BTS is the first K-pop act to ever appear on Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’
By Bianca Gray
Iconic K-pop boy group BTS has made Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” with one of their three English-language songs.
“Light it up like Dynamite”: Rolling Stone magazine released their list of the top 500 songs for the first time in 17 years on Sept. 15 with BTS making a groundbreaking appearance on it as the first Korean act to ever appear on the ranking.
- The last time the outlet published the list was in 2004, and since then, many songs have made their mark on the world. The magazine thought it was time to remake the list, writing, “To create the new version of the RS 500 we convened a poll of more than 250 artists, musicians and producers…as well as figures from the music industry and leading critics and journalists.”
- Among the many songs that made the list of “best songs ever,” BTS’ renowned single “Dynamite,” released in 2020, was one of them, ranking at 346th.
- “Dynamite” is one of three BTS’ songs that is completely in English. They have 230 songs in their discography, with 227 songs in Korean.
- The song “Dynamite” made waves in the K-pop world in 2020 as being BTS’ first song completely sung in English. The music video currently has 1.2 billion views. This is not their most-viewed music video on YouTube, however, as “Boy With Luv” featuring singer Halsey has 1.35 billion views and “DNA” has 1.34 billion views. Both songs are mostly in Korean.
- Rolling Stone’s reasoning for why “Dynamite” was on the list was that the song was “BTS’ first-ever U.S. Number One, as well as their first full English-language song, ‘Dynamite’ was a landmark, hegemony-shattering moment for the world-conquering South Korean group.”
“Bring the fire”: BTS has said previously in interviews in 2019 that they did not want to put out a full English-language song, according to Vulture.
- In a 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly, leader RM, whose real name is Kim Nam-joon, said, “If we sing suddenly in full English, and change all these other things, then that’s not BTS.” However, BTS has released three songs since then in English: “Dynamite” in 2020, “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” in 2021.
- Talking to Billboard in August about the group’s sudden switch to English lyrics, the members said that they didn’t all agree with having songs completely in English. While HYBE, the entertainment agency that BTS belongs to, said the decision was “amicable,” RM told Billboard, “There was no alternative.”
- Even though all three of the English-language songs were a huge success in the U.S. and in the Western music industry, the boy group believes that they should keep the majority of their lyrics in Korean. “I don’t think we could ever be part of the mainstream in the U.S., and I don’t want that either,” the leader said. “Our ultimate goal is to do a massive stadium tour there. That’s it.”
“Let it roll”: Due to “Dynamite” being one of their few songs completely in English, and one of the few not written by the members themselves, many fans had mixed feelings about the accomplishment.
Featured Image via HYBE LABELS
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