Bangtan Boys( Bangtan Sonyeondan), also known as BTS, is a seven-memberSouth

Korean boy group formed byBig Hit Entertainment. They debuted on June 13, 2013 with the
song "No More Dream". They have won several "New Artist of the Year" awards, including
those at the 2013 MelOn Music Awards and Golden Disk Awards, and the 2014 Seoul Music
Awards, as well as two majorbonsang awards for Dark & Wild. The name of the band, Bangtan
Sonyeondan, is a combination of "" which means bulletproof and "" which
means boy scouts.[2]

History
Pre-debut
Bangtan Boys' first members were recruited through Big Hit's "Hit it" auditions in 2010 and
2011. It was a nationwide audition where people were recruited from their local provinces, like
Jimin and Jungkook from Busan and V and Suga fromDaegu. Jungkook was casted by Big Hit
after leaving the Superstar K3auditions in 7th grade. He trained with Movement
Lifestyle in LA during the summer of 2012. Jimin attended the Busan High School of Arts and
studied in the modern dance department. He was recruited through a private audition. Before
his audition, Jin had been a film arts student. Rap Monster was already performing as an
underground rapper and had released several tracks informally, including a collaboration
with Zico. He had previously used the stage name "Runch Randa." J-Hope was part of street
dance team Neuron before he was a trainee and won prizes in dance festivals in Gwangju. He
later enrolled in the Korea Arts School.[2][3] J-hope was also featured as a rapper for Jokwon's
"Animal".[4] The group's personal Twitteraccount was created in 2011, which they used to
keep in contact with their fans before debut.[5]

20132014: Debut with 2 Cool 4 Skool, Dark & Wild, and Wake
Up
The first album of BTS's "school trilogy" series and their debut single album, 2 Cool 4 Skool,
was released on June 12, 2013 with the lead single "No More Dream". [1][6] The music video
was released the day before. On July 9, 2013, the group announced their official fanclub
name: ARMY, which stands for Adorable Representative M.C for Youth. [7] Three months after
their debut, BTS announced their comeback with a second part of the "school trilogy". On
September 11, Bangtan Boys released their first mini-album, O!RUL8,2?. They promoted their
song 'N.O', releasing its music video on September 10. [8]
On December 9, 2013, Suga was diagnosed with appendicitis while promoting with the group
in Japan. He was flown back to Korea to receive surgery and was therefore unable to
participate in the 2014 Idol Star Athletics Championships as well asSBS Gayo Daejun and MBC
Gayo Daejejeun year-end performances with his fellow members.[9][10]
The third part of the "school trilogy", their second mini-album Skool Luv Affairwas released on
February 12, 2014.[11][12] Bangtan Boys promoted the album's title track "Boy in Luv",
releasing its music video on February 11.[13] BTS came back with "Just One Day" with its
music video released on April 6.[14] The band's Japanese debut album, 2 Cool 4 Skool, was
released on April 23; their first single was a Japanese version of "No More Dream". [15]
On June 14, BTS took part in the Bridge to Korea Festival in Russia, an event that aimed to
promote tourism between the two countries. There, they became judges of a k-pop cover
dance competition and later performed on stage in front of 10,000 spectators. [16] The group
also attended KCON in Los Angelesalongside Girls' Generation and other artists on August 10,
2014.[17]
On August 19, BTS released their music video for their comeback single, "Danger" from their
first full album, Dark & Wildwhich sold over 109,098 copies. They made a comeback with "War

of Hormone", a track from Dark & Wild. Its music video was released on October 21, 2014.
[18] BTS continued to promote in Japan, releasing their first Japanese studio album,Wake Up,
on December 24. This album not only included Japanese versions of their songs, but also their
first Japanese original tracks: "Wake Up" and "The Stars".[19]
BTS performed at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards red carpet event and had a collaboration
stage with Block B during the awards show.[20] BTS then held their first concert
tour, 2014 BTS Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, throughout October, November, and
December. They toured Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia. [21]

