A recap of BTS’s huge year in America - and why it matters.

If you haven’t heard of BTS by now, you clearly are not friends with me considering I can barely go an hour without talking about them.

There is a reason for my obsession, however, and I honestly believe that BTS is on track to make major milestones in their coming years. BTS has broken through all barriers put in front of them this year, standing strong with their huge fanbase right by their side. It is fair to say that BTS had one of the most outstanding years of all artists in 2018 and 2019 is about to see even more big things from these seven boys.

The list of records that BTS has broken in their career is so extensive that I was forced to cut it down to just the major achievements they received in the year of 2018. From guest starring on huge talk shows such as The Graham Norton Show, Ellen, and Jimmy Fallon, to being recognized by large corporations such as Coca-Cola, TIME Magazine, Hyundai, Twitter, and the Guinness Book of World Records, BTS has truly become worldwide.

BTS started out their giant year with the release of their album Love Yourself: Tear in May. Immediately following the release of this album, BTS announced a new world tour set to perform in more countries than they ever had before. On the day of ticket releases, each show for their American leg of the tour sold out in under ten minutes. Shortly after, BTS announced their first stadium show at Citi Field in New York City, which also sold out in record time. BTS’s tour also took them to Europe for the very first time and they are continuing their sold-out shows on the Asian leg of the tour in the beginning of 2019.

The album itself proved to be in as high demand as the idols themselves, considering the massive amount of records it smashed from day one. Love Yourself: Tear had about 1.4 million pre-orders, beating their own previous record. It also became the first Korean act ever to debut at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the 1st album in 12 years to gain that spot as an album primarily sung in a language other than English. BTS was the first Korean act ever to have a comeback stage at the Billboard Music Awards where they were also the first Korean act to ever perform. Their Billboard Music Award success does not stop there because they also took home the award for Top Social Artist for the second year, a fan voted award that previously had been held by Justin Bieber for 6 years in a row.

A few months following the release of their album and a day before they were set to start their tour, BTS released the album Love Yourself: Answer- the last album in their “Love Yourself” series. Love Yourself: Answer broke the record set by their last album release by selling 1.5 million pre-orders as well as also debuting at no.1 on the Billboard 200. The title song off the album, “IDOL”, broke Taylor Swift’s record of most viewed music video in 24 hours earning about 45 million views. This was not their only song this year to break a YouTube record though, with their song “DNA” becoming the first k-pop song ever to reach over 350 million views and beating themselves as k-pop act to reach 100 million views on YouTube the fastest. BTS is unbeatable in the world of k-pop with many “firsts” for the genre. They also became the first k-pop group to ever have an RIAA certification, first with their song “Mic Drop” which was certified Gold early in 2018. Songs “Fake Love”, “IDOL”, and “DNA” also became certified Gold throughout the year as well as the album Love Yourself: Answer becoming RIAA certified Gold. In November, “Mic Drop” became BTS’s first song to upgrade, becoming certified Platinum.

While charting and breaking records was important for BTS this year, they also received huge recognition from companies and people all around the world. They have been on numerous talk shows including Ellen, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, James Corden, The Graham Norton Show, and Good Morning America. They performed on almost all these shows as well as performing at Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve on New Years Eve. BTS has been noticed by lots of big news shows such as E! News, Billboard, Vogue, Entertainment Tonight, and Access Hollywood. While many of these journalism opportunities were shared online- BTS also snagged two American magazine covers including the cover of Billboard Magazine and the cover of Global TIME magazine. TIME magazine recognized them for being “Next Generation Leaders” a name that they surely live up to.

BTS launched a collaboration with UNICEF as part of their “Love Yourself” campaign. Their three albums Love Yourself: Her, Love Yourself: Tear, and Love Yourself: Answer discuss the importance of teens and young adults truly loving themselves and being true to themselves. Their songs in all three albums talk about their own personal struggles with loving themselves and they challenge each and every listener to work on taking the time to find self-love. This campaign with UNICEF was so widely recognized that they were given the chance to speak at the United Nations in 2018, where they discussed the importance of not just loving yourself, but speaking yourself. The term “speak yourself” was meant to encourage the importance of finding your own voice and speaking up for yourself and your beliefs. Actions like this gained BTS the title of “Next Generation Leaders” and continue to make them soar in the hearts of their fans.

