BTS, or Bangtan Sonyeondan, Bulletproof Boy Scouts, Beyond the Scene, and many other names, is a South Korean K-pop boy group, formed under BigHit entertainment. They’re most known for their hit songs, “Dope” and “Blood Sweat, and Tears.” They’ve recently blown up in popularity since their new comeback mini album, “Love Yourself 承 ‘Her”–becoming the most-tweeted about music group of 2017.

The group is made up of seven members, Jeon Jungkook, Kim Taehyung (V), Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon (Rap Monster), Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), Min Yoongi (Suga/ Agust D), and Kim Seokjin. This lineup has stayed the same since their debut in 2013.

The group made a comeback on September 18, with their fifth mini album, “Love Yourself 承 ‘Her’ with a total of 1,051,546 copies for pre-orders as of August 31 not even including international sales. The album sold 455,888 copies on the first day of its release. The album also set a new record for highest stock pre-orders with 1,122,946 albums sold, earning them a spot on the Billboard Top 100 at number seven.

The group started to take form in 2010 and was originally a duo with Rap Monster (who originally went by Runch Randa in the underground rapping industry), and another artist named Hunchul (Iron). When one of the producers saw Rap-Monster rapping, they casted him almost immediately. After, their studio announced auditions, which lead it to becoming a group: three people, Ikje (i11evn), Yoongi (Suga), and Hoseok (J-Hope) had all auditioned and had become rookies under the company Big Hit. Later, Donghyuk (Supreme Boi/Suprema) auditioned and was then added.

In 2011, Ikje left the group and one new member was added to the band. Hyosang (Kidoh) had joined after passing the auditions. Later in that year, two new people came onto the scene: Jungkook and Taehyung (V).  Jungkook was casted after auditioning at Super Star K2, and Taehyung passed his auditions, becoming a part of BTS. But he (Taehyung) wasn’t revealed until their debut later in 2013. Jungkook was not revealed until all the final members were chosen. At the end of that year, Iron and Supreme Boi left the group to pursue their other passions.

In 2012, Seokjin was recruited into the group. He also wasn’t revealed until final members were chosen. In a few months, a new addition was added to the team: Jimin.

The full group finally debuted on June 12, 2013 with their album “2 cool 4 skool” and a song from the album (along with its music video) “No More Dream.”

The album won them several New Artist of the Year awards, including at the 2013 Melon Music Awards(MMAs), Golden Disc Awards, and the 2014 Seoul Music Awards.

BTS released a new mini album later into the year called, “ O!RUL8, 2?” with ten new tracks.

The third and final part of the “school trilogy,” their second EP Skool Luv Affair, was released on February 12, 2014. They promoted the album’s title track “Boy in Luv (상남자),” releasing its music video on February 11. The album peaked at 3# on Billboard’s World Albums Chart.

After the school era, came the “Dark and Wild era,” with their release on August 19 of the music video for their comeback single “Danger” from their first full-length album, “Dark & Wild.”

The group’s third EP album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1, was released on April 29, 2015. On May 5, 2015, their title track “I Need U,” won first place on SBS MTV’s The Show, which marked their first win since their debut. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1 had sold over 200,000 copies since its release. Later, in June of 2015, they released the music video for their song “Dope (쩔어).” this became BTS’s first music video to hit over 100 million views and reached its peak at number 3 on Billboard’s World Digital Chart.

BTS returned with the album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2  in November of 2015. The album charted at number one on the Billboard World Albums and remained atop the chart for multiple weeks–making BTS the first K-pop act to achieve that feat.

After, at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards, BTS received the Best World Performer in recognition of their international fanbase.

Later in 2016,  in October, BTS released their second full-length studio album Wings. Pre-orders for the album reached over 500,000 copies within the first week and earned them a spot on the Billboard 200 chart at #26. This made them the first K-Pop group to stay up there for more than one week. This is when they started to rise in popularity. And this also was the year when they won their very first daesang at the 2016 MAMAs. A daesang, is very prestigious award in South Korea, and they won an artist of the year award.

