Recording Academy breaks down on what’s Makes BTS a global force

BTS debuted on June 12, 2013 with a single album called 2 Cool for Skool. The project had a rebellious nature, taking on topics of misunderstanding and prejudice. Musically, it leaned more hip-hop — but that's not toosurprising, as members Suga and RM have a background in the underground rap scene in Korea. Still to this day, BTS' hip-hop influences allow them to stand out with authenticity.

While they identify as a K-pop group, they've changed up their style throughout the years, and have always had a strong rap throughline. The strength of their rapping skills has allowed them to be one of the few non-Western artists to land on Billboard's Top Rap Album's chart. (The 2020 re-release of 2014's Skool Luv Affair debuted on the chart that November).

Their rap inspirations continue on Proof: One of the upcoming singles, "Born Singer," is adapted from J. Cole's "Born Sinner" from his 2013 album of the same name. BTS unofficially released and performed the track back in 2013.

Their music — which spans several languages, including Korean, English and Japanese — attracts a global audience, even causing a huge spark in tourism in their home country. In 2020, the HRI reported that at least 796,000 people visited South Korea for BTS.

This is only a glimpse of how expansive and diverse their ARMY is. Their fan base — which stands for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth — has also proven to be incredibly loyal, particularly on social media. Each member has over 34 million Instagram followers on their personal accounts, and the group's 64 million followers make them the most-followed group on the app. On Twitter (where the group has 46 million followers), each of their posts garners around 2 million likes.

There are many appeals to BTS. Good music that transcends genre is only icing on the cake. They're also extremely talented performers, have uplifting messages in their music, speak up on important issues, and have built an organic bond with their fans. It also doesn't hurt that their friendship with each other is palpable. Because of the community and comfort many people find in the group, it makes fans that much more passionate in supporting them.

"Dynamite" — which took the world by storm in 2020 — was BTS' first all-English single of their own, but one of their 2018 collaborations withSteve Aoki, "Waste it on Me," marked their first entirely English song. (Only Jungkook, RM, and Jimin sing on the track, though.) The chill EDM single followed earlier Aoki/BTS team-ups like 2017's "Mic Drop" and 2018's "The Truth Untold."

Along with Aoki, BTS have hopped on tracks with a notable amount of their superstar peers. Calling back to their rap influences, the septet has collabed with several rappers, including Nicki Minaj, Desiigner, Wale, and Megan Thee Stallion. Snoop Dogg also claims he has something in the works with the group.

2019 was a busy collaboration year for BTS, as they recruited Halsey for the colorful single "Boy With Luv" and Lauv for a remix of "Make It Right" (Jimin and Jungkook featured on a Lauv song called "Who" in 2020). That summer, BTS released a soundtrack album called BTS World: Original Soundtrack (from the mobile game of the same name), which featured Charli XCX, Zara Larsson and the late Juice WRLD. In 2021, BTS joined forces with Coldplay for the anthemic single "My Universe."

BTS don't just make music, they make art. Though it's easy to enjoy their infectious melodies and punchy beats, there's also a deeper layer that can be explored. Much of their music is inspired by literature and psychology.

Their 2016 studio album Wings was inspired by Hermann Hesse's Demian, with references to its theme apparent in the video for "Blood, Sweat, and Tears." "Persona," from their EP Map of the Soul: Persona took inspiration from "Jung's Map of the Soul," the music video for "Spring Day" referenced Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" with a sign that read "Omelas," and "Butterfly" reflects through RM's direct lines on the plot of Takashi Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore." There's many more hidden gems throughout their work worth exploring.

Although BTS has always been publicly known as a seven-piece group, they were almost known as eight. Kim Ji-Hun trained with BTS and hoped to join the final lineup — initially scouted for his breakdancing skills — but was cut by management before the group debuted.

In an interview with Vice, Ji-Hun details life training as an idol and his relationship as a "second parent" to the other members. Ji-Hun now works at a government job in veterans health while also making YouTube videos under the name Bitoon.

BTS have been nominated for two GRAMMYs, both for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Their first nom came in 2021 for "Dynamite," then"Butter" earned their second nod in 2022. While they aren't the only GRAMMY-nominated Korean musicians, they are the only K-pop act to receive nominations.

All members of the group have had a hand in songwriting since the group's debut, most frequently RM, Suga, and J-Hope. (RM has recent writing credits on both "Black Swan" and "Butter.")

The group has also outsourced to fellow pop stars including Ed Sheeran, who is credited on "Permission to Dance" and "Make It Right," and Troye Sivan, who co-wrote "Louder Than Bombs" a cut from Map of the Soul: 7. DJ Swivel, who is best known as Beyoncé's personal recording engineer, has co-written several of BTS' songs from 2018 to 2020. South Korean producers/songwriters Pdogg, Supreme Boi and Hitman Bang are also listed as songwriters across different projects over the years.

BTS have long been supportive of mental health awareness and self-love, evident in the themes of their music — most notably, the Love Yourselfalbum trilogy. Starting in 2017, they also joined UNICEF for the Love Myself campaign against violence and spoke at the United Nations in 2018 to promote Generation Unlimited, a campaign for educating young people and vocational training. They were joined at the UN with former South Korean President Moon Jae-in in 2021 where they were appointed as presidential envoy for future generations and culture.

In 2020, they also made a statement in support of BLM coupled with a donation of $1 million. This sparked fans to match their donation within a day.

Next up, BTS is heading to the White House as Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month comes to a close on May 31. The group will meet with President Joe Biden to discuss diversity, Asian inclusion, representation, and anti-Asian hate.

The BTS guys have addressed the discrimination they've experienced in the past, issuing a statement condemning anti-Asian hate in early 2021 amid a spike in Asian hate crimes. "We stand against racial discrimination," they wrote. "We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.