ARTISTS NOT IDOLS
Chinese fans share their love for recordbreaking S. Korean boy band BTS
As South Korean boy band BTS made headlines overseas with their album Love Yourself: Tear, which hit No.1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in late May, their Chinese fans were thrilled to be part of a group that was moving into the mainstream just like the band did.
The first South Korean pop band in Billboard history to reach the top, the seven-member band was just a small time band with a limited number of fans only a few years ago.
June 12 marked the fifth anniversary of their official premiere.
“Before I officially became a fan in 2017, I had heard stories about how BTS was treated unfairly in the South Korean entertainment industry because they were managed by a small company and had few resources,” Zhao Xin (pseudonym), also known as Carrot Latte among the members of the BTS China Fan Club English translation group that translates the latest English news about the band into Chinese for fans on the club’s social media platforms, told the Global Times.
“We know how hard it was for them to achieve the spot they have today,” said Zhao, who considers herself a member of the BTS ami (Ah Rice), a Chinese transliteration of the English word Army.
“While music awards winners tend to thank their parents or agencies in their acceptance speech, BTS always gives credit to the ami,” Mercury Xu, who became a fan of the group just a few months ago, told the Global Times.
Music for the young
Also a lover of Japanese pop culture, Xu accidentally fell in love with BTS while watching a Japanese music program called Music Station, which aired the music video for the band’s track “DNA” in late 2017.
“It first caught my attention because it was rare for me to see a song from a South Korean boy band air during a Japanese music show. As I watched, I was immediately drawn in by their super uniform and great dance moves,” Xu said.
“While many K-pop bands trying to enter the US market often have similar styles of music, BTS songs stand out due to their diverse style, which you can see in their previous albums The Most Beautiful Moments in Life, Part 1 and Love Yourself,” Lan Bo, head of the BTS China Fan Club English translation group, told the Global Times.
Mixing diverse music styles including hip-hop and rock’n’roll, BTS’ songs, especially their most well known ones like “Dope” and “MIC Drop,” feature strong rhythms and lyrics.
“Make sure to read the lyrics when listening to their music, even translations if you don’t understand Korean,” Ding Xiaodao, a Chinese BTS fan for the past two years, told the Global Times. She noted that she was once moved to tears just by reading their lyrics.
When talking about why BTS’ music resonates with them, the Chinese BTS fans the Global Times interviewed all gave similar answers: because the band writes and sings about their own lives and those of young people.
“Many of BTS’ songs are written or co-written by them with other musicians, and many reflect the thoughts of young people and demonstrate how to face an unfair world with a positive attitude and courage, such as ‘Not Today.’ They have inspired me so much,” noted Zhao.
“Compared to the similar and clichéd music produced by some other South Korean groups, BTS’ music shares stories about individual growth and reflects on humanity and even about social issues… it hit me like a hammer right into my heart,” said Ding.
For many Chinese fans, BTS is more than just a boy band.
Aside from creating “exquisitely designed music,” BTS’ serious attitude toward music earns them the title of ‘artists’ instead of just “idols,” Lan noted.
Growing fan base
While their fan base admires their talent, many critics also contribute a great part of the band’s success to their expert use of social media. By frequently sharing news about their latest outings on social media platforms, the boy band has garnered more than 15 million followers on Twitter alone.
“Their social media efforts have made them feel more approachable to their fans, but their success today should still be largely attributed to their passion and conscience toward music and theirs fans,” Xu said.
Compared to the band’s first three years, the Chinese fan base has grown rapidly over the past two years, especially after their works began appearing more frequently on the Billboard charts in 2016. The number of followers on their official Sina Weibo account has now reached 1.34 million, surpassing that of other popular South Korean boy groups such as Super Junior and SHINee.
A group photo of the band posted on June 12 received more than 100,000 likes and 10,000 reposts.
The last BTS concert held in the Chinese mainland in 2016 saw tickets originally priced at 400 yuan ($60) rise to more than 2,000 yuan when sold by ticket scalpers.
According to the Chinese fans that the Global Times interviewed, many Chinese BTS fans are female high school and college students as well as office workers aged 20 to 25.
Unfortunately for Chinese fans, the South Korean group’s tremendous popularity worldwide has thrown a monkey wrench into their plans to go watch the band’s overseas shows.
“I heard that tickets for their September world tour to the US and Europe sold out in seconds. I am now very worried about whether I can get a ticket for their show in Seoul that same month,” said Ding.