BTS's "Map of the Soul: 7" Is Full of Hidden References and Easter Eggs

The time has come. BTS has officially entered into a new era with the release of their fourth Korean studio album, Map of the Soul: 7, and there is a lot to unpack.

We knew going into the album’s release that this was going to be Bangtan’s most personal and self-referential body of work so far — and they lived up to their promise.

Taking Carl Jung’s analytical psychology as a narrative guide, throughout the album’s 19 tracks (20 if you count the digital remix of lead single “ON,” featuring Sia), the seven members embark on an introspective journey, both as individuals and as a group, all the while making ARMYs a core element in their narrative.

BTS’s MOTS:7 is an ode to Bangtan’s seven-year trajectory, so it makes sense that the septet would pay homage by referencing their past work (from sampling their own discography to directly quoting previous releases) while inviting fans into a brand new story, especially given the interconnectedness of their discography as a whole.

It's only fitting, then, to go on a track-by-track journey through all the hidden references and Easter eggs embedded into MOTS: 7 — including the Persona songs — for fans to enjoy on their first, or third, or tenth listen.

Track 1: “Intro: Persona”

OK, so RM’s introductory solo has been out for a while, but it certainly acquires an even more layered meaning when looked at in the context of MOTS:7's vast scope, compared to its MOTS: Persona form.

“Intro: Persona” is essentially the tonal shift between BTS’s past era, Love Yourself, and the interior-focused narrative that MOTS introduces. It picks up from the identity concepts introduced in songs like “Idol” and “Fake Love,” but from a personal perspective rather than a collective one. In the video we see banners emblazoned with RM’s real name, Kim Namjoon, while he questions, “Who the hell am I?”

The song sets the tone for the foreshadowing the album presents from the very beginning, opening with a sample of “Intro: Skool Luv Affair,” which was released back in 2014 as part of the Skool Luv Affair EP. The graphic animations from the 2014 video are also juxtaposed and revamped in the 2019 video, making the parallel even more direct.

But “Persona” also includes nuggets that relate to other MOTS:7 tracks, both in the video and lyrics, with RM mentioning his “shadow” directly (a recurring theme that we’ll see in various MOTS:7 tracks, not only Suga’s solo interlude of the same name).

“The 'me' that I remember and people know / The 'me' that I created myself to vent out / Yeah maybe I have been deceiving myself / Maybe I've been lying / But I'm not embarrassed anymore, this is the map of my soul,” RM raps, introducing the journey we’re about to embark on. He also includes a small reference to “Am I Wrong?”— a song off the 2016 Wings — with a “dog and pigs” reference.

Track 2: "작은 것들을 위한 시" (Boy With Luv) (Feat. Halsey)

We all know by now that BTS’s record-breaking “Boy With Luv” is a direct callback to their 2014 song “Boy In Luv,” also off the Skool Luv Affair EP, in both choreography and theme.

The upbeat, feel-good song — and its very catchy “oh my my’s” — made all 315 days without a BTS comeback all the more bearable. But, once again, apart from the song’s very title, Bangtan managed to sneak in a couple of Easter eggs in the song. With the verse, “I'm flying high up in the sky / With the two wings that you gave me back then,” BTS references their Wings era. But the next line (“Now it's so high up here”) also parallels a future MOTS:7 release, “Interlude: Shadow,” with almost polar opposite meanings (but more on that when we get to “Shadow”!)

The themes of “BWL” range from the self-love introduced in previous eras to perhaps most notably BTS’s love for ARMYs (they even released an “ARMY with Luv” version of the video) foreshadowing the main message the boys send on other tracks from the MOTS:7 album.

“Everyone says that I used to be so little and now I became a hero,” reads J-Hope's verse in English, which could be interpreted as not only a reference to one of RM’s line in "Persona" (“I dreamt of becoming a superhero / Now it feels like I really became one”) but also BTS’s energetic “Anpanman.”

Singing about their love for the ARMY, the members also reference Icarus. In Greek mythology, Icarus gets a pair of wings made of feathers and wax from his father, Daedalus, in order to escape Crete’s labyrinth. However, he flies too close to the sun and falls to an untimely death. “Sometimes I prayed, let me run away / But your pain is my pain / When I realized that, I vowed to myself / With the wings of Icarus you gave me / Not towards the sun but towards you / Let me fly,” RM sing in the song, turning the myth in its head.

