http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/BTS

Pictured j-hope, Jin, Jungkook, Jimin, From left to right: SUGA RM , and V Who the hell am I?



Do your thang with me now

Do your thang

Do your thang with me now

... —"Black Swan" Do your thangDo your thang with me nowDo your thangDo your thang with me now What's my thang?

What's my thang, tell me now ...

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BTS (or Bangtan Boys, or Beyond the Scene, or Bulletproof Boyscouts, or Bangtan Sonyeondan) is a Korean Pop/Hip-Hop/R&B Boy Band that debuted with BigHit Entertainment on June 13, 2013, composed of seven members: rappers RM (leader), SUGA, and j-hope, and vocalists Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook.

Interestingly, their fame grew very gradually; while they had a strong start for a small company idol group, they only started to reach higher success in Korea in 2015 (gaining an international fanbase much earlier) with singles "I NEED U" and "Dope", and winning their first big Korean awardsnote awards in main categories such as Artist or Album of the Year, also known as daesangs in 2016. In 2017, they ended Justin Bieber's 6-year winning streak with the Billboard award for Top Social Artist, marking a turning point in their career. They've broken many records before and since, having the best selling album in Korean history; they've also performed in sold-out tours in Asia, the Americas, Europe and other places, becoming (among other things) the first Korean group and Asian act in general to perform in Saturday Night Live and the first to headline a concert on Wembley (with 2 sold-out nights).

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An unusual aspect of BTS is that the members have had significant input in their work since the beginning (including pre-debut), with all members having participated in songwriting; notably, RM and Suga were involved in the underground Hip-Hop scene in Korea as teens. While the main influence of the group has always been Western Hip-Hop, they're very versatile, often giving their own spin to wherever their Genre Roulette lands on.

BTS' work has recurring themes centered around youth and young people's place in society, often dealing with topics such as mental health, expectations pushed onto young people, and social inequality, with more than one Protest Song under their belt; they also incorporate their own personal experiences into their work, including their career and difficult rise to stardom. Additionally, all three rappers (RM, Suga and J-Hope) have released very personal and distinct solo mixtapes - RM (2015), Agust D (2016), Hope World (2018) and D-2 (2020), all heavily referencing the different points of their careers at which they each were released. In 2018, RM also released the introspective mono. (which RM has called not a mixtape, but a "playlist").

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Their biggest and most ambitious project, however, might be the creation of an entire Mind Screw of a multi-media storyline tied to the narrative in their music, starring fictional versions of the members in what BigHit has named the BTS Universe. This series is comprised of Concept Videos, teasers, short films, a webcomic (titled SAVE ME), novels (The Notes) and other content, starting in 2015 with the "I NEED U (Original Ver.)" music video and currently ongoing. To read more about the storyline and characters of the series, you can go to the BTS Universe work page.

They've also entered the big screen. Months after the Youtube Premium series of the same name, the movie Burn the Stage - a documentary about the WINGS Tour in 2017 and the experiences behind the scenes of the members throughout - was released worldwide on November 15th, 2018. In January 26th, 2019, the Concert Film LOVE YOURSELF Tour in Seoul was released in cinemas around the globe as a one-day-only event. In August 2019, they released another documentary film about the LOVE YOURSELF tour under the title Bring The Soul; another documentary series of the same title was released weeks later on BigHit's Weverse app. A third series, Break The Silence, is currently ongoing also on the Weverse app.

Their latest album, titled MAP OF THE SOUL: 7, was released in February 21st, after a huge timeline of events leading up to it. This included not one, but two comeback trailers, one titled "Interlude: Shadow" (released in January 10) and another titled "Outro: Ego" (released in February 3rd, same hour - warning for Epileptic Flashing Lights at some points), as well as the launch of CONNECT, BTS , "a global project to connect five cities [(London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul, and New York City)] and twenty-two artists", that "may be described in terms of a collective curatorial practice by curators around the world who resonated with BTS' philosophy".