Speaking of their fans, whose name “ARMY” truly describes the size and power of their support and love for BTS, they have stood behind BTS fearlessly all year helping BTS gain the recognition that they believe they deserve. Behind every charting of a song or an album are fans streaming the music, behind every pre-order are fans buying and promoting the songs, behind every talk show and interview are fans enthusiasm and views. BTS fans are some of the most loyal fans you can come across these days, outvoting almost any competitor for whatever the prize may be. BTS was the number one tweeted about topic in 2018 according to Twitter Data as well as being recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the most Twitter engagements of anyone or anything- ever. A BTS tweet of member J-Hope doing the “In My Feelings Challenge” that went viral this year, was the most liked tweet of 2018 with about 1.5 million likes. Fan voting has won BTS countless awards, most recently the reader’s poll for TIME’s Person of the Year. Because of the love that fans have for BTS, they have been able to make so many strides in the impenetrable American music industry. BTS has even caught the attention of the Recording Academy, who has recently nominated the BTS album Love Yourself: Tear for Best Recording Packaging. While this award, if won, does not go directly to BTS themselves, it is still a huge deal for any Korean act to be nominated for such a prestigious award.

While you may have seen them on T.V. or heard their music, BTS is not stopping until they have reached every area of the world. They have partnered with numerous corporations, a few of which include being the Cola-Cola ambassadors for the World Cup in 2018, a collaboration on a line of plush toys and animated stickers with Line Friends, being the face of the new Hyundai Palisade car, a shoe line with Puma, a skincare line with VT Cosmetics, and a BTS themed phone with the company LG. They have broken into almost every market this year, proving to be able to move all merchandise that they touch.

Due to their intense fans and growing popularity, BTS is in high demand to work with. Numerous other artists have begun to collaborate with BTS from Nicki Minaj’s feature on their song IDOL to their continued relationship with producer Steve Aoki. They have also been rumored to have projects in the works with Ed Sheeran, Zedd, and Maroon 5. Pop singer Charlie Puth has also shared the stage with BTS in Seoul- a big moment for BTS member, Jungkook, who is a fan of Charlie’s work. As BTS continues to grow, it is safe to say that many other artist will also seek a collab with the boys from Korea.

But the question is, why does this matter? Why is it such a big deal that this group, that doesn’t even speak English, is making it big in America? I have a few answers to these questions.

BTS matters, first and foremost, because representation matters. The American music industry is very set in its ways, making it very difficult for new artists, regardless of ethnicity, to break through and “make it”. For the American music industry to begin to recognize a K-pop group, one that sings primarily in Korean at that, is a giant step to the music industry breaking the stereotypes that they have for music in today’s age. The American music industry has a monopoly over any other countries entertainment industries and making it more inclusive to people of different backgrounds and languages allows for a representation of the reality of America. Making it a norm to hear Spanish songs or K-pop songs on the radio is just a start to strive to be representational of all music genres and categories. BTS continues to be a leader for other groups in K-pop, opening doors that were previously closed to the Korean music industry.

BTS’s success also matters because of the fans. Big fandoms historically get a bad rep, and ARMY is no exception. Fans of BTS have dealt with a lot of hate from people online, interviewers calling them “crazy and obsessed”, and overall being stereotyped as 13 year old girls that spend all of their time on the Internet. The reality however is that members of the BTS ARMY are actually a wide range of ages, races, genders, and backgrounds. Fans come from all around the world, but get together through the doors that social media has opened in order to support a group they care about and that cares about them. The power that these fans have when they work together has proved to be unstoppable. BTS has worked hard to prove their thanks and love for their fans in many different ways and the fans repay their love and thanks by streaming, liking, following, buying, and supporting BTS in any way that they can.

2 billion streams on Spotify. 17.3 million followers on Twitter. They are the band you have never heard of. But trust me, you will.