Music and Storytelling: BTS Create History Yet Again With 7

Read Time: 6 minutes

February 21 was the most awaited day for millions of music lovers worldwide. It was the day global sensation BTS released their much-anticipated album ‘Map of the Soul: 7’. Fans all over the world had been looking forward to this album since April last year, when BTS had released the first installment of their ‘Map of the Soul’ series- Persona.

As expected, the album became a mega-hit within a week of its release. With over 4 million preorders worldwide, it was already the most successful album of 2020 but it showed even greater results once it was unveiled.
Map of the Soul: 7 which consist of a total of 20 tracks has already broken a number of records and created new ones. But what is the reason for such a reception and why is it so critically as well as widely acclaimed despite being exclusively in Korean? That’s what we are going to see in today’s article.

MAP OF THE SOUL: 7

The second part of BTS’ Map of the Soul series, 7 incorporates ideas from a number of fields including Psychology, inspired especially from Carl Jung and Mythology, with references from Greek and Hindu mythology as well as the Bible.

As already stated, the album has 20 tracks in total- 5 from the previous album that act as an introduction, 14 new tracks, and one digital single. All seven members of the group had a hand in production and in its totality, Map of the Soul 7 tells of BTS’ journey, their bond with each other and their fans.

The first track- Intro: Persona is a rap solo by RM, BTS’ leader. Followed by Boy With luv (featuring Halsey), Make It Right, Jamais Vu and Dionysus, it paves way for Interlude: Shadow, solo rap from Suga. Shadow is followed by Black Swan, which was released last month as a single accompanied by an art film.

Next, we get Filter which is a solo from Jimin and is presented with great vocals. Lead Vocalist Jungkook’s My Time follows it and doesn’t disappoint with heartfelt lyrics. Louder Than Bombs, on which BTS worked together with Troye Sivan is a lyrical and vocal masterpiece but so is ON, which is the lead single.

ON has two music videos, one released on February 21 along with the complete album and another released on February 28. Both music videos, one focusing on choreography and another on imagery and interpretation, boast of excellent visuals. The storytelling in the latest video is something on a completely different level too, with references to pop culture, literature, and mythology incorporated beautifully throughout.
The storytelling of BTS shines strong in this one-

Next, we are presented with rap line’s UGH, a track that everyone will enjoy and the poignant Zero O’clock from the vocal line that will make you cry. Inner Child, solo from V, is an expressive track with a message and is followed by Friends, a duet from Jimin and V, about their long-standing friendship.
Jin’s solo Moon is up next and it’s an absolute treat for our ears and hearts, especially the fans are head over heels for this song and for good reason too! RM and Suga’s duet Respect is up next and it has some great lyrics and beats, the conversation like style works well.

The next track ‘We are Bulletproof: The Eternal’ is the one that will make everyone, fan or not, cry… it’s a great song that conveys not only BTS’ gratitude to their fans but shows their resolve as well. It is a continuation of BTS’ 2013 tracks, We Are Bulletproof parts 1 and 2 and truly shows how much they have grown as artists.
The next track is the Outro- Ego. J-Hope’s solo rap, it is a catchy song with deep lyrics and meaningful expressions. It is also the last song of the album notwithstanding the digital track ON (featuring Sia).

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AND WIDELY POPULAR

Map of the Soul: 7 not only became the best-selling Album Worldwide in just a week, it is also highly acclaimed by music critics. Its performance on global Music Charts is nothing to sneeze at with its complete dominance of all the top spots in the US, UK, Europe, and Japanese charts.
To put things into perspective, Map of the Soul: 7 has scored the biggest debut of the year so far in the US with 410k total units sold… that when the album is in Korean and in the age where streams dominate the actual album sales. MOTS 7 has 339k pure sales in just a week with no bundles.
It is also #1 in iTunes in 91+ countries and the numbers are still rising. Also, on Spotify, the album has over 900 Million streams with thousands of unique listeners adding to it every day. The new album is doing quite well in both the international and local markets, having already won 2 awards in Korean Music shows. Which brings us to our most important question- why?

REASON BEHIND THE IMMENSE SUCCESS OF MOTS: 7

There are actually numerous factors behind the phenomenal and record-breaking performance of BTS’ Map of the Soul 7. Of course, the main one is quality music, which covers a variety of genres and excellent vocals but that’s not all.

The success of MOTS 7 is the result of BTS’ constant efforts and hard work throughout the 7 years they have been active. They never failed to deliver their best to their fans as well as the general public, building a bond of mutual trust and respect.
They have a gift for storytelling, enchanting the masses because their lyrics comes from heart- all their experiences, pain, happiness, sorrow and gratitude, conveyed to the listeners one song at a time. It is then no wonder that the fans- ARMYs put a lot of effort too towards making sure that BTS’ music reaches as many people as possible.
Yes, the reason behind this success is team work. After all, team work makes the dream work!