BTS or (방탄 소년단) has taken the world by storm. From massive success in Korea and appearing on popular American shows such as Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live, it is safe to say that fans from all over the world would look forward to their new music and variety. Following their “Love Yourself” series, their newest album “Map of the Soul: Persona” boomed on charts and became one of the most popular albums in all of K-pop. The title track of the album, “Boy With Luv”, broke many records such as becoming the fastest video to reach 100 million views (in less than two days) and gaining 74.6 million views in the first 24 hours; now holding the record for the most views in 24 hours. The album has also received 65 places on the #1 spot on iTunes chart (varying in different countries) and received 5,941,723 global streams at debut. For the album itself, it includes many different genres of songs, such as “Persona” which is a rock type of song, with a fine rap on top. Comparing that to “Mikrokosmos”, which is a slow and meaningful song, the opinions on the songs themselves are mainly reflected by personal taste.
The entire album has a hidden meaning that can only be found if you analyze a long list of the “Love Yourself” discography. In past albums, BTS made it their campaign to show the benefits and how important it is to love yourself. At the Metlife concert for the “Speak Yourself” tour, BTS kept that promise and campaign. “The Map of the Soul: Persona” album is about loving yourself and finding your true personality, hence the word persona, which is italicized. The album itself is great. The meaning, background, and production of the songs is magnificent, and the vocal track is well-written and well-sung. Comparing to the other albums, however, this album was rather soft. The tracks didn’t possess as much determination and power as the last set; possibly because BTS has found great success and decided to take a calmer approach. The title track “Boy With Luv”, (featuring Halsey– an American artist) is extremely catchy and had a western feel to it. Other tracks like “Jamais Vu” and “Mikrokosmos” were on the softer side; great songs to listen to when staring up at the sky, or clearing your head. “Dionysus” (which was a play on the Greek God of wine; they used that concept in their comeback performance of the song) and “HOME” were fun songs with funky concepts that many listeners of the album enjoyed. Fans of K-pop would automatically enjoy this, and fans of BTS themselves would enjoy it to the fullest extent. Since the album varies so much in genre and concept, people who like different styles of music would be sure to find a song that resonates with them. BTS as a group put in effort and work for their songs, which was shown in past albums and is prominent in this one. Throughout the album, the message remains clear, and for many, that is what makes this album so special.