In January 17th, BTS released a (non-main) single, "Black Swan" in 2 different versions: one for radio and streaming platforms, and an orchestral version for Youtube , with the latter being released as an art film performed by the MN dance company. It eventually got a surprise official music video in March 4th.

In February 21th, the album release was accompanied by a special music video (a "Kinectic Manifesto Film") for the main single, "ON". An alternative version of "ON" featuring Sia was also released on digital platforms. A second official music video , now a cinematic Concept Video featuring the members in an After the End setting, was released in February 27th.

The new single '"Dynamite", a disco-pop track (entirely in English, in a first for the group) was released in August 21 along with a music video . According to the members, it's meant to heal and bring joy for fans and other listeners during the Covid-19 pandemic. With "Dynamite", they became the first all-Korean act to reach #1 in Billboard Hot100 and the first Asian act (and third group in general) to debut in that placement, had the highest global debut streams in Spotify in 2020, and broke the Youtube record of most views in 24 hrs. with a whopping 101 million views.

A new album has also been announced for the last quarter of 2020, albeit as a separate project from "Dynamite".

No relation to the indie rock band Built To Spill. Or with the BFS trope (as cool as that combination sounds).

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Members

Jin : Full name Kim Seokjin, born 4 December 1992. Vocalist, oldest member.

: Full name Kim Seokjin, born 4 December 1992. Vocalist, oldest member. SUGA : Full name Min Yoongi, born 9 March 1993. Rapper.

: Full name Min Yoongi, born 9 March 1993. Rapper. j-hope : Full name Jung Hoseok, born 18 February 1994. Rapper, choreography leader, sometimes vocalist, member of the dance line.

: Full name Jung Hoseok, born 18 February 1994. Rapper, choreography leader, sometimes vocalist, member of the dance line. RM note formerly Rap Monster : Full name Kim Namjoon, born 12 September 1994. Rapper, The Leader of the group.

: Full name Kim Namjoon, born 12 September 1994. Rapper, The Leader of the group. Jimin : Full name Park Jimin, born 13 October 1995. Vocalist, member of the dance line.

: Full name Park Jimin, born 13 October 1995. Vocalist, member of the dance line. V : Full name Kim Taehyung, born 30 December 1995. Vocalist, member of the dance line.

: Full name Kim Taehyung, born 30 December 1995. Vocalist, member of the dance line. Jungkook: Full name Jeon Jungkook, born 1 September 1997. Vocalist, rapper (sometimes, mostly on old songs), member of the dance line, youngest member. Note: All members participate in various degrees in producing, composing and/or songwriting.

Discography (in Chronological Order)

2013 2 Cool 4 Skool (Single Album) O!R U L8,2? (Extended Play)

2014 Skool Luv Affair (Extended Play) Wake Up (Studio Album: Japanese) Dark & Wild (Studio Album)

2015 The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, pt. 1 (Extended Play) The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, pt. 2 (Extended Play)

2016 The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever (Compilation Album, plus 3 new songs) Youth (Studio Album: Japanese) WINGS (Studio Album)

2017 WINGS: You Never Walk Alone (Album Repackage) LOVE YOURSELF: Her (Extended Play)

2018 FACE YOURSELF (Studio Album: Japanese) LOVE YOURSELF: Tear (Studio Album) LOVE YOURSELF: Answer (Compilation Album, with 7 new songs)

2019 MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA (Extended Play) BTS WORLD (Original Soundtrack note BTS contributed 4 original songs: "Heartbeat", "Dream Glow" (feat. Charli XCX ), "A Brand New Day" (feat. Zara Larsson ) and "All Night" (feat. Juice WRLD) BTS World)

2020 MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 (Studio Album) MAP OF THE SOUL: The Journey (Studio Album: Japanese)

