WEEK 14 | A Brighter Tomorrow

Monday Muster
Written By Quince

April 1 - 5, 2024

Validation.

BTS HYYH: Young Forever - Night Version shoot

Is there anything that feels better than receiving recognition for years’ worth of extremely hard work? Likely… no. 2016 was momentous in many ways for Bangtan Sonyeondan. Just after releasing The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, they celebrated their third anniversary as a group. K-Pop Idol groups form and then disband all of the time. Reaching the end of their third year while simultaneously bringing their most ambitious concept (the HYYH era) to a close felt very much like BTS solidifying their presence in the K-Pop Industry.


And if that didn’t do it, the album they released at the end of the year (we’ll get to that soon, don’t worry…) certainly did. The 2016 award season brought BTS their biggest career high ever—their first Daesang (“major award”). They won for “Album of the Year” and the looks of thrilled disbelief on their faces as their name was announced is something that is permanently etched in ARMY’s memory.


This was a big step for BTS and a definite moment for the rest of K-Pop to understand that they were a force to be reckoned with… and that they were not going away any time soon. But it was also a sign of things to come, a portent of the takeover BTS was about to embark upon not just in South Korea, but, ever-increasingly, across the globe as well. 


But… we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. As we wrap up the HYYH era this week, we’ll explore the creative way the group showcased new versions of some of the songs from the previous albums in the series. We’ll also watch some really fun VLIVES which were the sources for some of the most famous long-running memes and inside jokes. We’ll cover the release and contents of their second Japanese album, Youth, and as always, we’ll see BTS doing what they do best—working hard to entertain and make ARMY proud.

BANGTAN BOMB: Jung Kook: Maybe we should start a band?

 
 
 

Skip to Content: Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five

 

DAY ONE:

BTS photo after talking about their HYYH: Young Forever album

During their album release countdown on VLIVE (linked below), the members talk about how emotional they are as they reach the end of the HYYH era. They had spent well over a year working on this concept alone, and it changed the trajectory of their career immeasurably. V equates it to the feeling of watching the last episode in a K-Drama series.

...the series is inseparable from us. It’s hard to forget about it and it’s hard to say goodbye.


What’s so special about this “special album” though? Rap Monster reminds us that it’s the “entire collection of what we’ve talked about with ‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life’”. They used the series to try to define the concept of ‘youth’. If we take a look at the series as a whole, the conclusion we can draw is that youth has a dream, and dreams should be cultivated if possible, no matter what. Because a dreamer is passionate, and passion, in turn, fuels dreams. The symbiotic nature of this idea also seems to sum up BTS as whole, right? Below, we’ve provided many examples of the members chasing that dream—from silly moments on VLIVE, to endless hours of practice spent honing their craft.

Another reason why this album is so special? It shows us one of the many ways in which BTS always seems to be able to read ARMYs’ minds. They give us amazing intro and outro songs on their albums, and the HYYH series is a perfect example of this. The only disappointing part is that typically, these songs are very short. They’re meant to briefly open and close the album, to act as a guide to the listener for the journey. When we hear these songs, like “Outro: House of Cards” from The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2, we can’t help but wish they wouldn’t end.


Our wish was granted with The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever as it included full-length versions of some of the previous songs, including “House of Cards”. Linked below, you’ll find that and the full-length of “Love is Not Over”.

 

  1. “HOUSE OF CARDS” (FULL-LENGTH) COLOR-CODED LYRICS (03:43)       

  2. RAP MONSTER & JUNG KOOK - ONE MINUTE ENGLISH VLIVE (01:01, “Pardon?!”)    

  3. BANGTAN BOMB: JIMIN & JUNG KOOK “OWN IT” DANCE COVER  (03:20, choreography by Brian Puspos - shown below)       

  4. BANGTAN BOMB: JIMIN & JK “OWN IT” CHOREO SET TO “HOUSE OF CARDS” (01:58)     

  5. JUNG KOOK KARAOKE “MAKGEOLLINA” - VLIVE 06/21/16 (03:10)   

  6. “TALK! TALK! KOREA” 2016 TRAILER WITH BTS (01:51, feat. Tiny English)      

