INTRODUCTION TO BTS

So I did a video like this on my YouTube channel a little while ago and I really wish I hadn’t. I made that video when I first started to love BTS and talked about them like I knew them really well, when in reality I didn’t. I was reading off a script because I didn’t know them well enough to just sit there and talk. Whereas now, a good 5 months later, I actually do know the boys better, I’ve experienced a comeback, I actually feel like I can call myself an ARMY. The video I made was so impersonal and I only talked about the things everyone already knew about the boys, so I’m redoing it, here. I’m going to write an introduction to BTS that will, hopefully, cover all aspects and will be as personal to the boys as possible. I’m not going to go through all the members individually because that would take like 10 years, so I’m going to talk about BTS as a whole and some of the subsections within it.

Basic Introduction

The band is made up of 7 members who perform together, but are split into ‘lines’ based on age, ability and personality. Some of these lines are official, like the hyung, maknae, vocal, rap, dance and visual lines, but others are fan made like the sunshine and clumsy lines. BTS was formed under BigHit Entertainment and debuted on the 12th June 2013 with their title track ‘No More Dream’ from their EP ‘2 Cool 4 Skool’. BigHit Entertainment isn’t part of the top 3 major corporations in South Korea so they didn’t have much money to really push BTS and clothe them well. At the beginning, fan-sites would send the boys expensive gifts and clothes so that they were looked after and didn't seem poor.

Hyung Line

‘Hyung’ is a term used by young males to refer to their elder male friends. It technically means elder brother and it’s expected of the younger members to refer to their elder members as ‘hyung’ when talking to or calling them. The hyung line is made up of the 4 eldest members: Jin, Suga, J-Hope and RM. Let’s talk about these 4 more and their roles as hyungs.

Jin: He is the eldest member of BTS and has a ‘mum’ like role when looking after the boys. He is extremely domestic and usually does the cleaning and cooking. Although he is the oldest, he never acts that way. Sometimes he acts as young as the maknae does. He has a young heart and loves messing about, but plays his elder brother role.

Suga: He is the second eldest member of BTS, but flits between acting like a maknae and acting like a grandad. Suga is one of the softest members in BTS and loves acting immature and silly. Equally, he gets very tired very quickly and is known for wanting to become a rock in his next life so he doesn’t have to do anything.

J-Hope: His role as a hyung varies. J-Hope’s role within the band is to be the light and energy, so he acts childish and silly quite often, but takes some things very seriously. He is a perfectionist and strives to make their stage performances perfect so goes over them frequently. He’s also extremely sensible and will tell off the maknae’s if they’re being too childish or unprofessional.

RM: He is the leader of BTS, so is professional most of the time. He has a cute and dorky personality that we see a lot, but mostly we see him in a professional way. He leads the interviews, especially the English one as he is fluent in the language.

Maknae Line

‘Maknae’ is a term used by older males to refer to their younger male friends, usually the youngest member. Unlike the term ‘hyung’, older males are not expected to call their younger friends ‘maknae’, it’s just a term that’s used, especially in kpop. The maknae line is made up of the 3 youngest members: Jimin, V and Jungkook. Let’s talk about these 4 more and their roles as maknaes.

Jimin: He has a bubbly personality and is always wanting to talk to people and do interviews for bangtan bombs. He’s the member who’s shipped the most as he has an amazing bond with all the members as he can cater his personality depending on who he’s with. Although he’s incredibly bubbly, he needs constant reassurance from his members that he’s doing well.

V: This boy is just hilarious. He’s got an explosive personality, and is incredibly eccentric. He’s such a funny individual and always makes the other members laugh. Sometimes he can go a little overboard and needs taming by the other members, but he always has good intentions and just wants to have fun.

Jungkook: He is the youngest member and is referred to as the ‘golden maknae’ as he is just great at everything. Similarly to V, he can go overboard sometimes but he always manages to get away with it. He’s sometimes called the ‘spoilt brat’ of bangtan because he annoys his hyungs and always gets away with it. That aside, he absolutely loves his hyungs and actually wrote his first solo song about them and how they basically raised him when he moved to Seoul.

Vocal Line

The vocal line is made up of 4 members who’s role it is to provide the vocals on the tracks that are made. These members are: Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook. Let’s talk about these 4 and their roles as vocalists.

Jin: He is one of the most underrated vocalists in BTS. With this new comeback he has been given more lines and we’re all here for it! I think I speak for everyone when I say his solo song Awake was an absolute blessing to all of us. It’s such a beautiful song and his voice is so peaceful to listen to. Awake is genuinely one of my favourite solo tracks on the Wings album.

Jimin: He has such a unique voice and it makes me so sad he’s not fully confident with his own ability. He is the first vocalist to perform the intro for an album and oh my lord, Serendipity is one of my all time favourite BTS songs ever, it’s so beautiful and his voice is honestly phenomenal. That boy can hit high notes like no other.

V: It still blows my mind that V joined BTS to be a part of the rap line when he has the best range out of all the vocalists. His low raspy voice is chilling to listen too, but his high voice is equally as chilling, his range is out of this world and his control moving from low to high is just something else. His solo track Stigma is my personal favourite.

Jungkook: This boy has such an angelic voice it’s honestly the most relaxing sound to listen too. He has the most lines out of the vocalists and is used to harmonise with the other boys a lot. His breathy voice is just angelic, I can’t describe it any other way. He also sings a lot of English covers, my personal favourite is his cover of 2U by Justin Bieber, its superior to the original and I listen to it daily it’s that good.

