BTS, sometimes also referred to as Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band consisting of seven members. BTS, whose debut took place in mid-2013, maybe the biggest musical act in the world that you have never heard of. At least that is what we are being told – and that K Pop (of all things) will be the next big thing. One piece of evidence for this is the BTS army, which is like the Directioners or Believers except it has a waiting list – a massive following of intense teenage support that is loyal to the group of seven boy-band members. Another is that they are number one trending for all their releases, not just in Korea or in Asia, but around the world.
On the one hand, they clearly belong in this position: a group of ‘good-looking’ boys with good voices and a lot of money pumped into their image. On the other hand, their rise in the Western world seems unlikely: they have a very androgynous image, they sing in Korean and only one of them speaks English. K Pop also presents a kind of antiseptic cuteness and some strange customs that the West has traditionally found difficult to understand.
In this article, we review and rank the best BTS songs based on ratings and votes from the BTS fans. Let’s get started!
Dynamite
Dynamite is BTS’s first All-English track and hits all the expected marks. The song opens with Jungkook sitting in a room with posters of the Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road cover. You can also spot David Bowie next to Arnold Swarzenegger in the Terminator poster. The lyrics begin with ‘Shoes on, get up in the morn’.
I felt it a little funny when JungKook sips a cup of milk and says Cup of milk, let’s rock and roll. Few other words like “ding dong” and “cha-ching” on the lyrics and overall melody somehow remind of Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. Dynamite has already broken many of BTS’s previous records with over 500 million views on YouTube.
DNA
The hype for BTS is unimaginably crazy among the fans worldwide. After releasing one after another hit tracks, BTS soon became the most popular Kpop band of all time with billions of views on their music videos and loved by billions of fans. The hip-hop in front, electronic instruments, and a touch of classic Kpop quirks make the DNA a complete generic song. The music videos from BTS will never disappoint you and DNA was no exception. The popular music review website TheBiasList gave this song 8.5 ratings out of 10.
I Need U
Released in 2015, I Need U is the lead single from their 3rd extended play and one of the most iconic songs of BTS. The song is about portraying their situation after their break up with their lover in a regretful way (probably because the other side is cheating). The scenes displayed in the music video are very heart-wrenching when you realize what they have tried to say through the lyrics. I Need U is a combination of rap, hip-hop, and R&B and emotional yet powerful lyrics that will make your heart crave for more of it. Jimin’s high note is amazing and Jungkook’s starting voice is always lovely to listen to. Although the song gives a sad vibe, it’s one of the most beautiful songs for the broken heart with addicting rhythm, catchy lyrics, and the voice of BTS.
Spring Day
Released in 2017, “Spring Day” is ranked the number one BTS song by “The Rolling Stone”. Popular music review site TheBiasList gives the song a rating of 8.5 out of 10. Many other online reviews have claimed “Spring Day” to be hands down the best BTS song of all time. BTS has earned a place as Kpop’s biggest international band topping charts worldwide that include Billboard, Radio Charts, and more. “Spring Day” is one of those BTS’s title tracks that have wowed the fans. The song has a beautiful melody, amazing melancholic vocals, and a sentiment that’s unique and hits the heart. The strong chorus makes the song easy to remember and hymn together.
Butter
Butter by BTS was one of the biggest Kpop songs of 2021 winning multiple awards and nominations. The music video was released on May 21, 2021, on YouTube under HYBE LABELS. It wouldn’t be wrong to say Butter was the biggest sensation in the music industry in the calendar year. The music video has over 600 million views on YouTube after six months of its release. Butter became only the 40th single in the Billboard’s hot 100’s 63-year old history to rank at number one for 10 consecutive weeks.
Stay Alive
With 2.2 million views at the time of writing, the lyric video for “Stay Alive” caused waves in the pop and K-pop worlds. The BTS member is successfully branching out with the help of fellow band member Suga. This is part of a break that the supergroup is taking, giving its individual members the space to create some music on their own or in pairs, as in this example.
The project was first recorded as an original soundtrack piece for 7FATES: CHAKHO, a webtoon or a digital comic show and now it has been released with a shorter official video and a lyric video. Fans have been praising the duo in comments sections, speaking about how savvy they are at creating effective soundtracks as well as producing viable pop tunes that will be enjoyed by a broad fanbase.
Christmas Tree
As with many K-pop hits, “Christmas Tree” comes to us not straight from the artist necessarily, but via another cultural phenomenon. This time it is Our Beloved Summer, a Netflix series described as “a coming of age, romantic comedy revolving around ex-lovers who broke up with a promise never to meet again. But the documentary they filmed ten years ago gets the fame and they are by compulsion facing camera once more.” This track is part of the soundtrack and is contributed courtesy of V, a member of the world-beating group BTS.
Kim Tae-Hyung, his real name, features as the singer of the song in the first episode of the six-part series, and fans were ecstatic to hear his voice mingle with the drama on-screen, taking to Twitter in a viral flood that unpacked and celebrated the song and its place within the action. Fans were really complementary, with one tweet reading “We have Taehyung’s soulful vocals caressing our ears & hearts this season as CHRISTMAS TREE BY V IS HERE! Let’s work at these goals for Tae during his blessed birthday week as we receive this gift with gratitude.”
Fake Love
It’s unclear whether BTS’s “Fake Love” is designed to appeal to a more Western audience or whether the triplet style of quick, staccato rapping is utilized by the likes of Migos (Bad and Boujee) has made its way East. Or – maybe, this style was being used in Korea before and it’s just not known by US fans. Anyway, it’s not that it sounds out of place necessarily, it just takes you by surprise because the rest of the song seems about as far away from an Atlanta style as it gets: High vocals, synchronized boy-band dancing, doe-eyed close-ups, etc., etc. As rap sections have become a frequent fixture of upbeat pop songs – it has seemed to get less ‘hard’ and less ‘fire’ as time goes by. But having said that, many others disagree – the song is very catchy and has gathered over a billion views on YouTube by 2022.
Beautiful
In autumn 2013 BTS created a cover version of the Mariah Carey song “Beautiful” for their fans. The song was performed by four members of the band – J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, while J-Hope together with another band member Rap Monster, and Supreme Boi wrote Korean lyrics to the song. They also released an accompanying music video where the members sing the song to a girl they accidentally meet in the street.
The original song was released by Mariah Carey in May 2013 as the lead single for her fourteenth studio album “Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse” (2014). It featured vocals of American singer and songwriter Miguel Pimentel. Carey and Pimentel wrote the song in collaboration with several other composers. “Beautiful” peaked at number 15 on US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top three on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
FIRE
“Fire” is BTS’s Korean-language single from the compilation album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever” (May 2016). The track was released on May 2, 2016, as the lead single. It took “Fire” 7 hours to achieve a so-called “all-kill” which implies topping all major Korean real-life time charts in one day.
An accompanying music video was released the same day. Many music reviewers used superlative adjectives to describe both the song and the music video, praising the sound, the performance, and the intense choreography. The music video was directed by GDW Films’ Lumpens.