BTS Celebrate Their Brilliant Past and Look Toward a Bright Future on ‘Proof
For nine years, BTS have never stopped running. It began in 2013, when the South Korean septet, repped by a small, virtually unknown label, burst onto the scene with the brazen and critical “No More Dream,” and were constantly told they didn’t have what it takes to succeed. Still, theykept running — to their first Korean Number One, to the top of the Billboard charts, and eventually to the world stage. Proof, the group’s latest release, is its most ambitious yet, but not necessarily in the way many would expect. Over a three-volume anthology, BTS not only chronicle their tireless, ultra-successful journey thus far, but also give listeners an intimate look into the hard work that has gone behind it. Finally, they’re letting themselves take a moment to stop and enjoy the view.
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It would be too simplistic (and frankly, inaccurate) to call Proof a greatest-hits compilation. The first disc tells the story of BTS’ career by way of their 17 lead singles, from “No More Dream” to “Butter.” It’s bookended, however, with two particularly significant tracks: To start, a remastered version of 2013’s “Born Singer” (which samples J. Cole’s “Born Sinner”), in which rappers RM, Suga, and J-Hope detail their experiences going from trainees to idols and fire back at the naysayers who said they were crazy for dreaming. It ends with a new track, Proof’sfirst single, “Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment),” a classic BTS blend of sparkling pop and old-school hip-hop that offers a hopeful promise of an even brighter future: “We ain’t about it, that step of being the best/(We ain’t about it)/Crowns and flowers, countless trophies/(We ain’t about it)/Dream and hope and goin’ forward.”
