MUSIC TRANSCENDS LANGUAGES : BTS

Music transcends languages, countries, races like this rainbow. I don't care if you are red, blue, orange, green or purple...I love you -Kim Namjoon (BTS)

Music is known to be the source of expressing or feeling all kinds of emotions. It’s a form of communication that transcends space and time, touching the hearts of people worldwide. With just one note, a shred of hope, happiness and even sadness can be transmitted from one soul to the next.

From pop music to rap, there are various different genres of music that people love, but what about the music, that’s not in a language we don’t understand? Does it make us patriotic if we listen to songs which are not in our native language?

When a non-Korean speaker listens to k-pop songs they are often criticized for liking a genre of music because they don’t understand the language. They are often misunderstood as the fans who are just crazy over the visuals of a k-pop idol rather than supporting them for their music. The reason people listen to music in different languages might be because they welcome their culture and religion or they get to learn a new language or simply because they are trying to break the cultural barriers.

One of the most popular group of Korean’s Pop industry which are currently dominating the world through their music called BTS stands by the message of how music transcends all languages, culture, age, gender, stereotypes and prejudice. BTS (Beyond The Scene) or Bangtan Sonyeondan is a seven member Korean boy group which includes four vocalists (Jin, Jimin, V, Jungkook) and three rappers (Suga, J-Hope, RM). They convey messages to all kinds of people out there dealing with different kinds of social problems and help them to overcome it through their music. They talk about words cannot express through their songs, inspiring the youth and touching the hearts of listeners regardless of their age, nationality or gender.

Since 2013, all the albums released by BTS had ideas which are relatable to the youth and has given them the strength to overcome their problems. The concepts have been laid down in forms of different albums for example school trilogy, the youth trilogy, wings, love yourself, Map of the soul. The school trilogy is about a defiant teenager who wants to rebel against the pressure on them to follow the dreams of their parents/elders and give up the dreams of their own. The youth trilogy focuses about the struggles the teenagers have while growing up from their childhood to becoming adults and letting go of their youth, the past and to face the present that brings commitments and responsibilities. The wings album is based on the temptations and conflicts. It relays an optimistic determination to use our wings to go far, even if we are met with temptations life. The love yourself album talks about a love that's based on changing or hiding your true self can never be fulfilling and will ultimately tear apart. So before we truly love someone else, we must first be able to love ourselves. Their latest album map of the soul makes us explores the four archetypes or psyches of human mind which are Shadow, Anima/Animus, Persona and Self that makes up the character of an individual.

Overall, listening to songs that aren’t sung in our native language can make us more open-minded person. They not only breaks the cultural barriers but also make us aware about the meanings hidden in other kind of music. So why not move past the language and cultural differences and analyze so much the language of music has to offer.