BTS made 2020 endurable with "Map of the Soul: 7" and "BE"

I previously wrote about my experience booking tickets to see my favourite musical act of all time, BTS, on stage in Toronto for May 2020. When I think back on how completely ecstatic I was with this upcoming event, I wonder whether there will ever be a time when I would feel that way again.

It is certainly hyperbolic (and a little dramatic) to put such a statement out in the universe and maybe I'll look back on this piece a year from now and cringe at how hammy I sound but I view it this way: will there be live concerts within the realm of our "new normal"? Yes. Will flights be made available to travel wherever one's heart desires? Absolutely. Will booking a ticket for either of these events feel the same as it did before COVID-19 took over the world? That I'm not so sure about.

For me, whenever I now look back on old photos or think about times I'd go to Canada's Wonderland where everyone was maskless and stood shoulder to shoulder breathing in each other's air, I shudder. I'm sure my response will gradually revert back as the weeks, months and years go on but again, I have wondered if it will entirely return to those days of yore when "mask" wasn't part of my "phone, keys, wallet" ritual.

Kicking 2020 off with "Map of the Soul: 7"

Recently voted Billboard's fan favourite album of the year, Map of the Soul: 7 released on February 21st, 2020. When the group dropped the emotive single "Black Swan" a month prior with a captivating performance at The Late, Late Show, ARMYs everywhere eagerly awaited the release of the album leading it to ultimately debut "at #1 in top 5 music market[s] worldwide (US, Japan, UK, Germany, France) and 21 #1's official charts."

While I won't be discussing it in this article, the group released their Japanese album Map of the Soul: 7 - The Journey in July which included four new Japanese tracks including "Intro: Calling", lead single "Stay Gold", "Your Eyes Tell" and "Outro: The Journey." It went on to become the group's sixth overall album to debut at number one in Japan.

To date, Map of the Soul: 7 is only one of eight albums to achieve RIAA's coveted Platinum status in 2020:

Myself and countless others have spoken ad nauseam at how unbelievably impressive BTS' range is with their discography and I'm here to continue speaking about it. Map of the Soul: 7 brought unto the universe fifteen brand new tracks (including the "ON" remix featuring Sia) and there is never a time when I'm not completely flabbergasted that the same group responsible for the exhaustingly thrilling stimulation experienced in "Dionysus" is the same crew who makes me weep ugly tears while in my car with "00:00 (Zero O'Clock)".

The raw intense musings of the Rap Line consisting of RM, Suga and J-Hope effortless incorporation of wordplay in "UGH!" provides an equally joyful intensity in the RM/Suga collab "Respect" and J-Hope's outro for the album "Ego". Member V previously recommended "UGH!" to be a great meditative track and as someone who is surely the embodiment of namaste, I am in complete agreement:

The concept of "duality" is truly exemplified when it comes to the members of BTS. In an instant, subunit (and soulmates) V and Jimin can lovingly harken back to their school days and reflect on the progression of their relationship in "Friends" with the latter managing to flip some kind of internal switch from "young man's silly dumpling incident" to a seductive tour de force rejecting societal gender norms with "Filter."

Self-reflection is a major theme throughout the album as vocalists Seokjin, V and Jungkook all highlight in their respective solos.

With "Moon", Jin reflects on the eternal bond he shares with ARMY revealing that it's "written in perspective of how the Moon looks at Earth" where he is the Moon and ARMY is the Earth.

V speaks directly to his younger self as he relays his experiences growing into the man he is today in "Inner Child."

Youngest member Jungkook begins his solo track "My Time" stating he's felt "like [he] became a grown-up faster than everyone else" and further explores his transition from wide-eyed trainee to massive idol.

Suga's "Interlude: Shadow" was used for the album's Comeback Trailer and "recounts the struggles of not wanting to reach one’s own dreams in fear of the darkness, or shadow, that comes with them."

And I fear if I begin to start on the group tracks that I will never stop. Whenever I purchase a new album or listen to a particular artist, BTS (at least for me) is one of maybe four musical acts whose songs I can keep playing and never want to skip. Map of the Soul: 7 contains an array of genres one would want to listen to and although delving into the compelling meaning behind a song is certainly not mandatory, exploring such analyses only develops a greater appreciation into what messages this group strives to highlight.

The previously mentioned "Zero O'Clock" was an incredibly crucial part of my 2020 journey. Its title refers to "a time when everything is reset, ready to start again." When you're experiencing "those days where you're sad for no reason... where your body is heavy... And it looks like everyone else except you is busy and fierce" you look at the clock at the end of the day, see it hit Zero O'Clock "and you're gonna be happy."

With "Zero O'Clock", BTS reminds me that my feelings are valid and it is okay to be sad. It's alright if I'm feeling low at this particular point in time for whatever reason because the clock will reset and I can try to be content with myself when it's a new day.

I incorporated a number of songs from this album into my Workout Playlist and I cannot tell you how encouraging planks are when Jungkook is crooning at you:

As the year concludes, "BE" is crafted for struggling ARMYs

Their latest album BE, released nine months after Map of the Soul: 7, was born because 2020 existed.