Track 3: "Make It Right"

In “Make It Right,” BTS plays around with the concept of light vs. dark (or shadow) explicitly. “You're the light,” they tell ARMYs. “This eternal night with no end in sight / It's you who gifted me the morning.”

They also again reference their “heroic” position. “I became a hero in this world / The loud screams that seek me out / My hand, trophy and a gold microphone,” J-Hope sings, per Genius' translation. “But all of this is about reaching you / It's the answer to my journey / I'm singing to find you.”

Referring back to the “flying high” reference in “BWL,” here RM raps, “A little taller than I was before / With a voice a little more solid / All of this to go back to you/ Now I'll spread wide a map called you / My rehab.”

Suga’s verse, meanwhile, introduces small nods to past songs including “Sea” and “Save Me" — “The reason I survived in hell / It's for you, it was not for me/ If you know, don't hesitate and please save my life/ I'm thirsty wandering this desert without you / So hurry and grab me quickly / I know the sea without you is the same as a desert.”

Track 4: "Jamais Vu"

“Jamais Vu” is the first sub-unit song on the album. It features Jungkook, Jin, and J-Hope and introduces the first conflict and feelings of self-doubt in the narrative. “ I blame myself since I was imperfect / All I wanted was to do well,” reads the English translation of what J-Hope sings.

The first nuggets that feed off MOTS:7 references come from J-Hope. “I try to escape as always / But still, you grab me / Even as my shadow grows,” he says in translation, which is a pretty 1:1 recollection of RM’s own interpretation of “Black Swan.” The song wraps up with a small nod to “Run” in the last bridge.

Track 5: "Dionysus"

“Dionysus” introduced another thematic shift. Here, the members’ focus goes to criticism. In the highly-energetic song, the members present a series of dichotomies and start to grapple the conflicting feeling of juggling a stage persona with their own identities. “Born as a K-pop idol / Reborn as an artist,” Suga sings, which immediately makes “Idol” spring back to mind.

Equating alcohol and art (“Art is alcohol too, if you can drink it, you'll get drunk”), they let on how one can indeed be inebriated with BTS. “The new record is the fight against oneself / Toast to this / But I‘m still thirsty.”

Track 6: "Interlude: Shadow"

Suga’s solo, which was introduced back in January, also samples another of Bangtan’s intros: “Intro: O!RUL8,2?” from the group’s first EP, O!RUL8,2?, released in 2013. Much like the case with "Persona," the music video for "Shadow" also includes direct references to the track through graphic art.

However, the album version of “Shadow” ever so subtly differs from the one released on YouTube. Not only is it longer, but it also has a slightly different intro, and it introduces one big easter egg.

When the song dropped, many fans were quick to spot the quasi direct opposition between the introspective theme of "Shadow," where Yoongi dwells on the double-edged nature of fame, and the one that's presented in 2 COOL 4 SKOOL’s “No More Dream,” where he longs for it. But, not-so-sneakily, Yoongi actually quotes the 2013 track directly in the studio version of "Shadow." Here, Suga once again raps about “big house, big cars, big rings,” but now instead of wanting them, he has them. (Same vibes as when he changed the lyrics live at last year’s Gayo performance.)

The verse “No one told me how lonely it is up here” is also a stark opposition to the “Now it's so high up here” verse in “Boy With Luv.” The whole song again relates to the dream concept, which has been a constant in the album since it first appeared scribbled down on RM’s blackboard for the "Persona" music video.

Perhaps the most poignant line from the whole track is the “I wanna be me” near the end, which comes after grappling with those dynamic feelings. This correlates to the second Jungian archetype Bangtan explores, introducing yet another tonal shift.

Track 7: "Black Swan"

As an OT7 track, “Black Swan” continues the exploration introduced in "Shadow," ruminating once again on passion, dreams, and drive. With the track, the members reportedly sought to “dive deep into their inner selves as artists and face the shadows they had once hidden," per an official press release.

As Teen Vogue explored in the past, the theme of this song, the fear of losing interest in one’s passion, contrasts what what's expressed in the 2016 track “First Love,” where Suga recounts finding that passion.

Apart from the track’s title, the “Black Swan” concept (arguably taken from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake) also served as inspiration for the album’s concept photos. The first concept photos portrayed the members as white swans, signaling their “desire for perfection” while the second set of photos found them as black swans “with an unquenchable thirst.”

