I see that some ARMY are worried about BTS collaborating on an all English track...on literally the same day they received the Order of Cultural Merit our fandom has grown since round 1 of this discussion with MDR so here's a thread to help soothe those in distress

I want begin by saying all we’ve heard of the track is the :40 preview. Various parties are saying different things about the track, but for the sake of this thread, let’s pretend #WasteItOnMe is 100% in ENG. Now let’s talk about why this isn’t anything to get pressed over

1. “I don’t want BTS to be forced to sing in English”

Cool, me neither.

Let’s get some facts straight first. This is a Steve Aoki song ft BTS. The song is the first single off his new album coming out in Nov. Yes, it’s a collab, but this is being released through Steve’s label

They like Steve Aoki. A lot. So much so that Namjoon gave Steve his shirt If they weren’t satisfied with his work, why would they have invited him to work on TTU? They're clearly happy to do another collab with him

No one is forcing BTS to do this track. This track will have been in the works for a long time and they literally just extended their contracts with BH for another 7 years. Would they really stay on with a label that’s forcing them to do collabs they don’t want?

2. “BTS singing in Korean is like every other k-pop group singing in English”

땡. BTS are already established in the world market, with strong footholds in the US, UK, CAD and other markets (or did we forget about mono.’s 88 #1s already? Or Tear + Answer both going #1 on BB200?)

They charted on the Hot 100 for the first time with DNA https://bit.ly/2EKx3pD 

They’ve been charting on Billboard 200 since 2015 with HYYH pt. 2 https://bit.ly/2A6w2pg 

They’ve promoted their Korean songs - DNA, FAKE LOVE, Airplane pt 2, IDOL and I’m Fine - on The Ellen Show x2, Jimmy Kimmel (+ a whole mini-concert), The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, The Late Late Show x2, America’s Got Talent, and The Graham Norton Show

They were featured on the cover of Time Magazine + interviewed and were asked to speak at the UN General Assembly because of their work with UNICEF and #ENDviolence and because of their strong ties with youth around the world

The AMAs and BBMAs were downright salivating to get BTS to perform on their shows. Kim Youngdae said all the hype at BBMAs 2018 was for BTS and from personally being at the show yeah, 90% of the crowd was there for BTS

We’re getting articles from major Western publications like Metro, Allure, Teen Vogue etc. on non-news items like when a member changes their hair colour aka western media is treating them like a normal part of the celebrity gossip scene

They’ve already won awards at the BBMAs, AMAs, iHeartRadio Music Awards, Radio Disney Awards, MMVAs, BBC Radio 1 Teen Choice Awards, KCAs, TCAs, etc

Kim Youngdae wrote an excellent article contrasting the different tactics Korean entertainment companies have used to try and gain success in the USA and how BTS is different for succeeding without localization https://bit.ly/2JdT5zB 

Groups singing in English to give them a backdoor into Western markets rarely spells success for an artist – but BTS are already in the market. I’ll leave this point with a thinking point from Odie https://twitter.com/sweetbtstea/status/995873372818018304

3. “BTS becoming Westernized/BTS are losing their Koreaness”

Literally just got the Order of Cultural Merit for contributions in spreading Korean culture and language but go off I guess https://bit.ly/2Ph4FPS 

We’ve already gone through this once with MDR, but I understand the fandom has more than doubled in size since then, so I’m only going to link to posts and tweets after Nov 2017 that show even after releasing an ENG version of their song, they stayed hella Korean

Dec 12 2017 Visit Seoul – an official campaign by the Seoul Tourism Organization and the Seoul Metropolitan Government – is launched with BTS as the ambassadors

And oh look 10 months later and they’re the ambassadors and they're still promoting Seoul
https://bit.ly/2z0kG2r 
https://bit.ly/2D3DaUe 
https://bit.ly/2CEFQq7 
https://bit.ly/2JdrSgc 
https://bit.ly/2JczaRr 
https://bit.ly/2yzamiy 
https://bit.ly/2EUOjIT 

Dec 17 2017 Reddit post explaining why BTS is not K-Pop but very Korean music https://bit.ly/2D2aAm2 

May 28 2018 - President Moon Jae-In congratulates BTS and ARMY on their first #1 album on Billboard 200 and thanks BTS for "sharing profound emotions with our nation’s people and people all over the world through your wonderful selves" https://twitter.com/moonriver365/status/1001081880832229378

June 10 2018 땡 featuring rap line roasting haters with very specific Korean references and a performance done wearing Hanbok

August 2018 IDOL music video which is saturated with Korean imagery, traditional outfits, instrumentals, and culture specific references

Sept 25 2018 [Vulture] How BTS’s Embrace of Korean Tradition Helped Them Blow Up https://bit.ly/2OaCykB 

In the interview where Time Magazine named them ‘Next Generation Leaders’ Namjoon specifically said “as a Korean we love our country and we’re proud of our country so much” https://ti.me/2QIbjf0 

And you’re telling me an English collab with an English speaking artist is going to undo all of this?

Last part of this thread here: https://twitter.com/btbtbtsssssss_/status/1055162990264168448