With PROOF, BTS Unpack an Unparalleled Creative Journey
The post With PROOF, BTS Unpack an Unparalleled Creative Journey appeared first on Consequence.
The very first song on the very first BTS single album, 2013’s 2 Cool 4 Skool, begins with an audio sample from DJ Frizz: “We are now going to progress to some steps which are a bit more difficult. Ready, set, and begin.”
The BTS boys of nine years ago took that introduction seriously. It’s often been said that they’ve been “running” since their debut, which is to say they’ve been working practically nonstop, breaking records, making history, and carving a path where there was previously only been untamed wilderness. Over the course of over nine studio albums, six compilation albums, and six EPs, BTS has redefined what a pop act out of South Korea can be.
It’s this idea that reveals itself as the crux of their new anthology album, PROOF, available today, June 10th. A whopping 48 songs were pulled from different eras of BTS’ career, a number that includes three brand new tracks, previously unreleased entries (“Born Singer” and “Young Love”), and a plethora of never-before-heard demos.
It can be hard to know where to start when diving into and analyzing something so vast — or at least it was for this writer. But in listening to PROOF, which was structured very intentionally into three sections, BTS’ story all but tells itself. Below, we’re unpacking it all.
Love Yourself — And Your Work
BTS is made up of seven members — RM, Jin, SUGA, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook — each with their own individual strengths and talents. RM, for example, has written nearly 200 songs for the group, making him the youngest and second-most credited writer in the history of the Korean Music Copyright Association; J-Hope, the dance leader of the group, can both rap and sing, and often finds himself in the producer chair as well.
Nearly a decade ago, though, the members of BTS were far from the polished artists many know them as today. They were still figuring out who exactly they wanted to be onstage, what sort of message they wanted to get across, and what the best methods might be to do so. It’s a feeling any creative can empathize with — despite their disparate backgrounds, they all had an innate desire to do, to create, to generate something new, and had found themselves in the company of people who understood that feeling.
BTS Album Guide: A Rightfully Exhaustive Breakdown of Their Discography
Something striking about PROOF is the way that BTS didn’t shy away from their more humble origins. They seem to be a nostalgic bunch — tried and true fans recognize that once the members find an inside joke that makes them laugh, it’s nearly impossible to get them to let it go — and they handle their past work with fondness and care. Where many artists try to draw a dividing line between their past selves and their present-day identities, BTS lean into the origin story. They’re not self-conscious about where they began, and instead understand that it was all part of what led them to this current moment.
Disc 1: A Bangtan Timeline
The first part of PROOF is a chronological journey through highlights from each of BTS’ albums, tracking from their debut in 2013 to 2021’s “Butter.” The first part of the record is bookended by “Born Singer,” which was unofficially released shortly after BTS’ debut, and new single “Yet To Come (The Most Beautiful Moment).”
With “Yet To Come,” the members take a look back at the journey they’ve taken so far, saying they could leave “crowns and flowers, countless trophies” behind and are more interested in the business of “dreams and hope going forward.” BTS have opened so many doors for other K-pop groups in Western markets, and it’s interesting to hear them reject the “unfamiliar names” and titles they’ve been given. “We just loved music,” they say. Ironically, it’s that very passion that has led to those crowns, flowers, and countless trophies they never asked for in the first place; they just wanted to make great music. So they did.
Ask twenty BTS fans which of the classics on Disc 1 are their favorite, and it’s almost guaranteed that every song on the list will be chosen by someone or another. There’s the tortured desire of “Blood Sweat & Tears,” the bright buoyancy of “Boy With Luv feat. Halsey,” the sentimentality of “Spring Day,” and the fire of “FAKE LOVE.” For fans who were sucked in during the time of “Dynamite” or “Butter” and haven’t dug into their back catalogue just yet, they might be surprised to discover just how broad of a range these songs can stretch. BTS have so kindly laid out the roadmap.
Disc 2: Yeah, You Gotta Run
Part two of PROOF kicks off with one of the brand new tracks, and it’s a summer scorcher. “Run BTS” is a welcome return to form for the boys, perfectly fusing pop-rock with BTS’ hip-hop roots, allowing the rappers to flex and the vocal line to soar. To be clear, the English throwback rap verses on “Butter” are a blast, but it’s a thrill to see RM, SUGA, and J-Hope fully in their element here. It might be recency bias, but “Run BTS” features one of SUGA’s best verses ever… right?