Track 8: "Filter"

This is Jimin’s solo on the album, and it was teased as showing a never-before-seen side of him, but it’s more like his multiples sides (or personas). To some, the track has a surprisingly tone-in-cheek undertone that perfectly matches the song’s ‘00s production vibes. And, for a change, most easter eggs in “Filter” aren’t self-referential to Bangtan but to Disney’s Aladdin. Yup.

Jimin sprinkles not one but two Aladdin references in the song. The most obvious one comes in the form of an “I can be your Genie / How ‘bout Aladdin?” verse, which he recites in English.

The second one comes even before, this time in Korean. “I'll take you to a whole new world,” he sings in the first pre-chorus, seemingly referencing the fan-favorite duet "A Whole New World" from the 1992 animated film Aladdin. Jafar is shaking. That said, though not explicit, the “I’m taking over you” vibes from “Pied Piper” run strong in this track.

Track 9: "시차" (My Time)

시차, translated to English as “My Time,” is Jungkook’s solo, and it’s a retelling of his personal journey as part of Bangtan, reflecting on his days since he was a trainee as a 14-year-old. Given its theme, you know it’s going to be self-referential.

“My life has been a movie,” JK sing in the song. This lyric parallels one from Justin Bieber’s 2015 track “I’ll Show You,” in which the Canadian singer sings, “My life is a movie and everyone's watching.” JK is an ardent fan of JB, and given their similar career paths, it wouldn't be a surprise if he decided to include a direct nod to one of his own idols on the track.

With the line, “Friends ridin’ subway, I’ll be in the airplane mode,” JK also seems to throw in a hint at “Airplane Pt. 2,” which recounts the group's voyaging habits since their rise to stardom, a by-product of pursuing their passion.

Track 10: "Louder than bombs"

“Louder than bombs” is perhaps the first entirely anthemic song on the album, and it conveys its unapologetic message through a bunch of lyrics that recall or invoke Bangtan’s oeuvre.

The song kicks off with a direct allusion to the shadows, but this time fully embracing them. “Now it has grown to be so clear / The unfamiliar shadow amidst those cheers / Perhaps I wouldn't be able to believe the words: ‘Let's see and hear only good things’ no more,” the vocal line sing before dropping another subtle ocean reference. As fan translator Doolset Bangtan wrote in a translation of the song, that line reminded them of a verse from "2! 3!"

In "Louder than bombs," the members continue to question their identity and look at the light and dark, and they do so with a subtle nod to Love Yourself: Tear’s “Love Maze.” “Every day a maze / Wonder if this is my place,” RM sings, mirroring the lyrics from the 2018 track, which read in partial translation, partial Korean, “We’ve wandered around, looking for the answer / Lost in the maze, in the darkness.”

But the parallels with "Love Maze" don’t stop there. “All around us is a maze, different paths / We’re walking in this abyss / There’s a thin light over there / I hope we’re going toward paradise,” Suga sings, per translation, on the track. This same sentiment is conveyed in both “Louder than bombs” and the concept photos, which feature a literal black hole, an abyss.

“Where’s my way? / The ground keeps quaking,” J-Hope sings in a combination of English and Korean on the "Louder than bombs," foreshadowing sentiments he’ll later explore in “Ego.” “Whatever night may swallow me, I won't give up / The fight for you, we’ll shine,” he continues, appealing to ARMYs.

Track 11: "ON"

Being the title track and all, we knew “ON” was going to be rife with references way before its drop (I mean, there is a reason the song is getting two official music videos). Before the album’s release, Big Hit announced the song as a reflection on the seven members’ “calling and mindset as artists during the seven years.”

As evidenced by the teaser of their upcoming comeback special for Mnet, the song’s title, “ON,” is a reference to O!RUL8,2?’s title track “N.O.” — which could be interpreted as the boys coming full circle, making the “dream” they used to only sing about a “reality.” And we use quotes because that’s JK’s literal verse in “N.O.” So, basically, they go from “everybody say NO!” to “bring it on.”

In the song’s opening verse, Jimin once again references the “growing shadow” that follows them at the same pace as their ever-growing success. “Look at my feet, look down / The shadow resembles me / Is it the shadow that's shaking / Or is it my feet that are trembling,” RM sings in the next verse, again referencing the same concept.

