A couple years ago, I was in line for food at the airport, when a younger girl approached me. “Are you an Army?” It took me a second to register what she meant, until she pointed at the BT21 luggage tag on my violin case. “Oh, BTS Army, yeah!” I responded, and there was an unspoken connection between us two strangers. BTS now has one of the largest fan bases in the world. Hundreds of thousands of Armys dream of post-Covid concerts and spend way too much time watching the massive amount of content that BTS puts out, from Run BTS to BTS in the Soop.
People love BTS for many different reasons: the inspiring and uplifting message behind their music, their real and genuine personalities, and (it cannot be denied) their looks, to name a few. This love has made them the top selling artist of 2020, with multiple songs on the Billboard Top 100. Their fame, success, and influence is undeniable.
But their career hasn’t always been so seemingly perfect. They came from very humble beginnings and were often underestimated. Even in recent years with hits like “On” and “Black Swan,” American radio has refused to play BTS’s music, for the primary reason that it isn’t in English. For this reason, BTS had trouble breaking into the mainstream American music market with songs that were obviously hits based on streaming and sales (until, of course, they released “Dynamite,” a song entirely in English). At the same time, American TV programs and artists have become keenly aware of BTS’s massive fanbase, and have invited BTS to perform or collaborate. To many people, it looks like BTS has been exploited to gain support from their fan base.
Many Western artists have been accused of collaborating with BTS with the main motivator being extra attention. BTS has collaborated with several Western artists, including Halsey, Charlie Puth, Jason Derulo, and MAX. Fans are quick to determine which artists seem to truly respect BTS, and which may simply be using their collaboration for clout.
A recent example is BTS’s collaboration with Jason Derulo on the song “Savage Love,” which reached number 1 on the Billboard charts. Initially, I thought this was a really cool collaboration that represented BTS’s success and mainstream recognition in America. But shortly after hitting the top of the chart, Jason Derulo posted a TikTok celebrating with TikTok stars and other celebrities. However, I quickly noticed that the song playing in the background was not the collaboration with BTS–rather, it was Derulo’s original song. And he didn’t acknowledge BTS anywhere in this celebration video. I was frustrated, knowing that the song’s success was largely due to BTS’s role in the song, along with BTS fans streaming the song. It was easy to wonder if this collaboration was a thoughtful artistic decision, or if Derulo wanted to use BTS’s massive fan base to reach the top of the charts. In an Ellen interview, Derulo commented on BTS’s fanbase and referred to them not by name but as “this massive K-pop group.” Take a look at the YouTube video and you’ll see a lot of angry comments, reflecting on how disingenuous Derulo appears in his collaboration.
Of course, collaborations happen all the time, and they are used in the music business to mutually benefit both artists. The BTS-Derulo collaboration in itself is exciting, but what made me upset was how Derulo spoke about it, giving BTS very little credit except for their fanbase.
Unfortunately, it isn’t just Western artists that seem to use BTS for their fanbase. American award shows including the AMAs and Grammys have recently done the same thing, seemingly exploiting BTS to gain viewers and higher TV ratings.
Just after finals ended last fall, I cozied up in my living room to watch the AMAs. I don’t always watch award shows, but BTS was scheduled to perform. Of course I had to watch. It was unclear exactly when they would perform, so I turned on the TV right at the start and watched the entire show. After a couple hours of performances from artists like Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa, BTS finally came on to perform. Last. I was immediately pretty skeptical, knowing that BTS has one of the largest fan bases of all time. Certainly, maintaining the mystery of when they would perform would keep millions of fans glued to the TV, waiting. Turning to social media, I found that Armys were frustrated to have waited the entire night to see BTS. Many shared the same sentiment as me, wondering if they were manipulated to gain views.
This wasn’t the only time BTS was (probably) used for views. More recently, the Grammys were also accused of overhyping BTS’s Grammy nomination and performance for increased viewership. Again placing BTS’s performance at the end of the show, it’s hard not to believe that BTS really were used. While of course being proud of BTS for reaching their goal to perform on the Grammy stage, many fans were skeptical of the Grammy’s treatment of BTS and other POC artists like The Weeknd. BTS released a huge amount of top-tier music in 2020, including the Map of the Soul: 7 album. But, somewhat predictably, the only song they were nominated for was their one song entirely in English. Many have accused the Grammys of nominating BTS only to appease the Army fanbase, and never actually planned to give them the award. Watch BTS’s nomination reaction video, and you’ll see that V himself might have been skeptical. On the night of the Grammys, thousands of people stormed Twitter with the hashtag #scammys, angry about the Grammys’ treatment of BTS and others.
To me, it makes sense why American artists want to work with BTS. They’re incredibly talented musicians and performers, and collaborations can help boost sales for both artists involved (not that BTS really needs it). Like many things in the music industry, these collaborations and performances are business decisions for everyone involved. But when collaborators fail to credit BTS, or when award shows wait to show BTS until the very end, it really does come across as exploitation. As BTS continues to be the most popular group in the world, I hope Americans treat them with respect and kindness, just as BTS treats their fans.
Musings on K-pop by Duke Univ. Students 
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