After the adrenaline rush of “Run BTS,” Disc 2 settles into favorite tracks selected by the members with one solo song and one subunit track from each. Here, again, their range is placed front and center, while the selections also offer windows into the feelings each member has about their discography.
Jimin and V, for example, both picked solo tracks that unpack their feelings around identity (“Filter” and “Singularity”). Jungkook pulled out two fan favorites, “Euphoria” (as perfect now as it was upon release in 2017) and vocal line treasure “dimple.” For Jin, as he said in a 2020 interview with SiriusXM, “I am the moon, and ARMY is the Earth” — it’s no surprise he’s remained in that orbit and selected his upbeat pop solo song, “Moon.”
Disc 3: Is It You Who Changed, Or Is It Me?
It’s a bold decision to release an album in 2022 that includes an exclusively physical element, but if anyone is going to buy up CD players to hear songs from the Bangtan vault, it’s the BTS ARMY. Disc 3 is a whole different kind of time capsule: there are 11 unreleased demos, two brand new tracks (“Quotation Mark” and “For Youth”), and one previously-shelved track (“Young Love”) that peel back the curtain on BTS as artists like never before.
For a long time, an unfair stereotype has persisted about K-pop that artists lack creative freedom — as though American artists aren’t going viral every other week for airing grievances with labels who don’t grant clearance on releases. (Even BTS collaborator Megan Thee Stallion had representatives try to block her place on the “Butter” remix.) By releasing versions of songs that didn’t make the cut or were still in progress, BTS show the process that led to the final versions of well-worn, well-loved tracks.
It’s another bold move for artists at the very top of their game — it’s not every day chart-toppers willingly share versions of songs where vocals aren’t mixed perfectly and melodies are still in progress. Then again, BTS are not your every day artists.
Some of these are tracks fans have been begging to be released for years — they got a taste of the original bridge to “Boy in Luv” and never let it go. For casual listeners or anyone with an ounce of chill in their body (this writer is neither), it might not be earth-shattering to realize the original version of “Jump” didn’t include V’s now iconic verse. Jin’s demo for “Epiphany” is entirely in English.
Elsewhere, “Tony Montana feat. Jimin” finds SUGA in full Agust D mode (his alter-ego moniker under which he releases solo music). After Jimin joined SUGA for a live performance of the track one (1) time five years ago, a studio version of the two letting loose together has been a top request. This, too, speaks to BTS’ mindset as a group — their ability to venture out and create solo work freely is something that could have perhaps saved some Western bands from in-fighting — but even when they create on their own, they love bringing their work home to the group.
After J-Hope’s solo mixtape Hope World included a track called “Airplane,” BTS went on to create a song together called “Airplane pt. 2” that featured a re-interpretation of one of his verses; SUGA struck out with the original “Tony Montana” on his own, and has now created a second life for the song with Jimin.
CD-exclusive offering “Quotation Mark” contains a multitude of references to other BTS tracks — J-Hope’s verse mirrors that of his part in “BTS Cypher: Pt. 3 – Killer,” while other melodies recall “Love Maze” and “Hold Me Tight.” The RM, J-Hope and Jungkook subunit track is an old-school groove, not too far from the energy of another BTS classic, “Like.”
One, Two, Three – The Sum of Us
The album closes with a track dedicated to the fans, “For Youth.” Let’s just tell it like it is: BTS, it’s a low blow to lead with audio from the performance of “Epilogue: Young Forever” at Wembley Stadium (it will have you crying). “You are my youth, and my spring, my thankful friend/ My pride, my heaven, and love,” J-Hope tells the listeners. “You’re my best friend for the rest of my life,” Jungkook ensures the listener on the chorus. One cinematic key change, a stacked choir of background vocals, and a slow fade later, the album officially reaches its end. “I’ll be with you for the rest of my life,” V says, and it’s delivered like a wistful, hopeful promise.
The members of BTS have been running since their debut. Perhaps going forward they’ll slow their sprint to a jog, or maybe even ease into a gentle walk someday. No matter how they move forward, though, they’re sure to have their beloved ARMY beside them every step of the way. They made a promise, after all — and, when considering all they’ve done so far, it’s hard not to believe that the best from BTS is really still yet to come.
With PROOF, BTS Unpack an Unparalleled Creative Journey
Mary Siroky
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