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As every dedicated ARMY fan knows, BTS is currently on hiatus until 2025. Don’t worry, because there is power in empathy—it was honestly one of the most jarring days of my life to process the news from last summer, too. Listen, I want to be the supportive fan that I should be, but I can’t help but be selfish sometimes. Now with several solo projects released from a few of the seven members and (my personal bias) Worldwide Handsome Jin formally enrolled in the Korean military to perform his civic duty, we’re all sitting together and wondering—when can we expect new music from the megastar group again?
BTS surely needs no introduction now that they’ve broken multiple musical and entertainment boundaries, both professionally and culturally. BTS, also known as Bangtan Sonyeandan or The Bangtan Boys, is composed of seven members since 2013—Jin, J-Hope, Jungkook, Jimin, V, Suga, and their fearless leader, RM. They’ve dabbled across music genres, starting with their first discography Dark and Wild (2014) with more of a hip-hop, R&B and dance-pop vibe, to Love Yourself: Answer (2018) housing gorgeous ballads like “Euphoria” and Map of the Soul: Persona (2019) producing electronic pop hits like “Boy With Luv”. 2020 marked an insane boom in their super stardom; their first fully-English song “Dynamite” released and broke various records. It was the most viewed Youtube video premiere in the first 24 hours with a jaw-dropping 101.1M views in a day, up until BTS’s own single, “Butter”, released a year later to go on and claim the record from “Dynamite”. They’re in the top five most streamed artists on Spotify and continuously rank through the top of the Billboard charts.
Their most recent endeavor in their musical oeuvre is Proof (2022), a carefully curated compilation of key tracks across their career, unreleased B-sides, and new songs alike. Although a few of these never-heard-before songs like “Yet to Come” and “For Youth” will hold us fans over for a while, now is the perfect time to explore and discover similar music. If you’re holding out and yearning for related K-pop and bands, satiate your earbuds below with these six standout artists.
RM
Image: Han Myung-Gu/WireImage
Come feel at ease and heal your soul with RM. As the leader of BTS and part of the rap group, RM expands into his own dreamy, softer side project and sounds with his previous EP of mono. (2018) and his newest album, Indigo (2022). RM’s own takes lean introspective, saccharine and slow, with songs like “Seoul” lending a perfect backtrack to your own pensive main-character stroll through a city. With Indigo as an audio art gallery featuring artists like Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, and Mahalia, RM cements himself as a Soul/R&B king in his own right. “Yun (with Erykah Badu)” is a self-reflection, while “Still Life (with Anderson .Paak)” sees RM breaking free from his own contentions with fame in rap flow.
Courtesy of: Big Hit Entertainment
SEVENTEEN
Image: The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images
Contrary to popular belief, Seventeen only has 13 members—S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino. The name comes from the concept of “13 members + 3 units + 1 group”, summating to Seventeen as one cohesive and unified group. Debuting in 2015, the band released their first anthology, 17 Carat (2015), which ended up as the solo new album on Billboard’s “10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2015” rankings. Their talents range from certified bops like “Very Nice” to gorgeous, ethereal ballads like “Lean on Me” and “Circles.” Meanwhile, their on-stage choreography is as addictive as it is impressive. It’s hard not to fall in love with the technique and charisma the band exudes, so keep listening and you’ll surely become a Carat.
Image: PLEDIS Entertainment.
J-Hope
Image: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Louis Vuitton
Colorful, psychedelic, and an absolute dopamine project, J-Hope’s solo projects have taken off in the last year with the release of Jack in the Box (2022), which built on the momentum of his first record, Hope World (2018). He was the first solo Korean headliner at Lollapalooza in 2022, making history while making sure to have tons of fun doing it. I first got hooked onto J-Hope when hearing his energetic song, “Daydream”, and shortly after, his collaboration with Becky G, “Chicken Noodle Soup,” pumped out a silly but fun viral choreography challenge on social media. Jack in the Box feels like an exploration of something deeper and more sinister in all the fame and glory that BTS brought, with a fun and rebellious spirit intrinsically looped throughout the record in songs like “Pandora’s Box”. His most recent single from this year, “On the Street”, featuring his own personal muse J. Cole, is a smooth lo-fi song filled with meaningful reflection on his musical voyage. He thanks ARMY as he continues his path forward, singing “every time I look/every time I love/every time I hope/as always for us (on the street, I’m still)”.
Courtesy of: Big Hit Music
TOMORROW X TOGETHER
Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
TOMORROW X TOGETHER, also known as TXT, are the first hoobaes (or underclassmen) of BTS’s label, BigHit Music, under HYBE. The five-member piece – Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Huening Kai—debuted in 2019 with their hit single boppy, synth-y “Crown” topping the Billboard World Digital Songs charts. Their songs range from pop punk teen angst like “LO$ER=LO♡ER” to sweet and dreamy in “Magic Island”, and most recently, funky bass and whistle beats in their newest hit, “Sugar Rush Ride.” With the already chart-topping band hitting their fourth official year in the music space and their latest anthology, The Name Chapter: Temptation (2023), it’s worth lending your ear to TXT.
Watch TOMORROW X TOGETHER play Pictionary with STYLECASTER here.
Image: Courtesy of: BIGHIT Music.
NCT 127
Image: Han Myung-Gu/WireImage
Let NCT 127 fulfill all your bad boy fantasies. Formed in 2016 under SM Entertainment, NCT or “Neo Culture Technology” actually has 23 members (and growing!) and is divided into four subunits—NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream and WayV. The first Korean-based subunit of NCT with the goal of world domination, NCT 127 in particular is an homage to the longitude coordinate of Seoul. The band consists of nine current members—Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Haechan and Mark. Best known for their discography in Korean hip hop and R&B, NCT 127 debuted with their unrestrained bop, “Fire Truck” (2016) and later gained worldwide attention with their catchy banger, “Cherry Bomb” (2017). Their latest original album, 2 Baddies (2022), was recently reissued with some fresh new twists under Ay-Yo (2023). If you’re hankering for K-pop with an edge, NCT 127 is your go-to.
Courtesy of SM Entertainment
ENHYPEN
Image: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
ENHYPEN was formed on the survival show I-LAND in 2020 and is the first boy band created by BELIFT LAB, a joint venture between HYBE and CJ ENM. The name derives from the actual hyphen sign, symbolizing “connectivity, discovery and growth” as the overall mantra. The seven members—Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon and Ni-ki—were discovered and selected as favorites from global user and producer selections. This unique start to ENHYPEN’s journey, where fans were able to follow and see the formation of the group, led to their debut song of “Given-Taken” (2020) to rank number four as most viewed Korean group music video on Youtube in the first 24 hours. Since then, their songs are pure fun pop – “Fever” (2021) has a smooth chorus and hard-to-forget beat, while “Blessed-Cursed” (2022) sees the members starting their infringement into rap and hip hop.
Courtesy of BELIFT LAB
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