In an interview with Rolling Stone India, Jimin described how the ongoing COVID-19 crisis encouraged the creation of BE:

"T​he pandemic unexpectedly put a lot of our original plans to a halt. However it provided us an opportunity to step back and focus on ourselves as well as our music. We reflected the emotions that we felt during this unprecedented period into this album. We were also able to take a step further by taking roles in overall production, such as concept development, composition and visual design."

The album marks their fifth to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 and the second time in the same year the group saw their album top the list as Map of the Soul: 7 debuted in the top spot in March.

Shining Through the Industry with a little Record Breaking

Leading the way to their success in 2020 is their first ever all-English track "Dynamite" which has frankly dominated the music scene since its release in August. Following years of exclusion from a xenophobic industry, the record-breaking song was conceived as a jubilant remedy for their ARMY after the hardships of this year as explained by RM:

"The release of ‘Dynamite’ wasn’t planned at all... Since the beginning of this year, we were working on our album. And ‘Dynamite’ was one of the songs we met in that process. It was a light, fun song that didn’t have any seriousness... While recording, we danced along to it a lot … We thought we wanted to share this energy with our fans as quickly as possible and decided to release it early, something we‘ve never done before. But we just couldn’t wait.”

"Dynamite" earned BTS their first ever Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and made them the first K-pop act to ever receive a nomination.

When BE released on November 20th, the music video (directed by Jungkook himself) for the lead single "Life Goes On" premiered, becoming the fifth-most viewed YouTube video in the first 24 hours with 71.6 million views. The album "imparts a message of healing to the world by declaring, ‘Even in the face of this new normality, our life goes on'" and the single expresses this message within its poignant chorus:

"Like an echo in the forest ,

The day will come back around .

As if nothing happened ,

Yeah, life goes on."

A version of the music video entitled "ARMY ver." released on December 30th which depicts what "life goes on" means to the vast array of BTS fans around the world further demonstrating the adoration BTS feels for their ARMY:

All seven songs from the BE album charted on the Billboard 200; the eighth track, "Skit", is not a song but a 3 minute clip where the members celebrate their first #1 on the Billboard 100 with "Dynamite." In a span of three months, BTS saw three of their tracks hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 - "Life Goes On", "Dynamite" and the "Savage Love" remix.

When I previously mentioned listening to a BTS album entails no skips, BE is a perfect example of how this notion is entirely factual. As "Fly To My Room" begins, I find myself connecting to the frustration illustrated in the lyrics where "everyday... feels like it's still day one."

When V begins "Blue & Grey" with his exemplary crooning of "where's my angel?" in that baritone resonance only found in one (1) Kim Taehyung... I am emotionally distraught.

Then comes my favourite of the album: "Telepathy." The retro-inspired track is an absolute jam appealing to those who simply want to listen to an upbeat song while continuing that connection to ARMY by mentioning going back to "the blue sea we used to play with", a reference to the sea's significance found within the beloved Bangtan Universe.

There is also another example of exceptional wordplay from RM as he declares "Oh, can I be your Bibilly Hills / Like you did the same to me?" Upon fervent googling, I learned "‘Bibilly’ can be written in Hangul (Korean alphabetic system used for writing) as 비빌 and ‘Hills’ translated to Korean are 언덕 (eondeok). When put together, gives 비빌 언덕, a phrase that means 'something / someone to lean on.' Therefore these lines can be read as:

Oh, can I be the one you could lean on

Like you did the same to me?"

Thank you, RM.

The bridge in the old school hip-hop-inspired track "Dis-ease" has grown to become its own entity; it is not only a memorable part of the song, Jimin revealed it took him ~4 minutes to come up with it and I can't even begin to imagine what it's like embodying that much creative power.

J-Hope revealed his method of thinking when asked about the track's theme:

"I wanted to get into the mindset that this song is a sickness. When I make a song, I work on the chorus first, and then move onto the first verse. When I had only finished the chorus the song felt upbeat, but I thought the overall theme shouldn’t be too playful. That wouldn’t reflect how I felt. But while the theme of “Dis-ease” itself isn’t very light, when it fuses with the beat, it feels as if the song is trying to get over itself and stay positive."

"Stay" is the first-ever subunit track from Jin, RM and Jungkook and is an energetic burst of excitement as they declare "yeah I know you'll always stay." Jungkook described it as "I think we are far apart physically, but we always stay together" when asked about the message behind the song.

"... [It] created a song with a very unique color that we haven’t seen before. “Stay” is kind of a song that is fun but also very emotional."

All this to say: 2020 has been a journey.

Despite whatever hardships I underwent this year, there are undoubtedly countless others who would trade with me in a heartbeat and this is a belief I strive to never lose sight of. I can also definitively say that had it not been for BTS, I genuinely have no idea how I would've endured this year. Although I may not be able to remove "mask" from my compulsory ritual as of yet, I know life will go on and hopefully our new normal will be better than ever.

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Thank you for reading! This year has certainly been a trying time for every single one of us and I wish only the best for you and yours.

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