Almost Famous

Just popping in to say that I am LIVING for these new concept photos. Especially the S version. I'm really getting a late 60s Jimmy Page vibe. Also Jimi Hendrix and Cream. I'm so hyped for this comeback now.

I agree with absolutely everything you said. I think in general fandoms have very little impact on the US market. The fact that we've been able to do this much is incredible. We've gotten BTS several songs enough exposure to become huge hits. But whether they become hits or not is not up to us. It depends on whether the GP latches on to them and makes them a hit. There's nothing we can do to make them do that. What we can do in the future is give the song enough exposure with the GP to give it a chance to be a hit. And we have successfully done that already. We've got that down already. After that it's out of our hands. And we already do so much more than other fandoms. Most other fandoms don't even have concentrated streaming efforts or organized radio requests or anything.

Just saw this on reddit. I got goosebumps the first time I listened to it. The is the drumming that the rock version of Fake Love deserved.

BTS is killing me with all these rock versions! Keeping my fingers crossed for DNA rock version to released too.

OMG! I've been requesting an Elders React to BTS for so long! Love it!

Thanks! I enjoyed reading through those. Meanwhile on r/kpop, this person is being downvoted into oblivion for starting a discussion on what made BTS so successful and what other kpop artists should learn from it. https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/8ms6kp/what_can_other_kpop_artists_learn_from_bts/

Click here to view the Tweet BTS in W magazine. Lol they called President Moon a fan.

So there's a radio station in Houston (92.1) that is doing a whole day dedicated to BTS. I just tuned in for a bit while I was driving. They have fans calling in to talk about why they love BTS and I think they play a different BTS song every hour. Even their normal "this is 92.1" message has changed to include a little spiel about it being BTS day. I just heard Paradise on the radio. And today of all days is a national holiday, with most people having the day off from work. This is absolutely insane. EDIT: They just interviewed Shawn Mendes about BTS.

Yeah they're definitely not at that level of trust yet. But YG also built that level of trust through consistent popular releases in the past. And their newer groups seem to have a lot more hit or miss than the older ones. Having their songs played on varieties and dramas definitely helps. I just hope that they don't have to go through such grueling schedules all the time in the future. Those all-nighter filming schedules must be awful. And the disrespect of letting in hoards of well-connected people backstage to get albums signed instead of letting actual fans into the recording. smh. It would be amazing if they could diversify instead. Suga's song with Suran was one of the biggest songs of the year in Korea, and it had no music show performances as far as I remember. I think Suran just did Sketchbook and some more indie shows. It would be cool if BTS did some of that and more music festivals that cater to GP. The Truth Untold seems really popular in Korea. I wish they could do a performance of that on a show instead of repeating the same songs. And yeah the international success has definitely helped. I think they're doing the perfect amount of promotions in the US. I don't think they need to do any more than they're already doing. Although I really hope a long interview with Zach Sang happens.

I'm really not surprised at the whole music show ordeal or at the Ellen situation with the same people getting in through connections. The world pretty much runs on connections. I don't really think it's worth it for BTS to appear on music shows for 3-4 weeks at this point. The GP doesn't watch those shows anyway, and it's not like they even get to meet that many fans on them. Fanmeets and fansigns are better for the fans. The TV networks could demand it of them in order to let them appear on more variety shows, but BTS doesn't seem to do that many variety shows anyway. What it could affect is the opportunities that any other artists out of BigHit get. But that's a whole other road to cross in the future. The whole point of promotions is to get your music out there. I personally think that BTS is at the level where there music will be out there without too much official promotion in Korea. Not every song they do will be a hit, but they have the fame to where every song has the potential to be a hit because of how famous BTS is at this point. It just depends on each song. BTS barely promoted Spring Day. They did one week of music shows and then went on tour right afterwords and were out of the country for a whole month. And that was their biggest hit with the GP in Korea so far. At this point it's just about building a consistent reputation with their music with the GP, and I don't think music shows help with that much.

Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve been here. My life has been crazy lately, and I don’t have as much time as I used to for BTS. But I still sometimes read this thread. I’m so excited for this album. I think it’s my favorite after HYYH. 134340 is pretty much a god-tier song for me. They freaking did jazz flute! I’m DEAD! My other favorite is Apanman. That one is probably going to be on repeat all summer. It gives me a similar feeling to Boyz With Fun and Ma City, which are two of my all-time favorites. (Not that it sounds like those songs, but it just makes me feel the same way when listening to it.) And I also really like Singularity, Tear, The Truth Untold, and Paradise. Yesterday was definitely a journey though. After hearing Singularity, I had a good feeling about the album, so I preordered on Amazon. And of course with my typical bad luck, I got the only version I didn’t want. But unlike with LYH, I could go pick out the version I wanted at Target and have it count for Billboard. So I’m returning the Amazon album. But of course the first Target I went to after work had only the U version, the only one I didn’t want. I was surprised they had a full shelf of albums. I thought they would already be sold out or close to selling out. But anyway, I went to the other Target close to my house. That’s when my luck turned around. The album was almost sold out at that one, but they had the version I wanted most! So I picked up the R and O versions there. My favorite version is the R version. And I got my bias’s photocard for that version! It’s my first RM photocard and it’s for pretty much my favorite styling for an album ever! And I got my second bias’s (Suga) photocard for the O version. It doesn’t get any better than that. Anyway, I’m going to have to work pretty much the whole weekend. I spent the whole week putting out small fires, so now I’m behind on my bigger projects. But now I have the new BTS album to listen to, so it should be a good weekend anyway. Hope everyone here is doing well!

Love this! I'm just going to add one of my own recommendation to the blues songs. This song is one of my top 25 most played on itunes. Number 8 to be specific.

^^^^ I know just which of my playlists to add those songs to. I've been loosely following Loona and like a lot of the solos. I'm so curious to hear what their debut song will sound like.

#RMusicMondays Also idk if it's treason to recommend another boy groups's music, but this video came up on my recommended on youtube, and I think the song is my favorite boy group song so far this year. These days, I tend to be more drawn to solo releases and non-idols, so this took me by surprise. When the full beat comes in at around 40 seconds in, I'm in pure heaven.

Usually BTS's original Japanese releases aren't really my thing, but I finally found a song I love. Outro: Crack is amazing. I just added it to a bajillion of my playlists. It's just what I enjoy listening to. I really wish it could have been a full song. I do appreciate the string instruments in Don't Leave Me though. That song is half and half with me. I love the first verse, but the chorus is way too autotuned for my taste. Hopefully this album will bring BTS some more Japanese GP exposure though. They have some of their biggest hit songs on there. It's definitely a powerhouse album. And I love that they kept their intro/outro format. It looks like it would be a great first exposure to BTS. I'll probably listen to the full album over the weekend to hear what it sounds like all together. Anyway, I'm going to crawl back into my hole now. I'm so busy with work these days; I barely have time for anything else during weekdays. Tomorrow is going to be absolute torture. The Burn the Stage episode is going to be out at 10am where I live, but I know I won't get to see it until probably 8pm, or maybe not even until Thursday night. I'll just have a few minutes to scroll through twitter and look through people's comments about it while I scarf down my lunch at my desk.

Joon <3 Click here to view the Tweet

Really great reaction

Dance cover of Fire by rookie girl group Girlkind.

Run Episode

This song has officially risen to the status of morning alarm for me. (I've had either Fire or Spring Day as my alarm for almost two years.) I had no idea what to expect from J-hope for his mixtape, but he ended up blowing me away. At first I liked POP and Airplane the most, but with how much I listen to Daydream now I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up on my top 25 most played songs playlist soon. It's such a beautiful song. Also I just picked up a copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and I can't wait to listen to Hope World again after reading it. But I'm also in the middle of three other books, so it might take a while.

I didn't like MIC Drop remix. It wasn't terrible, but I think the original was much much better. Steve Aoki turned it into a generic club song when the original instrumentals were so much more interesting to listen to; the jumping between octaves in the original did a lot to keep the song moving. I also thought the collab with the Chainsmokers was actually pretty bad, and I'm saying this as someone who actually enjoys some of their songs. There's this one synth part that literally squeaks in my ear and drives me insane. Now I shudder every time I see indications that BTS is going to callab with another popular western EDM producer.

Just a heads up but other than the usual 1-month free trial and 2-month special BTS free trial of Youtube Red, you can get a free Youtube Red subscription along with your subscription to Google's music streaming service, Google Play. I'm currently using Apple Music, but if BTS ends up having some sort of longer partnership with Youtube RED where they regularly release videos on there, I'll probably switch from Apple Music to Google Play. They cost the same, but Google Play also offers the free Youtube Red subscription.

#RMusicMondays

Namjoon really is so sweet and thoughtful.