Volume 01 Issue 16 part 2
My favorite BTS linkies
Some of my friends have told me that they forward these newsletters, and that there are some of their friends who want to connect with me - so if that’s you, add me on my ARMY Twitter account (@misswanderlust_) or use this button below to subscribe to this newsletter :) Thank you for forwarding/reading! The archive for everything I’ve published about BTS is at this link and you can share that consolidated link with your friends who are just starting their baby ARMY journeys.
I told myself last weekend that I wouldn’t put out a part 2, but realized I’d shared four great BTS articles in the span of a single week. There have been so many good ones lately! What I hear from longtime ARMY is that it wasn’t always like this. ARMY has standards for what a “good” article is - one that treats the boys with fairness and respect, doesn’t diminish them and their accomplishments, and cares what they really think about music and issues. I thought I’d share a round-up of seven of my personal favorites from the past few weeks. If you have to ask why seven and not ten, I can only assume you’re not (yet) baby ARMY, and hope one of the links below intrigues you.
The Boundless Optimism of BTS — Dave Holmes, Esquire.
IMHO this is the one against which all write-ups should be measured. It’s comprehensive and chronological, but easy to read; gives enough of the big picture, but also zooms into the details. It captures their chaotic vibe, but also showcases their thoughtfulness and how seriously they take their craft and their place in the world. This and the Carpool Karaoke video are what I send when I’m sneakily trying to convert someone from GP (general population) to baby ARMY.
I Wasn’t a Fan of BTS. And Then I Was. — Lenika Cruz, The Atlantic.
This is from last year, but I recently reread it, and it still hits just as hard. “For me, the journey into BTS’s genre-bending oeuvre and their community of fans has produced a joy and intensity I never thought I’d experience as an adult listener. At times, I felt like I was violating some sort of social boundary. I’ve learned, though, that being a fan of BTS means becoming intimately familiar with the many prejudices and hierarchies of taste that casually belittle the thing you love—and then deciding that none of it has any real power over you.”
Like Dionysus: BTS, Classics in K-Pop, and the Narcissism of the West — Yung In Chae, Eidolon Journal.
I’ve shared this before, but it makes my top 7 list because it’s so masterfully written. “In my mind, the story of BTS is the story of a K-pop group that, out of a necessity constructed by history, went after Western validation and in the process became something greater, for BTS’s influence goes beyond the West, and their legacy will be about more than collecting its rewards. In the end, the people who lose out will be those who were fortunate enough to live through a moment of significant cultural change but were too mired in narcissism to see it, let alone appreciate it.”
BTS Top The Billboard Hot 100 With ‘Life Goes On,’ Once Again Proving They’re In A League Of Their Own — Brian Rolli, Forbes.
BE was my first comeback, and my first experience of what that “comeback season” actually means: active participation and hard work streaming and buying, to make sure the song charts. ARMY is serious! I was exhausted (in a good way - read more here): “A largely Korean-language song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with virtually no radio play, no remixes and no bundles. The song’s stratospheric debut offers unimpeachable proof of BTS's popularity and the dedication of their fans. Together, they have subverted a Western music industry whose archaic practices are often rooted in racism and xenophobia and redefined what a Korean pop act can achieve on the U.S. charts.”
BTS: TIME’s Entertainer of the Year — Raisa Bruner, TIME.
This is a big one. I’m so proud and I love them so much. They deserve the world. (There’s a video too - the power of the exposed forehead is so strong!) “They have been open about their own challenges with mental health and spoken publicly about their support for LGBTQ+ rights... They’ve modeled a form of gentler, more neutral masculinity, whether dyeing their hair pastel shades or draping their arms lovingly over one another. All this has made them unique not just in K-pop but also in the global pop marketplace.”
How the biggest boy band in the world is changing the mental health conversation — Jenna Guillaume, ABC Life.
Of the many things I like to think about when it comes to BTS, their approach to mental health and masculinity is high on the list. I love the way the author framed this. “In other words, [BTS] consistently display [...] in every possible way, what being a man can look like when removed from toxic masculinity and the repressive stigma attached to it.”
Band of the Year BTS Rewrite the Record Books with Dynamite 2020 — Mary Siroky, Consequence of Sound.
"There is a certain, specific kind of joy that comes with watching people do what it seems they were put on this earth to, and that magic shimmers around the members of BTS when they are performing seated on stools with a small backup band just as brightly as it does when they are executing a dance break in an Olympic-sized stadium. There’s another kind of joy that comes with watching people who have worked tremendously hard to become masters of their craft achieve groundbreaking success, who then receive every victory with boundless ecstasy. It’s good to have something to root for these days.”
Read part 1 of last week’s newsletter here (regular non-BTS content) and everything I’ve published about BTS here. The next issues will land in your inbox if you subscribe using this button. Thanks for reading!
I purple you,
Pinky