Solo work: RM: RM (mixtape, 2015). About RM's personal struggles with the dilemma of being both an idol and a (formerly underground) rapper. He uses the mixtape to state his pride on being the former and to prove himself as the latter, as well as to chronicle his personal musings about life and his coping with loneliness. mono. (playlist, 2018). Less rap-heavy and more introspective than RM, focusing on the "personal musings" part. Its theme is more about loneliness and himself being his own worst enemy, but learning to live with it. SUGA: Agust D (mixtape, 2016, released also under the name "Agust D" instead of "SUGA"). Suga's personal story of his rise to success and his struggles with, among other things, mental illness. Half autobiography, half Boastful Rap. D-2 (mixtape, 2020) If Agust D focused on the past, D-2 focuses on the present, Suga from 2016 to 2020. Less agressive outside its scathing diss tracks, talks about getting older, capitalism, and the trade-offs of fame. j-hope: Hope World (mixtape, 2018). Touches on how J-Hope deals with fame as an established artist (the good and the bad) and his wish to live up to his J-Hope persona, but maintaining his energy and versatility throughout with mostly funky and upbeat tracks.



Other Media

BTS contains examples of:

Band and Member Tropes

Music Tropes

Music Video Tropes (not including those confirmed to be in the BU)

"Tropes associated with the Webcomic Hip Hop Monsters"

"Hip Hop Monsters" Tropes

And the Rest: RM splits the group into "Suga-hyung and me", "Jin-Hyung and Hope", and "etcetera".

Animal Motifs: The Hip Hop Club are anthropomorphic animals, which is strange because everyone else appear to be human. The animals do match their personalities, though. RM is a duck: In keeping with cartoon portrayals of ducks he is easily irritated, impulsive, and bossy. Jin is a dog: Initially intimidating but turns out to be extremely friendly and loyal. Suga is a turtle: As befits a lazy bum note the character, not the real Suga . J-Hope is a bull: It's subtle, but J-Hope is shown to be a little stubborn and set in his ways. Jimin is a cat: He's more focused on maintaining his body than participating in the club. V is a monkey: He's easily excitable, Hot-Blooded, and likes to copy others. Jungkook is a rabbit: The Trickster this evokes actually applies to Jungkook IRL more than his comic counterpart, though.

Competition Freak: Jungkook.

Flanderization: Every. Single. Member. RM thinks about nothing but Hip Hop 24/7. Jin is constantly talking about food, talking about cooking, or complaining that he doesn't have the right cooking implement/ingredient handy. Suga has pro level basketball skills...and no stamina. He's also almost always seen reading. J-Hope has absolute confidence in his abilities and fashion sense despite ample evidence to the contrary. V has the attention span of a gerbil and is always blurting out things that have little or nothing to do with the subject. Jimin is obsessed with working out and is extremely gullible. Inverted with Jungkook, who is less rebellious and cocky than IRL. In any situation where there is even a hint of mystery Jungkook will always suggest the worst possible outcome and loves scaring the other members. He also has a massive competitive streak.

Furry Confusion: The main cast are anthropomorphic animals, yet non-anthropomorphic cats exist.

Height Angst: Jimin complains that he has to spend more money on a tailor due to being the shortest.

Medium Awareness: When Jungkook suddenly starts getting allergies, he starts glaring at Jimin, who's a cat. Jimin says in response, "Why are you glaring at me... I'm just a character..." RM frets over only having a pink umbrella for the rain, as it's (according to him) a color unfit for hip-hop, to which Suga responds: "Who's going to know it's pink if it's a black-and-white cartoon?" In "Tazza", Jimin and J-Hope start playing around with Jungkook's speech bubbles from the previous panel . RM manages to Falcon Punch Jimin across a Split-Screen Phone Call.

Nightmare Fetishist: Jungkook, full-stop.

"Shaggy Dog" Story: Several strips are dedicated to RM freaking out over only having a pink umbrella for the rain. It doesn't matter. It's a black-and-white comic.

Shout-Out: The comic has referenced Gordon Ramsay, of all things. Suga's caller ring is T-ara's "Sugar Free". RM manages to do a FALCON PUNCH.

Stealth Pun: J-Hope can be a little stubborn sometimes. He's also a male cow. He's literally bull-headed.

"Tropes Associated with the Webcomic We On: Be The Shield"

"We On: BTS" Tropes