BTS pleases fans with 20 vibrant new songs on Map of the Soul: 7

Cajeong_JM | Wikimedia Commons

Amanda Salazar, Editor-in-Chief

BTS, the K-pop group that’s been taking the world by storm lately, just released their seventh studio album, titled “Map of the Soul: 7,” on Feb. 21 through their company, Big Hit Entertainment.

The seven-member boy band debuted in Seoul, South Korea in 2010, but has been gaining popularity and recognition in the United States recently, with a performance at this year’s Grammys Awards and at last year’s American Music Awards.

They’ve also been on a host of American talk shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Late Show with James Corden.

The band has also appeared at the United Nations, where the group’s leader, Kim Namjoon, also known as RM or Rap Monster, gave a speech.

Their fans have been patiently waiting for the release of their new album, which will precede the group’s next world tour — which will be making a stop in New Jersey, rather than New York — and it’s finally here.

The boys sold over 3.42 million copies of the album in the six-day period of the presale, breaking their own record of presales from their previous releases.

Map of the Soul: 7 has 20 new songs that feature the members singing, rapping and collaborating with several other artists.

And honestly? The album is everything ARMY, the band’s fanbase, has been waiting for and more.

First off, it’s important to note that 20 tracks are a lot of songs to release all at once.

The amount of time that they must have spent working on them is incredible.

Secondly, nearly all the songs are hits and most are very meaningful to the artists, as they have a hand in the writing and producing of their own music, which is not always the case for K-pop groups.

To start with a random song, take a look at “Friends.”

 It’s sung by Park Jimin, who goes by his given name, Jimin, and Kim Taehyung, whose stage name is V. It’s a song about their friendship from when they met to where they are now.

They sing about being soulmates and how their friendship has strengthened throughout their years working together.

“One day when this cheer dies down, stay hey/ You are my soulmate/ For eternity, keep staying here hey/ You are my soulmate,” some of the lyrics towards the end of the song read.

In addition to the lyrics being sweet, their vocals work nicely together since Jimin has a very high-pitched voice while V’s is surprisingly deep.

They both also have a smooth and soft way of singing, so the song sounded very good.

Another great song from the album is “We are Bulletproof: The Eternal.” This one is a very meaningful song not just for the band but also for their fans, as it’s about their time together these past seven years.

“Yeah we are not seven, with you,” member Jeon Jungkook sings in the song’s outro, meaning that the group is not just its seven members, but also all of its fans and supporters worldwide — a number much higher than seven.

As for the songs with collaborations, they were good but could have been better.

Lauv’s part in “Make it Right” was great. His singing went well with the song, but it was a full minute and 23 seconds before he finally stopped singing and it got to BTS.

His part was just the intro and then he didn’t come back at all later in the song. It would have been cool to hear him throughout it and hear his voice mix with the members’.

Then the song “Boy With Luv” had the opposite problem, where Halsey was scarcely heard at all in the song. She did little parts of back up singing and the words, “Oh my my my,” which is barely anything at all.

The album also has solo songs from each of the singers and the rappers. Eldest member Kim Seokjin’s, Jin for short, solo song “Moon” shows off just how beautiful his voice is.

The song seems to be a love song, with lyrics like, “Suddenly I wonder/ If you’re looking at me right now? (Oh)/ Won’t you find out all my pain? (Oh)/ I’ll be around you/ I’ll be there for you/ I’ll be your light/ All for you.”

Overall, the album was a beautiful tribute to the group’s time together and to their fans.