{"id":15403,"date":"2021-04-06T12:02:17","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T16:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=15403"},"modified":"2025-04-17T16:45:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T20:45:22","slug":"bts-production-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/bts-production-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"The evolution of production in BTS\u2019 discography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo illustration: <\/strong>Celina Pereira<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d like to think a universal goal among artists is to make timeless music.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That said, the landscape of popular music is one that’s constantly shifting\u2014tastes change with age, social climates, current events, and more. To stay on top of things, artists and producers are either starting a trend or catching the tail end of the wave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last few years, K-pop has steadily gained attention in the discourse of ‘genre trends.’ However, K-pop isn’t just a genre; it’s a culture. It can’t be distilled to a handful of distinct sounds or production techniques. Rather, it’s a complex world that navigates arrangement, storytelling, performance, and the constantly evolving interpretation of pop music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, talking about the evolution of production across K-pop as a whole is far too broad and doesn’t quite make sense. So, I want to focus this piece on the change in production decisions over time for one single group\u2014BTS. There are countless articles about their global domination and the west\u2019s adoption of K-pop music in the mainstream. But, I always struggled reading descriptions of ‘the K-pop sound,’ or how readily some articles wanted to group any Korean artist as ‘K-pop.’ Because what is<\/em> a ‘K-pop sound?’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The western music industry has had a complex relationship with genre. On one hand, it’s critical to recognize that music is rooted in culture, and many genre labels are a meaningful acknowledgement to a rich history. But at the same time, genres can be misused to appropriate cultures, box in artists based on their ethnicity, and leave little room for experimentation or evolution beyond unfair stereotypes and expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If pop and K-pop share their defining sonic characteristics as ones that blend different genres and move people through music, then the discography of BTS can provide us an opportunity to reflect on various interesting shifts in music’s soundscape over the last several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For simplicity, I\u2019ve organized their discography into three periods. The parallels drawn compare their discography with the trends happening in the United States around the same time periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Cool 4 Skool<\/em> – Dark & Wild<\/em> (2013 – 2014)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When they made their official debut in 2013<\/a>, BTS was introduced to the world as a hip hop idol group. Tracks like “We are Bulletproof Pt.2” and “No More Dream” from their debut album 2 Cool 4 Skool <\/em>demonstrate BTS\u2019 early dedication to hip hop elements. Their vocal performances are aggressive, determined, and tinged with a sense of urgency. There are horn accents, 808s, percussive gun effects, sirens, and background chants. In “We are Bulletproof Pt.2,” we hear pitched-up string loops used as lead melodies, sped up and paired with a boom bap drum beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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