2015present: The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Pt 1 & 2

From February 10 to 19, BTS kicked off their first Japan tour, Wake Up: Open Your Eyes. They
toured Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka, and performed for 25,000 fans.[22] On March 20,
member Rap Monster released his first mixtape:RM, releasing three music videos for tracks:
"Awakening () ", "Do You", and "Joke ()".[23] On March 28, BTS held their second solo
concert in Korea, BTS Live Trilogy Episode 1: BTS Begins.[24]
The group's third EP, The Most Beautiful Moment In Life, Part 1 ( pt.1), was released on
April 29, 2015.[25] It was listed in June by Fuse as one of the "27 Best Albums of 2015 So Far"
and was the only Korean album to do so.[26] On May 5, 2015, their title track "I Need U" won
first place on SBS MTV's The Show, which marked their first win since their debut.[27]Signal
Entertainment announced that The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Pt.1 had sold over 180,000
copies since its release.[28]
On June 4, 2015, BTS released their fourth Japanese single, "For You", to celebrate their first
anniversary of their Japanese debut,[29] with its music video released on the same day. The
single climbed to the top on Oricon's daily chart, selling 42,611 copies within its first day.
[30] On June 23, BTS released their music video for their follow up single, "Dope", receiving
1,000,000 views in less than 15 hours. [31] "Dope" rose to its peak at number 3 on Billboard's
World Digital Chart despite being released two months earlier. [32]
The group's world tour, 2015 Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, continued with stops in
Malaysia, Latin America, Australia, the U.S., and ended in Hong Kong on August 29. [33] BTS
was a part of the 2015 Summer Sonic Festival tour in Japan, performing on August 15 at
Tokyo's QVC Marine Field and on the 16th in Osaka.[34][35]
On September 8, it was announced that BTS would have a comeback with the second part
of The Most Beautiful Moment in Life album on November 30. They also held a three-day
concert tour, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: On Stage from November 27 to 29, where
they showcased their title track, "Run".[36][37] On October 19, it was announced that BTS
would be the new brand ambassador for sports brand Puma.[38][39][40] The group released
the Japanese version of "I Need U" as their fifth Japanese single on December 8. [41]

Artistry and musical influences

Image and musical style
The group has a versatile image ranging from a tougher, bad boy to a more youthful image.
They focus mainly on the hip hop genre while appealing to youth also. MTV's Corynn Smith
stated that BTS has incorporated hip hop beats as well as rock-inspired elements for their
singles: "Danger" and "Boy in Luv".[42] BTS has been called the "K-pop's Social Conscious" by
Jeff Benjamin from Fuse, who noted that the group has found "a way to speak honestly about
topics they deem important, even in a conservative society".[43]

Lyrics
Through their many releases, BTS has tackled school bullying, the pursuit of happiness and
rejecting society ideals in its lyrics.[43] During an interview with Cuvism Magazine, it is stated
that their name, "Bangtan Boys", means "to block out the world's bullets", which reflects the
group's desire to write music about society's oppression as well as lyrics that the youth may
relate to. J-hope states: "I think we get a lot [of inspiration] from our daily lives. There are lots
of things we could write about even here, and we get lots of inspiration while going to the
practice room and while we're eating. We tend to write about small things. We have a song
called "" (Like) and it's about someone checking their ex-girlfriend's SNS account and
pretending to be cool about pressing the like button. Like this song, we write lyrics about
small things."
BTS plays an active role producing their music, with all members participating in the
composition and lyric-writing of their songs.[44]

Members
[2][45]
Rap Monster (Kim Namjoon; ) Leader, Rapper
Jin (Kim Seokjin; ) Vocalist
Suga (Min Yoongi; ) Rapper
J-Hope (Jung Hoseok; ) Rapper, Dancer
Jimin (Park Jimin; ) Vocalist, Dancer
V (Kim Taehyung; ) Vocalist
Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook; ) Vocalist, Rapper, Dancer

Discography
Main article: Bangtan Boys discography

Dark & Wild (2014)

Wake Up (2014)

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Bangtan Boys
On May 5, 2015, Bangtan Boys won their first number-one win on South Korean music
program SBS The Show with their 3rd mini album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1.
Throughout the following week they won 4 more awards from Music Bank, Mnet M!
Countdown, and Show Champion.