  7. JIMIN & V - 95Z SHOW MANDAKKO PT. 1: VLIVE 09/03/15 (04:14, they teach us dialect from Busan and Daegu)        

  8. JIMIN & V - 95Z SHOW MANDAKKO PT. 2: VLIVE 09/25/15 (05:36, more dialect and more adorableness)         

  9. “LOVE IS NOT OVER” (FULL-LENGTH) COLOR-CODED LYRICS (03:41 - shown above)  

  10. FLASH FORWARD JK BIRTHDAY KARAOKE “LOVE IS NOT OVER”: WEVERSE LIVE 09/01/22 (01:33- shown below)

  11. SUGA & J-HOPE HWAGAE MARKET PREVIEW: VLIVE 09/30/15 (01:01, they name themselves “SOPE”) 

  12. BONUS: ALBUM RELEASE COUNTDOWN: VLIVE 05/01/16 (01:12:08, feat. THE slap heard around the world - pictured above)

BTS Jimin & Jungkook “Own It” Dance Cover

Flash Forward - BTS JK Birthday Karaoke “Love is Not Over” Weverse live 09/01/22

 

Fun Fact

In 2015, BTS took part in their first major ad partnership with PUMA. It was only the beginning of the lucrative partnership offers that would be coming their way in the future.

One of the next major brand ambassadorships they entered into was with SK Telecom, the largest wireless provider in South Korea, in 2016.

The “School Uniform Ad” Campaign launched in February and was aimed at high schoolers, offering ‘gifts’ in the form of data cards and other incentives if customers showed their student IDs. So, the photoshoot and accompanying videos featured the members of BTS dressed in school uniforms, posing with the data cards and performing skits to highlight the incentives..

As a point of interest, Kim Namjoon’s father worked for (and still does, as far as we know) SK Telecom/SK Energy. The company announced the connection at the beginning of the campaign and Namjoon himself mentioned it when he was on the PSICK Show during his promotions for Indigo in 2022.

BTS SKT Ad Campaign shoot

 
 

DAY TWO:

BTS backstage 04/16/16

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever was BTS’ first compilation album. Last week we explored the new songs that were included, so this week we’ll take a look at the different versions and remixes of songs from the two previous albums in the series. They show us that the group didn’t just want to release a sort of “greatest hits” of the era album, but rather that they wanted to push their creativity by presenting the same material in a completely different way.

The secondary significance of this kind of creative move is it shows us that BTS had reached the point in their career where they felt comfortable experimenting a bit more with the catalog they had already built—taking the time to play to their fans by putting new spins on old favorites.

In the remixes linked below, we can hear different instrumentations, vocalizations, and even beat tempos in some cases. The results feel almost like completely different songs. As ARMY, we know that BTS is not tied to one musical genre only, but convincing non-fans, who have pigeon-holed them as a “boy band”, to give them a real chance can be difficult. With all the remixes on this album, one song can appeal to many different musical tastes. Do you have a friend who only listens to house/dance music? Play the “I NEED U” remix for them. How about someone who prefers slower, more piano and vocally driven songs? No problem. Give them the ballad version of “RUN”.

 

Bangtan Bomb: “I Need U” - Rap Line & Vocal Line switch parts

 

BTS - singing “I Need U” Live (Slow Jam Version)

BTS - singing “Run” (Ballad Mix)

BTS reacts to the “RUN” M/V

 
 
 

Bangtan Bubble: What’s your favorite moment from the HYYH era?

 
 

Answer in the comments below or on social media (be sure to tag @ARMYProject529 and mention #BangtanBubble)!

 

DAY THREE:

One of the most iconic songs of the HYYH era is “Butterfly”. Its lyrics speak of our universal fear over the fragility of friendship, love, and of happiness itself—relating it to the beautiful fragility of a butterfly coming out of the cocoon and unfurling its wings. 

BTS performing “Butterfly” on stage live

The Rap Line delivers their powerful verses in a way that still completely melds with the delicate feeling of the music and choreography. On The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, BTS gives us a version of the song featuring only the Vocal Line, and the result is just as beautiful, but in a different way. 

