BTS is melting the hearts of fans everywhere with their new track, “Butter.”
“Butter”, is your go-to summer song. It’s up-tempo and evokes feelings of happiness with its melody and lyrics.
Domestic Korean fans use a word to describe BTS and their songs; “믿는방”: it roughly translates to “listening to BTS’s music unconditionally.” This shortened phrase, is used to explain how their songs are always expected to be catchy.
We picked five reasons why you should listen to “Butter.”
◆ The flavor of the lyrics
Breaking' into your heart. I’ll melt your heart into 2/ Cool shade stunner. Yeah, I owe it all to my mother.
The boys sound very confident in their songs. “Butter” is interesting because it’s a very chill, summer tune but the lyrics include hints of boldness. They exude confidence, voicing audacious assumptions that they’re more than capable of stealing hearts.
This wasn’t an easy challenge for the boys, whose native tongue isn’t English. The song is entirely in English and so was the guide version!
Therefore, they had to work extra hard to make this work. J-Hope, Suga, and RM all wrote lyrics of their own in the foreign language, and a blind test was conducted shortly after.
Suga commented on the experience, “I actually studied for this because it had to be in English. Although I tried, mine wasn’t chosen. No tears or blood were shed in the making.”
RM was ultimately chosen for his lyrics. He explains his inspiration for his creation. “I just wanted to express our style in the song. I made sure to show all the different characters of our rappers too. So, I tweaked it a bit, and made a rap verse with Suga and J-Hope at the end.”
◆ The flavor of the performance
The performance seems like it was all about confidence, sexiness, and an alluring aura. Their choreography includes them pecking their hands quickly, sweeping their hair up, and etc. They looked like mischievous boyfriends.
When watching BTS’s performances, you can’t help but be blown away. Not one member is lacking in comparison to the other. They genuinely seem to have a great time together on stage.
They also do a spectacular job with details. Everything from their facial expressions to the little hand gestures add to the entirety of their performances.
Jimin said, “I tried to be cute and mischievous at the same time.” And Jungkook added, “I can’t wait to show our fans, the performance. The dance is the highlight of this come back.”
The elevator scene in the music video is also eye-catching. Whether it’s J-Hope’s powerful dance break, V’s enchanting perfume scene, or Suga’s groove, they all showcased their individuality.
What’s even more surprising is that this was improvised on the set of the music video. V exclaims, “We wanted to show ourselves as individuals too and our distinctive characters.”
◆ The flavor of Style and Fashion
Jimin was full of ambition and ideas. He stated “We want to show a variety of things through this one song. Whether it’s the style, choreography, or our vocal abilities, it was a long thinking process.”
At first, J-Hope and V both dyed their hair blonde. We assumed it had something to do with the color of butter. J-Hope confirmed our theory, “My hair is now the color of butter. I hope you all like it.”
V’s color may be similar, but he went a step further by undergoing a poodle-inspired perm. “It’s the one hair style I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I’m the cute one in the group so I had to take one for the team.”
The styling from the music video was also simply put, cool. At first glance it’s hard to see, but Jimin rocked the colors of the rainbow on his hair. He also bears the weight of big sunglasses on his face, paired with long earrings. Somehow, he pulled it off very well.
At the 1 minute and 20 seconds mark in the M/V, the boys change into outfits contrary to what they wore before. They first wore formal suits, and in the next scene, they’re dressed in baggy, colorful sweats.
◆ The flavor of a heartwarming tribute to their fans
“I often question myself regarding my purpose in this career. The answer was always, our fans. Producing music that our fans will like is the answer to all.” (Suga)
BTS’s driving force is their “ARMY.” Jimin further pulls at the fans’ heartstrings. “We thought a lot about what our fans would like to see or what would make them happy.”
The most memorable part to the music video is arguably at the 2:11 mark when the members make out the word “ARMY”, with their bodies. They had delivered a message to fans all over the world with that one scene.
Jin said “We put a lot of love in the video for our fans. Jungkook and I made an ‘A’ together. It was hard to do with two people, but we finally came to an idea.”
They also prepared something called a “Festa.” It’s an event held to congratulate BTS for their debut anniversary. RM further commented, “We plan to consistently communicate with our fans. We will continue to prepare more in the future, so that we could get to know each other better.”
◆ The flavor of broken records
The records speak for themselves. Every time the boys are out with a song, it breaks another record.
BTS topped the Billboard “Hot 100” chart, this being their third time in total. That’s a first for a Korean act. They also earned a total of four trophies at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards.
That’s not all. BTS’s “Butter” holds the title of the artists to rack one hundred million views in the shortest amount of time. They were also first for the iTunes Top World Song chart for 101 countries, such as the U.S., UK, and Germany. They were also first on all major domestic Korean music charts.
They continue to shatter barriers, and continue to challenge the stubborn music industry. This time, they have their sights on the Grammys. Suga commented, “I still look forward to the day we win a Grammy. We plan to try again with “Butter.” We’re hoping for the best results.”
RM reciprocated Suga’s feelings regarding the Grammys. “Of course, we still hope for a Grammy. We’re going in for a 2nd attempt, and we’re going to give it our all.”
“We’re always thinking ahead. Although results are also important, the thought of our capabilities, and what values we need to chase are some of the stuff that bears a lot of weight on our shoulders. We’re still thinking. We trust that we’ll get our karma if we do our best.” (RM)
<Photo credits="Butter" music video, BTS Twitter, Dispatch>
<Translated by=Justina Kim(Dispatch)>
