K-pop takes the United States by storm

The craze that has captured the attention of the youth in South Korea has now finally arrived in the United States. This group has been the center of attention this past year as they embarked on international activities and gained an overwhelming amount of support on their social media platforms. They are BTS, the boy group that has captured the hearts of millions of fangirls around the world with their captivating looks, choreography, and music.

Last weekend, they made their official American television debut on the 2017 American Music Awards stage in addition to being guests on the “Late Late Show with James Corden,” “The Jimmy Kimmel Show,” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which will all be broadcasted this upcoming week. Here is everything you need to know about the boy group that seized the worldwide music scene.

Debuting in June of 2013 with their first mini-album titled “2 Cool 4 Skool” and title track “No More Dream,” BTS (formerly known as 방탄소년단 or Bulletproof Boy Scouts with their English name Beyond the Scene) is a seven-piece boy group composed of members RM (Namjoon Kim), Jin (Seokjin Kim), Suga (Yoongi Min), J-Hope (Hoseok Jung), Jimin (Jimin Park), V (Taehyung Kim) and Jungkook (Jungkook Jeon). Branching from hip hop origins, the group was formed by Big Hit Entertainment, a previously small company and one of South Korea’s many entertainment companies.

Through the production of music and lyrics by their members, the group touches on subjects of depression, prejudice, and more struggles of the youth through their music. Producing genres that range from hip hop to dance, BTS’ music is a crowd pleaser and attractive to many.

Through Twitter, YouTube, and other various social media platforms, the popularity of the group has only grown bigger in the past few years since debut.

What makes this group so popular around the world and so impactful in so many people’s lives? The easy accessibility of translations of their videos, songs, and more, allow fans outside of mainland South Korea to fall in love just as much as their fans in mainland South Korea do. With self-produced songs, lyrics, and albums, BTS acts as a voice for the youth around the world as they touch on topics that the youth of today value.

As of recently, BTS announced a campaign in partnership with UNICEF titled “Love Myself” which encourages everyone, especially the youth, to love themselves in order to help those around them and eventually end violence in the world through this campaign.

“I think that BTS’ lyrics have a serious relationship to all the violence in the world. I hope that people are reminded of the campaign through the words, ‘Love Myself’ and that they also love themselves more,” said BTS’ leader RM in an interview with Zack Sang.

In touching on subjects like this, BTS has gained an overwhelming amount of support and recognition from various crowds. With a fanbase of nearly ten million people known as the A.R.M.Y., the power of the boys’ words and music are definite.

Upon the group’s first arrival in Los Angeles of this year for their world tour, BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour, various American media outlets entered the Korean music scene. With an attendance of over 60,000 fans to this world tour, the great impact that this group had made earlier this year was explicit and shocking.

The group ultimately returned to the states this past May for the 2017 Billboard Music Awards to take home Justin Bieber’s seven-year award of Top Social Artist with over 200,000,000 votes on Twitter. Before arriving in the United States once again for their U.S. American television debut at last weekend’s 2017 American Music Awards, celebrities and those present in American social media flocked to BTS’ social media pages and YouTube channels to learn more about them. An overwhelming amount of support was seen for the boys before their arrival in the United States last week.

BTS’ popularity has been multiplying this past year, especially with the release of their latest mini-album titled “Love Yourself: Her” where each of the members participated in the production of the songs.

On the 2017 American Music Awards stage held at the Microsoft Theater, the boy group performed ‘DNA’, the title track of their latest mini-album ‘Love Yourself: Her.’ The performance received an overwhelming amount of supports and screams from both their fans and the awards show attendees.

Following their performance, BTS heads to the red carpet for pictures. Each member sports a unique outfit, with intricate designs that showcase the latest trends in fashion. BTS’ awards show fashion was one of the many highlights of the night.

Americans and their American fan base can anticipate the success of their latest release with Steve Aoki and Desiigner, a remix of their hit track “Mic Drop” from their latest album, along with the broadcasting of their guest appearances on American television shows last week. Many can also look forward to the new concepts and music that are to be released in the upcoming year.

For more about BTS, be sure to check out their official YouTube Channels and Twitter.