BTS “Butterfly” (Prologue Mix)

You’re right there, but why are you beyond my reach?


Featuring some new lyrics, the song feels more raw, more desperate. The original version gives us fragility, but with a determination behind it. The Prologue version sounds more vulnerable, leaving us wondering if the fear might win. It’s beautiful.

On the other side of the emotional spectrum, though equally iconic, BTS’ growing fascination and enjoyment of using VLIVE to connect with ARMY in real time was increasing during this time. They found it to be a perfect outlet for their senses of humor and desire to goof off whenever they had a chance. VLIVE gave them the opportunity to goof off AND work at the same time, so they took advantage as much as possible. We’ve linked to many prime examples for you this week, but make sure you check out the “Bonus” link for today, as it includes the origin of possibly one of the Top Five BTS memes of all-time…

 

  1. “BUTTERFLY” (PROLOGUE MIX) COLOR-CODED LYRICS (04:51 - shown above)        

  2. FLASH FORWARD: “BUTTERFLY” (PROLOGUE MIX) LIVE IN BUSAN 2022  (04:46)     

  3. BANGTAN BOMB: “BUTTERFLY” (ALTERNATIVE MIX) COLOR CODED LYRICS (03:59, absolutely beautiful)            

  4. THE SHOW “BUTTERFLY” M/V (03:57, we’re here for the library aesthetic - shown below)       

  5. MAKING OF THE SHOW M/V PT. 1 (04:09 - shown below)         

  6. MAKING OF THE SHOW M/V PT. 2 (04:46)        

  7. MAKING OF THE SHOW M/V PT. 3 (05:22)       

  8. MAKING OF THE SHOW M/V PT. 4 (05:18)    

  9. MAKING OF THE SHOW M/V PT. 5 (02:36)  

  10. JUNG KOOK KARAOKE PT. 2: VLIVE 06/21/16 (03:03)

  11. JIMIN & V TEASING ARMY IN VARIOUS WAYS: VLIVE IN KOBE 03/23/16 (06:13, How dare you, Taehyung?)

  12. BONUS: “EAT JIN” JIN (FEAT. JIMIN & JK): VLIVE 12/15/16 (20:21, “Hey, STOB IT!”)

BTS The SHOW “Butterfly” M/V

BTS - Making of The SHOW M/V PT. 1

 

Fun Fact

While the HYYH era was the official beginning of the Bangtan Universe, it does not contain the entire thing. We will continue to explore how this fictional storyline runs throughout BTS’ discography and media as we move along their career.

However, as we close out the era with The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, it is important that we provide some more information that is crucial to this time period for BTS and the storyline.

What we’re referring to are the “HYYH Notes”—the collection of media that gives clues and context to the parts of the story that take place within the HYYH time period. This collection includes liner notes from the albums, Twitter posts, and the book The Most Beautiful Moment in Life #1 which was written and released by Big Hit Entertainment.

Once again, we turn to thebtseffect.com to learn more. Follow the link to find a chronological summary of each part of the notes. The website’s creator does also include the direct translations and the notes in full on the website as well, if you would like even further context.

     

 
 

DAY FOUR:

In this week’s introduction we talked about something big that happened for BTS at the end of 2016—their first Daesang. At the MMAs (Melon Music Awards) that year they won “Album of the Year” for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever and it was a pivotal moment in their career.

BTS’s First Daesang “Best Album of the Year”

When you watch the video we have linked below that shows them winning the award you can see the palpable surprise on their faces. Almost as if maybe they didn’t hear the announcement correctly? Rap Monster leaps to his feet, fiercely proud even in the midst of his shock. He looks around at his other members, who are all stunned, and holds out his hands to them. His face says, “Let’s go. We’ve earned this.”

As they walk to the stage to accept the award, joy mixes in with the disbelief, and we even begin to see a few tears. The first thing the members do, of course, is thank ARMY. Rap Monster screams, “ARMY, I LOVE YOU!!!!!” 