From this album, the members also draw some parallels with “Black Swan.” In the music video for the track, we see how the main dancer enters a self-imposed prison made up of light beams. On the track, Jin proclaims in Korean he “carried myself into this beautiful prison,” seemingly suggesting that they’ve finally accepted their status, and thus doubts dissipate. This is also alluded to with the “Can't hold me down 'cuz you know I'm a fighter / Choosing to descend into the dark abyss” verse, which, again, could be linked back to “Love Maze.”

With lyrics like “breathe on the small things” and “my blood and tears,” the members also sprinkle in a few nods to their discography — most notably “Boy With Luv” and its original Korean title (“a poem for small things”) as well as “Blood, Sweat, and Tears.”

When BTS sing “bring the pain on,” they seem to be referencing the hardships they’ve endured, which they addressed during their acceptance speech at MAMA 2018, all the while admitting the bumps in the road have been worth it.

Track 12: "욱" (UGH!)

“UGH!” is MOTS:7’s (diss) track, where BTS’s rap line address haters and detractors once more. The song could have been easily been titled “Cypher pt. 5” or “Ddaeng 2.0.”

The overall production vibe of “UGH!” is a callback to Bangtan’s earlier work, and the superimposed bullet sound effects that fledge out the track are not only a throwback to the “click-click bang-bang” but a nod to the group’s very own name. They also reference dichotomies like good and evil that have proven paramount for previous concepts like “Blood, Sweat, and Tears.”

Track 13: "00:00" (Zero O’Clock)

“Zero O’Clock” presents itself as an uplifting track from BTS’s vocal line, but it still has a sad undertone. “You know those days / Those days where you're sad for no reason / Those days where your body is heavy / And it looks like everyone else except you is busy and fierce,” JK sings early on.

These sentiments echo those expressed in 2018’s “Magic Shop,” where the boys sing, “On days I hate being myself, days I want to disappear forever.” Both tracks are riddled with thematic threads that link to compassion and self-acceptance.

Ultimately, much like the Magic Shop, which proves to be a comforting place for both ARMYs and BTS, 00:00 is presented as a comforting hour in this track. “When the minute and second hands overlap / The world holds its breath for a little while / Zero o’clock.”

The boys also allude to snow at the very end of this track, heralding it as a somewhat consoling element. “Like that snow that just settled down / Let's breathe, like the first time,” the translation of the lyrics read. Snow plays a major role in both the lyrics and video for “Spring Day,” where it’s used to convey a sense of longing. If snow is now seen as something rather peaceful, that’d certainly transmit the feeling that we can “turn this all around.”

Track 14: "Inner Child"

“Inner Child” is V’s solo addressing (and comforting) his younger self, and he starts it off with a direct reference to one of RM’s verses in “Magic Shop.”

In the new track, which almost takes the form of a soliloquy, Tae sings in Korean to his past self who “didn't believe in galaxies.” In the 2018 song, RM addressed ARMY while singing “I do believe your galaxy.” The star metaphor (linked to the light concept that V also presents in the track and that is present in a multitude of tracks on MOTS:7), also relates to MOTS: Persona’s anthemic “Mikrokosmos,” which served as the emotional closing song during the Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour last year.

Throughout the song, V comforts his struggling younger self, reminiscing on good times past while encouraging himself to look forward to the future. “You’re my boy,” he sings towards the end, and I can’t help but picture the iconic “I’m good boy” moment all over again.

Track 15: "친구" (Friends)

“친구,” which has been translated as “Friends” in English, is a Vmin sub-unit and the ‘95 liners made this track their own (so much so that listening kinda feels like third-wheeling, in the best way possible.)

The whole track is the story of Jimin and Taehyung’s friendship from the very first day they met as trainees in Seoul and their current desire to stay BFFs (or as they themselves put it, soulmates) “for eternity.”

This song includes multiple Easter eggs that any ARMY would clock instantly — from a roguish allusion to Jimin’s “tiny pinky” to fond memories of their uniform days, which they have both bashed on various VLIVE streams. Jimin’s snapback days may be gone, but they’ll never be forgotten (soz, JM!)

The duo also talks about the “dumpling incident” in the track. Per Soompi, back in 2016, Tae opened up to @star1 magazine, admitting that he “once fought with Jimin over dumplings. We argue over really small things but resolve it right away.”

V also sings about “the dreamcatcher” in his room. Jimin gifted him with a dreamcatcher necklace a few years ago when he came running to his room because he had a nightmare.

