BTS: 7 Koreans who're changing Globalization

 

 


 

One Direction disbanded and left everyone heartbroken. Although there are a lot of Directioners who pine the absence of the band, a lot of fans took the broken shards of their heart and hooked it on to something new: BTS. In a world where being ‘lit’ meant watching Friends and reading popular books written in English, it was actually astonishing to see how people vibed to something in a completely foreign language.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it is impossible to not know BTS. You are either a fan or are one of those people who dislike them. If you’re an adult, you have inevitably come across at least one teen with bright purple hair who listens to ‘strange Korean music’. In spite of everything, if you have magically managed to evade this entire kpop sensation that’s taking over the world, let’s back up a bit and know BTS.

In 2013, a group of 7 Korean nobodies debuted with the song ‘No More Dream’. Belonging to a failing company, these 7 dudes had no hopes of making it big in the industry. But today, BTS of BigHit Entertainment is worth millions of dollars, performing not only in home country South Korea, but also in numerous places all around the world.

How is it that BTS gained so much popularity? BTS use their platform to make a change in the world. They talk about issues faced by common people and give them a sense of ‘home.’ But how did this global connectivity take place? How did music suddenly transcend the boundaries of language and how did people suddenly become so accepting of something almost alien?

Can this global phenomenon boil down to one simple thing: Globalization? It does make sense. By definition, Globalization is an exchange of knowledge on a global level, apart from being an exchange of physical goods. And what BTS is doing definitely fits into this specification.






At one point of time, globalization became synonymous with Americanization. People wear jeans instead of other conventional clothing; eat burgers and fries when they dine out... In fact, American culture has become so ingrained in our daily life that it is now hard to make out the difference. Speaking for India, our people saw these changes after 1991, the year we got our historic New Economic Policy.  However, how often do you see people wearing traditional Scottish clothes here? Do we see people celebrating the Chinese New Year like they celebrate Halloween? Nah. American stuff gets more representation all over the world.

Coming back to BTS and connecting it to this whole Globalization vs. Americanization conundrum, it is because of Globalization that a group from such a small and secluded country could go up to be Grammy-nominated singers. And in light of recent events, BTS have kind of become the fore-runners of a new phase of non-Americanized Globalization. Since BTS has set a precedent and showed that people are interested in indulging in other than English content, more and more artists from non-English backgrounds have been enjoying the global limelight (JBalvin, Luis Fonsi, for example)

So to sum up, BTS are not just 7 artists who are conquering people’s playlists. Unconscionably, they are global, influential icons who are harbingers of a revolution that can change the entire ethos of the world. 


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