Carmel-Lee Skinner

August 25, 2018

With literally hundreds of articles currently circulating about BTS and their latest release, ‘IDOL‘,we thought we’d release an easy to read summary (especially for those of you whose time zones aren’t 12am or 6pm KST friendly)!

‘IDOL’ MV shatters almost every expectation anyone was harbouring (including our own)

Read our review of the MV here.

BTS x Nicki Minaj; the collab we didn’t know we needed until yesterday

The alternate version of ‘IDOL‘, simply titled ‘IDOL (feat. Nicki Minaj‘ was a completely unexpected addition to the release, and makes up the 26th track of the repackaged ‘LOVE YOURSELF: 結 Answer‘ album.

Nicki‘s iconic rap blends seamlessly into the trap-laden African beats, decidedly not at all out of place alongside BTS‘ rapline, RM, Suga and J-Hope. According to an article from Newsen, BTS invited Nicki to collaborate following the completion of the album, resulting in the bonus digital track.

She shared the love on social media last night, responding in kind to BTS‘ tweet celebrating the release of her own album ‘Queen‘ earlier this month, and promoting their collab in one breath (or one tweet, so to speak).

#Idol @BTS_twt Uh!!! What’s Good KOREA?! pic.twitter.com/nGJ0IaRCgl

— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) August 24, 2018

love nicki’s new album https://t.co/pPZJQ9GB6o

— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) August 16, 2018

 BTS x Beats 1

In a pre-recorded interview with the BBC UK radio program Beats 1, BTS (led by RM), chatted candidly about their upcoming tour, working with Nicki Minaj, and the message behind their latest release.

Talking about the Love Yourself series

RM: “So we tried the show the emotional development of a young man who loved, and we tried to send a message that loving yourself is where the true love begins”.

RM: “So, for this album, we have seven brand new tracks…including our main single, it’s called ‘IDOL‘, to finish this whole series, which tried to, you know, kick off the celebration, and enjoy the process, and love ourselves as well.

J-Hope: Great album.

Explaining ‘IDOL‘

RM: “It’s an exciting track that kicks off the celebration, and you know festival, it’s like a festival with all our ARMY all over the world. It’s like African rhythm, you know, trap-style rap and EDM sources; you can’t imagine, right? We put some, [of] our Korean traditional expressions, like 얼쑤 좋다/ursoo…

J-Hope: [suddenly yells]얼”쑤 /ursoo”!!!

RM: “…and you know, since we have some traditional Korean expressions in it, we also put some Korean traditional performances and choreography, in the choreography. So it’s full of hype, like BTS, you know, it’s like a celebration. We hope, you know, we could enjoy you know, the choreography and performance and energy with, our fans all over the world”.

Talking about their collab with Nicki Minaj

BTS: [cheering excitedly and clapping]

J-Hope: We love Nicki!

A Love Yourself world tour update

RM: We go for our tour for 16 cities, kicks off the tour with Seoul of course, then North America, Europe, and then Japan. So, this time especially we have our first stadium concert in Citi Field in New York…you know, I cannot express with my words…I just want to say ARMY made all this possible, I mean that’s true and you know, we must not forget that fact.

Watch the full interview below.

GRAMMY bound…

BTS have been invited to guest at one of the GRAMMY Museum‘s music programs in Los Angeles on 11 September. The event description for the 200 lucky audience members who managed to score a ticket, reads:

BTS, an acronym of Bangtan Sonyeondan or “Beyond the Scene,” is a South Korean boyband that is capturing the hearts of millions of fans globally. The members of BTS are RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook. BTS has gained recognition from their authentic, self-produced music. From their top-notch performances to the way they interact with their fans, BTS has become a global phenomenon since they debuted in June 2013. They have mobilized millions of fans across the world (named ARMY), topped prominent music charts, sold out worldwide tours and have been recognized with prestigious awards like the Billboard Music Awards. 

Some of music's most iconic names have taken our stage for programs over the past decade. Don't miss a chance to join us for an unforgettable night! pic.twitter.com/zyUVK9iERY

— GRAMMY Museum (@GRAMMYMuseum) August 21, 2018

The event sold out before anyone had even realised that the invitation was real, which admittedly comes as no surprise! BTS will not be performing at this event, but discussing their music and artistry in an intimate, and potentially incredibly important conversation, with GRAMMY museum Artistic Director Scott Goldman.

…record breakers

‘IDOL‘ has topped iTunes charts in 66 countries since its release yesterday, and garnered over 40 million views (so far).

Officially, this means that BTS have broken two YouTube view records so far (including their own), for the fastest Korean group to reach 10 million, then 20 million views. At the time of writing, ‘IDOL‘ had already surpassed the 35.9 million views achieved with ‘Fake Love‘ within 24 hours; in just a few more, it’s entirely possible that BTS may knock Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do‘ out of the number three spot (43.2 million views within the first 24 hours).

…@BTS_twt

BTS‘ shared official twitter account @BTS_twt also hit 16 million followers today – ARMYs celebrated as always, trending the hashtag #BTS16M to welcome the newest members of their fandom.

The group kicks off their 16 city tour with their first concerts at Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul today and tomorrow, which will feature the first live stage for ‘IDOL‘ in place of a music show debut (BTS’ music show schedules have been officially pushed back until next week, and will include just one week of promotions, before they fly to the U.S for the next leg of their tour).

드디어 만난다
곧 보아요 ☺️

노래 좋아해 주셔서 감사합니다????#JIMIN#IDOL pic.twitter.com/rEl6AvhuSZ

— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) August 24, 2018

Keep following Officially Kmusic, as we bring you the latest K-Pop music news and reviews.

Sources: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

Writer/Editor: Carmel-Lee Skinner

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