Their latest releases are “You never walk alone”, which was released in February as an addition to their previous album, adding 4 new tracks. One of the album’s songs, “Spring Day” entered the US Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at #15. A writer from the magazine highlighted  the achievement as the single was “almost all in Korean” and had “zero promotions in America.” It also became the fastest K-Pop music video to reach 20 million views, achieving the feat in less than four days. On May 21, BTS won the Top Social Artist award, making them the first ever Korean artist to win a BBMA.

Their musical styles have changed over the years and evolved to include a more R&B feel to their hip-hop as well as rock-inspired elements in singles such as “Danger” and “Boy in Luv.” Wings brought a change in tone, as it included seven of their solo songs, each talking about personal struggles.

BTS has also been noted for lyrics that “speak honestly about topics they deem important, even in a conservative society.” Their musical releases have shedded some light on subjects such as school bullying and nonconformity to societal ideals, as well as mental health issues, suicide, pessimism, the K-pop idol system, and female empowerment.

In their mini album, “Love Yourself 承 ‘Her”, the tracks ‘Pied Piper’ and ‘Go Go’ comment on BTS’s own fanbase and an admonishment of negatively spending in the name of happiness and of youth respectively. In their previous full-length album, You Never Walk Alone, ‘Not Today’ is an anti-establishment anthem with messages advocating for minority groups–telling them to stand up for themselves instead of being silent.

However, in 2016, the group received criticism for misogyny by netizens, with the lyrics for “War of Hormone,”  “Converse High,” and Rap Monster’s solo song “Joke,”  as well as a Twitter comment made by Suga. Big Hit later addressed the issue and made an apology to the public. Rap- Monster also publicly tweeted an apology about this on his twitter account.

Their logo, a shield, represents their name, being called the “Bulletproof Boy Scouts.” They recently came out with a new name for the west, Beyond the Scene. With that, they created a new logo as well. The meaning behind this new name, according to their leader Rap-Monster is ,“BTS protecting youths from prejudice. They are moving forward, chasing their dreams instead of settling for reality.” The design language is pictured in a teaser poster with ARMY meeting BTS at the doors. In a sense, youth who open the door and move forward. Their company made this statement about it:“We fixed and visualized BTS’s brand to a concept that, with the passing of time, will encompass the album’s concepts or promotion with a futuristic idea.”

An anonymous interviewee says that they like the band because of their individual personalities, and she felt that she had a lot in common with the members. Her favorite song by them is “Mic-Drop” because, “It has a good/ catchy beat and the lyrics are good considering American standards.” Elaborating on that topic, she said the band made an impact on her by making her happier.

Nghia, and international fan and interviewee, shared why she liked the group. She says her favorite member is Yoongi(Suga). “He’s so hardworking and, you can tell how much he appreciates his fans and what he has right now. He’s an amazing representation of the words, ‘started from the bottom and now we’re here.’ He’s over all just my inspiration.” In addition, she says that they’ve made an impact on her as a person overall, saying that she wouldn’t have been worried about society that much and it would’ve been harder to love herself. And they made her confident when times were hard. She says when she had a bad day, all she had to do was hear their voices then smile again. She also said in that interview, “I can hear the sincerity, in their voices when they speak to their fans. They truly do love us and they make me want to protect them.”

The last interviewee, Bharavi, comments that she likes their album Wings the most. She says the band made her see all the little things in life. “In some of their songs like “21st Century Girl”, the lyrics make me feel good about myself. They have songs for my every emotion. For example, if I need to calm down or if I’m mad I’d listen to “Butterfly” or “Autumn Leaves.” And if I’m sad I’d listen to “Not Today,” “Ma city” or “Baepsae.” She says in general, they make her feel happier as a person.

With the new albums and tours, BTS is slowly becoming a more popular band in both the international community and in South Korea.  Expect to see or hear more from BTS.