Later that year, BTS issued their full-length debut album, Dark & Wild, featuring the single "Danger." As their fan base grew and international tours sold out, they released The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. A few months later, they released the second EP of the saga, O!RUL8,2? The trilogy was completed with Skool Luv Affair, which was released around Valentine's Day in 2014. With their youthful blend of club-worthy dance anthems, stirring love ballads, and aggressive rapping, BTS connected with a devoted fan base (dubbed "ARMY") and set themselves apart from the K-pop industrial machine when they debuted in 2013 with the first installment of their "School Trilogy" series, 2 Cool 4 Skool. In addition to production and composition, the members of BTS also write their own lyrics, which tackle topics like mental health, self-acceptance, and empowerment. Another English-language number one, the Grammy-nominated "Butter," landed the following year.įormed by producer Bang Si Hyuk, the septet's lineup includes RM ( Kim Namjoon), team leader and rapper Jin ( Kim Seokjin), singer Suga ( Min Yoongi), rapper J-Hope ( Jung Hoseok), rapper and choreographer Jimin ( Jimin Park), singer and choreographer V ( Kim Taehyung), singer and Jungkook ( Jungkook Jeon), singer, rapper, and choreographer. singles chart with their retro-disco track "Dynamite" from their chart-topping fifth set, Be. Hitting another milestone that summer, BTS became the first all-South Korean act to top the U.S. By 2020, international fervor reached a peak with their fourth release, Map of the Soul: 7, which topped the charts in over 20 countries. After the platinum-certified Love Yourself: Tear became their first number one effort outside of their home country, the compilation Love Yourself: Answer found them topping charts in Canada and Japan. Debuting in the early 2010s with their Skool trilogy, they steadily expanded their audience until breaking into the mainstream consciousness with the Love Yourself series. Record-breaking South Korean boy band BTS (aka Bangtan Boys) deliver an energetic blend of dance-pop and hip-hop with deeply introspective lyrics that helped them build a devoted global following while also making them one of the most successful Korean exports in the world.