They also thank Big Hit Entertainment, and its CEO, Bang PD. This award wasn’t just a huge win for BTS because it was their first recognition for “Album of the Year”. Even more importantly, with this award, BTS became the first K-Pop group who wasn’t from one of the “Big Three” companies (JYPE, SM, and YG) to win a Daesang—ever. This win was HUGE for Big Hit Entertainment, who only a couple of years prior had been facing possible bankruptcy, even after BTS debuted.

BTS MMA 2016 “Fire” performance

A shift was clearly happening on the K-Pop scene. It was clear now that nothing was going to be the same for BTS moving forward. Soon it would be time to spread their wings even further.

 

  1. BANGTAN BOMB: BTS AT 5TH GAON CHART AWARDS (04:26, they win “World Hallyu Star” award)      

  2. RAP MONSTER, J-HOPE, JIMIN & V AT THE AIRPORT: VLIVE 09/10/15 (03:52, cameo by JK)    

  3. BANGTAN BOMB: JUNG KOOK LIKES BAGGY PANTS. . .SORRY ARMY. (01:24)     

  4. “FIRE” MMA 2016 LIVE PERFORMANCE (04:20 - shown above)     

  5. BTS WINS THEIR FIRST DAESANG - BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR MMA 2016 (02:09, who’s cutting onions in here? - shown above)   

  6. BANGTAN BOMB: BTS AT MMA 2016  (12:18 - shown below)     

  7. LIVE TEAM #2 (JIN, SUGA, J-HOPE & JIMIN): VLIVE 08/07/15 (04:13, Who can get the most likes?)

  8. LIVE TEAM #1 (RAP MONSTER, V & JK): VLIVE 08/07/15 (04:12, Who can get the most likes?)

  9. BTS HITS 3 MILLION FOLLOWERS ON VLIVE: 09/22/16 (04:28 - shown below)  

  10. BTS ON “WEEKLY IDOL” PT. 1 (10:20)

  11. BTS ON “WEEKLY IDOL” PT. 2 (20:06)

  12. BTS ON “WEEKLY IDOL” PT. 3 (04:27)

Bangtan Bomb: BTS at MMA 2016

BTS Hits 3 Million Followers on VLIVE: 9/22/16

 

Fun Fact:

We just saw BTS win their first Daesang Award in some of the videos linked above, but what does that mean exactly? What is a Daesang, why is it so important, and what did this mean for BTS?

The word ‘daesang’ essentially translates to ‘major award’. The Daesangs are the grand prizes given away at Korean award shows. There are seven major award shows in South Korea that give out Daesangs:

  1. MNET Asian Music Awards (MAMA)

  2. Melon Music Awards (MMA)

  3. Golden Disk Awards (GDA)

  4. Korean Music Awards (KMA)

  5. Seoul Music Awards (SMA)

  6. Asia Artist Awards (AAA)

  7. Soribada Music Awards (SOBA)

Some of the award categories that are included as Daesangs are “Artist of the Year”, “Album of the Year”, and “Song of the Year”. As we discussed above, their first win for “Album of the Year”, at the MMAs was incredibly important for BTS because it solidified not only their place in the K-Pop industry, but also that of their company, Big Hit Entertainment (now Big Hit Music, under HYBE).

According to Wikipedia, as of November 2023, BTS has received 67 Daesangs during their career, and they hold the record for the most-awarded artist in South-Korean history.

 
 

DAY FIVE:

BTS’s Japanese album Youth

On September 7, 2016, BTS released their second Japanese album: Youth. In many ways, it encapsulates the themes of all three of the albums in the Korean HYYH series while still putting a fresh spin on the concept for a different audience. In “Introduction: YOUTH”, they make the bold claim that:


Youth has no age,

It just stays there, beautifully…

And it’s everyone who’s chasing their dreams


Rap Monster then names all of the members and says that they are the ones chasing the dreams of youth. It feels very personal and intimate.

BTS singing “Good Day Japan” Fanmeet

The album does contain some translated versions of previously-released Korean tracks, such as “I NEED U” and “RUN”, but there are a surprising amount of originally-written songs as well. All of them explore the various themes we’ve encountered before from BTS. 

