown, began to become more visible, putting in the universal panorama what today is known as the K-Pop.

K-pop is a musical genre that includes various styles such as electronic dance music, hip hop, rap, rock, or R&B, and which specifically refers to South Korean popular music because North Korea does not have a Western-influenced popular music industry.

ENTERPRISES OF THE SHOW

In the world of K-pop, groups go through an intense process of preparation and rehearsal to make them perfect when presented to the public. The most important companies in the Korean pop industry are like record labels, they are S. M. Entertainment, Starship Entertainment, Big Hit Entertainment, and YG Entertainment.

PREPARATION OF THE SINGERS

Young people who dream of becoming “idols” of Korean pop go after the record labels and go through various auditions. If they are selected, they rehearse for months, even years, before starting to act, they are called "Trainees", they must prepare physically, mentally, choreographies, vocal training and sometimes even cosmetic surgeries.

K-POP GROUPS

Groups are the most fascinating part of the K-pop world. In recent years, more than 240 groups have debuted, there are male and female groups, and they tend to be large compared to western music groups; some of them have had up to 40 members, such as the NCT group. Some companies create large groups, such as EXO, so that one half can perform in South Korea while the other half perform in China.

Although K-pop was originally a South Korean phenomenon, the genre is now so popular worldwide that there are more and more foreign members in K-pop groups; such as young people from China, Japan, and Australia.

Outside its Korean national borders, this musical genre has managed to position itself due to the curiosity that the oriental has generated in the west, but above all due to the simplicity of its consumption, despite cultural barriers. For example, by using English sporadically in their lyrics, boys and girls bands have achieved unprecedented international recognition concerning other oriental musical products, to the point that it has become a fundamental export item for South Korea.

BTS, Monsta X, Twice, 2NE1, and B1A4 are some of those musical groups that are part of the most popular worldwide. They are groups that have a very large fanbase, have excellent interaction on social networks, have amazing and striking visual concepts, and create daily content for their fans.

Listen to them and get to know them and tell us what you think of this musical movement that has already become a worldwide wave.

XOXO Li.