Rap Line

The rap line is made up of 3 members who’s role it is to provide the rap segments on the tracks that are made. These members are: RM, Suga and J-Hope. Let’s talk about these 3 and their roles are rappers.

RM: Our wonderful leader, what a talented man he is. He’s the member with the most solo tracks, having done the majority of the intros and obviously his own solo on the Wings album. RM’s rap is so powerful, it was actually the reason Jungkook chose to join BigHit as he found RM’s ability so empowering and special.

Suga: This boy’s rapping ability is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced before. There’s a section in his rap in Cypher Part 1 where he doesn't breathe for over 12 seconds and it’s just fascinating to watch. And don’t even get me started on his mixtape Agust D, I think that’s something you need to experience for yourself.

J-Hope: As V was trained to be a rapper, J-Hope was trained to be a vocalist, but they switched places as they were both suited to different roles. But my oh my J-Hope is just amazing at both. His rap ability is up there with RM and Suga’s who are both underground rappers, and his vocals in MAMA and Spring Day are beautiful to listen too. I can’t explain my excitement for his mixtape that should be coming out this year.

Dance Line

The dance line is made up of 3 members who’s ability to dance is superior to the others and are usually at the front and centre of the majority of the choreographies. These members are: J-Hope, Jimin and Jungkook, also known as 3J. Let’s talk about these 3 and their roles as dancers.

J-Hope: He is the bangtan dance leader, he learns the choreography before the rest of the boys and helps teach the dance alongside the choreographer. He was an underground dancer and boy oh boy is he talented. He has a series called ‘Hope On The Street’ showcasing his underground dance style and it’s truly phenomenal to watch.

Jimin: He trained as a contemporary dancer at college and wow oh wow his dancing is so fluid and emotive, I could literally watch it all day. His choreography to his solo song Lie is second to none, it’s so beautiful and really shows off his dancing ability as well as his vocal ability.

Jungkook: Now onto my fave. Jungkook probably had the least training out of the 3 of them but had such raw talent. BigHit sent him to America to study dance and learn how to channel emotions into his performance and honestly I think that was the making of him. His dance is so fierce and powerful, it’s truly amazing to watch.

Visual Line

The visual line is made of 3 members who represent the band on a visual level. These members are: Jin, V and Jungkook. Let’s talk about these 3 and their roles are visualists.

Jin: Let’s talk about Mr Worldwide Handsome himself. Jin is beyond aesthetically pleasing, he is one of the most handsome people I have ever seen. I think his charm makes him that more attractive, I mean who could resist one of his hand kisses?

V: Well there’s not much more to say about V being incredibly handsome seeming as he was voted the most handsome face of 2017. Bless his heart he gets so shy and embarrassed whenever press or his members mention it, part of me thinks he doesn't believe it.

Jungkook: One of the golden maknae’s special talents is being incredibly attractive. I mean I’m going to be biased because he is my bias but honestly his beauty actually takes my breath away. Vogue said that he is more beautiful in person than he is on screen so jesus christ if I ever meet him I think I actually might die, and I’m not being dramatic.

Clumsy Line

The clumsy line is made up of 3 members who are well known for being ridiculously clumsy in various ways. This is one of the lines that is fan-made and unofficial. The members making up the clumsy line are: RM, Jimin and V. Let’s talk about these 3 and why they’re so clumsy.

RM: The god of destruction. RM is the kind of clumsy person that just breaks everything he touches. He could be holding sunglasses and they would just break in his hands. He’s a danger to himself I swear. How he hasn't drastically injured himself I honestly don’t know.

Jimin: Oh bless this little boy, all he does is fall over. Honestly, type ‘jimin falling compilation’ into YouTube, there is so much content. This boy is an incredible dancer but literally can’t stay on his feet. It’s quite adorable to watch, I’m just glad he never actually injures himself.

V: Now V is a mixture of both of these. He breaks things all the time and occasionally falls over, but mainly he just hurts himself. He’s so cute with it as well, he’ll be enjoying his life and suddenly will trip and hit himself and his poor little pouty face will come out.

Sunshine Line

The sunshine line is made up of 3 members who are well known for bringing sunshine and happiness to the fandom. This is one of the lines that is fan-made and unofficial. The members making up the sunshine line are: J-Hope, Jimin and V. Let’s talk about these 3 and the sunshine they create.

J-Hope: His role within bangtan is actually being a radiance of happiness and being everyone’s sunshine. He’s such an extroverted character and is always so cute and pure, he brings happiness wherever he goes.

Jimin: He’s just the cutest little mochi ever and is always trying to make someone laugh, or is laughing at someone else. Either way his happiness is infectious and you can’t help but smile whenever you see him.

V: His crazy personality just makes him so adorable and you can't help but love him. V is an incredibly funny guy and just makes everyone laugh all the time. Much like Jimin, V’s personality is infectious and you can’t help but laugh and smile whenever he’s on screen.

So that’s BTS in a nutshell. This was a lot longer than I first intended but as I said I could literally talk about them for hours so in some ways I’m quite impressed that I kept it this short. I’m thinking of doing individual member fact files as well as going through each album/era and doing a segment on those. I know this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but this is something I’m passionate about and love talking about so I hope you guys enjoy it.

Tune in next week for another ramble about something I like.

Hannah xo