The pair also sings about staying together “longer than seven summers and cold winters / Longer than numerous promises and memories,” which seems like a subtle callback to Jimin’s record-breaking solo “약속,” or “Promise” in English.

Track 16: "Moon"

Jin’s solo, “Moon,” which is not only sung but also penned and produced by him, is a straight-up ode to ARMYs.

“You are my planet / I'm just a moon to you,” he sings. “You are my Earth / And all I see is you.” The lyrics are somewhat reminiscent of “Mikrokosmos,” but Jin’s wording is 100% personal.

“I'll be around you / I'll be there for you / I'll be your light,” he sings in another verse. In “Lights,” the Japanese single BTS put out in July 2019 as part of the album Lights/Boy With Luv, the roles are reserved. “You're my light, you're my light,” Jin signs, which bridges the metaphor of ARMY and BTS (much like the group and the fandom’s very own logos).

Track 17: "Respect"

Making up the last sub-unit of the album, RM and Suga team up for rap-heavy track “Respect.” The “Ayo, Suga!” uttered by RM in the first few verses immediately takes us back to “Move” from The Most Beautiful Moment In Life.

The track feels like an honest conversation between the two wordsmiths as they ponder the meaning and implications of being respected, and the mere concept itself. It's as simple as that.

“It's obviously superior than love / Probably a concept that exists at the most superior rank / Out of all the superiors,” RM narrates. Suga adds, “To be honest, there's no need for admiration / When there's not even respect / Everyone except you knows people talk sh*t behind your back."

Track 18: "We are Bulletproof: the Eternal"

“We are Bulletproof: the Eternal” is a clear ode to ARMYs and to Bangtan itself. A direct continuation of “We Are Bulletproof Pt. 1” (one of the group’s pre-debut releases) and “We Are Bulletproof Pt.2” (released in 2013), the track recounts a full circle moment rife with callbacks.

Verses like “We stayed up all night to dance and sing / The endless music sheets,” and “Throw stones at me/ We don’t fear anymore,” draw direct parallels with the two previous songs, finally painting the full picture.

Apart from ample bulletproof references, the boys also include nods to You Never Walk Alone. “Tell me why you still walkin' / Walkin' with us,” the members sing in the new track. “Is it really spring / That came after the long winter?” RM also questions, bringing back “Spring Day.”

“We were only seven / But we have you all now / After seven winters and springs,” the septet sings about their fans and their seven-year journey.

Track 19: "Outro: Ego"

J-Hope’s upbeat solo track provides closure for the album’s narrative and journey. In the track, the Gwangju rapper acknowledged the past hard times but accepts them as a way to move forward, thus accepting his “Ego” and fate. This is the third Jungian archetype BTS introduces in their journey to the soul.

Much like “Persona” and “Shadow,” “Outro: Ego” also samples an intro from BTS’s earlier says: “Intro: 2 Cool 4 Skool.” The video for the track includes a few easter eggs for ARMYs — from Hobi’s childhood photos (that started a challenge on TikTok) to a “BTS 13613” license plate, referencing the group’s debut date.

The feeling “Ego” transmits is also reflected in the last two sets of concept photos that Big Hit unveiled before the album’s release — one expressing BTS’s “sense of calling and will” and finally, accepting and portraying their true selves.

So, What Does It All Mean?

Taken as a whole, Map of the Soul: 7 is BTS at its most reflective. The numerology of seven, the throwbacks to previous work, the disregard for isolating any singular genre, the lyrical tendency to memorialize some of the group's past moments together — it all comes together in an album that's as much about ARMY as it is about BTS.

Though not presented as a trilogy, MOTS:7 definitely resembles the archivist set-up BTS’s previous repacked releases have followed. Even if its format isn’t necessarily revolutionary (at least not for Bangtan), its form certainly is. Aside from its self-referential intricacies, the album stands as a contender in its own right. With in-house producers and outside collaborators, BTS and Big Hit have managed to pull off an album that feels grander and more global than anything BTS has put out before — and that’s no small feat given their already juggernaut status.

BTS seems to be only getting bigger, but their work on Map of the Soul: 7 retains a vital intimacy. The intricacy and care they put into remembering their past creates a sort of musical meme effect, an inside joke that longtime fans get but new fans can also have fun learning how to access. The members of BTS are writing their own history even as they write themselves into music history at large, shadows and struggles and haters be damned. "Bring it on," they say. "Let's get it."

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue