Art and Culture
August 2021
CATALOGUE
Editor's Pick: 'You Never Walk Alone': How K-Pop Group BTS Gave Voice to a Generation, by Lucca Aguiar.
Editor's Pick: Creating My Own Social Project at 14, by Maria Clara Britto.
Editor's Pick: 'You Never Walk Alone': How K-Pop Group BTS Gave Voice to a Generation
Lucca Aguiar, August 2020 Edition
When looking at the phenomenon of "boy bands", many are immediate to point out the evolution of these musical acts throughout time. The "British Invasion" of the 1960s turned The Beatles into overnight household names, while 90s groups such as the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC sold out U.S. arenas in a matter of minutes. As this trend has progressed over generations, many are quick to dismiss such acts as carbon-copies of one another, merely mass-commercialized products to swiftly sell singles to radio stations. As put by Pitchfork's Brody Lancaster, "When fame is girded by a swelling teenage, female fan base immediately, that celebrity becomes false, temporary and unearned."
BTS, a seven-member boy group from South Korea, debuted in 2013 and has been actively trying to break that stigma. At the forefront, yes, they are talented, multi-faceted performers, with high-octane vocals and tightly-synchronized choreographies. However, their 30 million+ fans, or as they call themselves, "ARMY", would argue there's more than meets the eye. The group's message stems from their band name, an acronym for Bangtan Sonyeondan in Korean. As group member J-Hope states: "‘Bangtan’ means to be resistant to bullets, so it means to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets, to preserve the values and ideals of today’s adolescents."
BTS' music has always aimed to give their young audience a voice, and provide reassurance in their lives; these can range from a stage performance or a multi-music video story arc. All seven members write or produce the group's music, generating conversations on topics that are seen as taboo in South Korea and worldwide. Their songs go in-depth about the rigorous school system and unrealistic expectations plaguing the youth today, as well as the dangers of mental illness if not properly treated, and critique a Korean Ministry of Education official who described the average citizen as a "dog and pig". While naïve declarations of love might be the public's expectation when it comes to song concepts for boy bands, BTS continuously shatters this preconception.
Starting in 2019, they launched a series of albums based on Carl Jung's Map of the Soul: a psychology book dedicated to exploring the areas of consciousness in the human psyche. Using different album installments to represent a different key concept (the Persona, Shadow, and Ego), BTS urges listeners to take an introspective journey to come to terms with their individuality. Crafting an album narrative around this topic therefore introduces intricate psychoanalytic topics in an easily digestible form for modern teenagers, through catchy hooks and melodious falsettos.
Having performed from Seoul to the Grammy Awards stage, BTS has gained international traction thanks to their music, a solace for many fans — even though all the lyrics are in Korean. From breaking 14 Guinness World Records to being bestowed with a Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit by the South Korean government, their achievements haven't gone unnoticed. After all, they had one of the highest-selling albums of 2019 with Map of the Soul: Persona. However, BTS hasn't had success handed to them through a major record label or television show. The septet came from a small company in Korea, which was headed towards bankruptcy. Cut from broadcasts and denied large budgets, they had nothing but their lyrics and raw talent to set them apart. And they've been perfecting them for the last seven years.
In 2017, BTS set out to do one of their biggest achievements to date: release a three-album series focused on loving yourself. The “Love Yourself” albums depict one's journey of finding and losing romantic love, before having an epiphany, realizing they should love themselves instead of seeking any outside sources. Their heartfelt lyrics manifested themselves into social change through the launch of BTS’ “Love Myself” campaign with UNICEF. The project aims to help end violence against young people and help build a safer future for them. It calls upon participation in social media to raise awareness of troubles today's youth are facing. As of last year, the campaign has accumulated a total of KR₩ 2.4 billion funds globally.
The group's message of self-acceptance and empowerment was amplified when BTS was invited to deliver a speech at the United Nations. Their leader, Kim Namjoon, recounted his journey to self-actualization amid struggles, and added a new slogan to the group's "love yourself" statement: "speak yourself". Namjoon states: "I want to hear your voice, and I want to hear your conviction. No matter who you are, where you're from, your skin color, your gender identity, just speak yourself. Find your name and find your voice by speaking yourself."
It can be so easy to dehumanize and target members of boy bands due to their stature and dominance over the music industry. But BTS make it a point to not define themselves through any existing labels, music genres or even languages — having sung in both Korean and Japanese; they're launching their first English-language single, "Dynamite", on August 21st. The group makes it a priority to treat fans as their personal friends, through weekly live streams of members doing mundane things such as having dinner or painting. And having built such a tight-knit community of millions, they have nowhere to go but up.
Important Links:
https://www.love-myself.org/eng/home/ - Love Myself Campaign Website
https://youtu.be/oTe4f-bBEKg - Full United Nations Speech
Sources:
https://time.com/collection-post/5414052/bts-next-generation-leaders/
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/bts-band-name-meanings.html/
Editor's Pick: Creating My Own Social Project at 14
Maria Clara Britto, September 2020 Edition
My relationship with social voluntary work comes from beyond the school borders. My family does many social jobs, with several institutions including here in Salvador, which I am used to seeing since I was a little girl. From this family inspiration, I took an independent initiative, participating in charity projects. When I moved back to Salvador and joined PASB, I met all the beautiful projects the school was involved in and I was completely amazed. After participating in various projects at school with different focuses, I realized that it was my turn to introduce to the PASB community my own community service project. My focus has always been to work with children, especially those with some type of disabilities. With that in mind, I started searching for institutions here in Salvador that embraced this cause. After long research and coming across many wonderful institutions, I found the “Lar Vida”. “Lar Vida” is a non-profit institution that receives children with disabilities that were abandoned by their families, referred by the Juvenile Court. From the first moment that I was able to understand a little more about their project and I completely fell in love with it.
From my first time, I visited the institution, I experienced a very strong connection with the place. After visiting the entire complex, I realized that children there really liked playing with paint and music, but as their budget was too tight to spend on that type of activity they had to prioritize other things such as food, bills, medical assistance, and clothing. I called Ms. Camila Lisboa, PASB arts teacher, and asked her to join me on this journey and she accepted right away! We had a really fun time gathering people, planning fundraisers, creating posters even though this took so much of my time I was so amazed that I was never worried about it. With time more people of different ages started to be part of our project. Kids from elementary all the way to seniors, teachers, and the school staff, everyone was helping how they could, making the difference. This was how the “Coloring Lives” was created, a voluntary social project for children and youth, with the mission of bringing love and joy for life through the art. Currently, the project is already part of the lives of more than 200 children and teenagers. With great pride and happiness, I can say that I am the founder of the social project, Coloring Lives.