“For You” and “Wishing on a Star” both give us the magic of young love and all the hopes and dreams surrounding it. “Good Day” is a message of support—no matter what, BTS will be there for us—with their hands outstretched toward ARMY—just as Rap Monster held his hand out to his members when they won their first Daesang. They want us to know that we’re forever on this journey with them, and that even better days are ahead.

 
 

BTS - “Run” Japanese version Official M/V

BTS “For You” Official M/V

 
 
 

Bangtan Bubble: Do you ever “wish upon a star”? What’s your latest one?

 

Let us know your answer in the comments below or on social media (include #BangtanBubble)!

 
 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

We’ve talked a lot about the concept of ‘youth’ and the themes surrounding it this past month as we’ve explored the albums in BTS’ The Most Beautiful Moment in Life series. We know that BTS has fans of all ages, including those who are, in some cases, many years older than the band members themselves. It may seem, on the surface, that an era exploring ‘youth’ wouldn’t appeal to these fans, but it’s quite the opposite. As we went through each album, we discovered that the themes discussed are timeless. Love, friendship, fear of the unknown, determination to follow one’s dreams… these are not relegated to the younger generations only. In fact, we all have lessons to learn from the HYYH series. What was your biggest takeaway from these albums?

Forgetting what we already know of BTS, doesn’t it seem like they couldn’t possibly fly any higher than they already have? Well, join us next week as they attempt to… with the help of a brand new pair of WINGS…

BTS WINGS album

 
 

Side Quest

In November of 2015, BTS began their “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage” tour, which we have covered previously. It included stops in Korea and Japan.

BTS began the second leg of this tour in May of 2016, calling it "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue". It ran throughout that summer with shows in ten different cities in Korean, Taiwan, Japan, China, Thailand, and the Philippines.

 
 

BTS On Stage Epilogue Concert Teaser

BTS SUGA the day before the concert: VLIVE 05/06/16

  1. “ON STAGE: EPILOGUE CONCERT” TEASER (00:43)  

  2. SUGA THE DAY BEFORE THE CONCERT: VLIVE 05/06/16 (02:21) 

  3. CONCERT PRACTICE (not on YT Playlist 23:51) 

  4. HYYH EPILOGUE PT. 1 (not on YT Playlist 49:17)   

  5. HYYH EPILOGUE PT. 2 (not on YT Playlist 52:05)    

  6. HYYH EPILOGUE PT. 3 (not on YT Playlist 59:49)

  7. HYYH EPILOGUE PT. 4 (not on YT Playlist 41:27)

 
 
 

CREDITS:

YouTube/Web

HYBE LABELS, BANGTANTV, BTS JAPAN OFFICIAL, Bangtan Subs, Real Week, Bangtanie Subs, Lemoring, KBS WORLD TV, Zhi Qi Lim, BTS Live Archive, Candlelight, Geegee, Big Hit Entertainment, ARIRANG K-POP, Saglovesu, Nolwenn Vadelorge, Gulnar Mammadova, n.a.e, Ja LINA!!, Bangtan’s Corner, junggkook.jeon.97, LAST SCENE JK, J Forkink, KIMVV, Harazaki Seira, Sandia, Love 4 BTS, aandthatsy, Jaeguchi, Santa Desyana, 미락 MiRak, • m i n a m o c h i •, 피식대학Psick Univ, dailymotion.com (milkykook, BTSandARMYPower), thebtseffect.com, wikipedia.org

ARMY Project 529 Volunteers

Research Team: Angel (TikTok: Lilangel2828), Leslie Day (TikTok: Leslie Day), Merry (TikTok: merryj67), Sam T (TikTok: samt_26), Shelley (TikTok: shels167), Trudy (TikTok: theeducationmommy), Viv (TikTok: VivEliz); Video Team: Leslie Day (TikTok: Leslie Day); Editing Team: Kendra (Discord: Mudskipper); Website Team: Colette (TikTok: voicesinmyhead2)

 

Join us on TikTok every Sunday evening at 8pm ET for #the529live, a wrap up of each week's The 529 Connection. It’s hosted by AP529 Founder, Stefne, on her channel (@StefARMYProject529). If you can't watch live and want to watch later, Lives will be recorded and posted to our YouTube (@ARMY Project 529).

Quince
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