No. 1 on Billboard 200, winner of “Favorite Social Artist” at American Music Awards, 2-year consecutive winner of “Top Social Artist” at Billboard Music Awards, and “Best Recording Package” nomination at the Grammy Awards: BTS is breaking a record after another as they fearlessly march on. In 2018, they successfully sold out their “Love Yourself” world tour that spanned forty-two shows in over twenty cities worldwide, including the United States, Japan, and the U.K. In October 2018, over 50,000 audience members sang along their Korean songs en masse at Citi Field in New York. This year, they already sold out their show at Wembley Stadium, the second largest venue in Europe with a 90,000 capacity, in just ninety minutes. What is behind this extraordinary popularity of BTS, often dubbed “BTS phenomenon”?

This book is the first attempt at discovering BTS’ distinguishing factor through their music. Youngdae Kim is a music critic based in Seattle. For over a decade, he has observed and researched the trends in American pop music and K-pop. In this book, he reviews every track in their sixteen albums and analyzes the essence of BTS syndrome in the United States. Kim also delves into various aspects of “BTS-pop” through interviews with hip-hop journalist Bong-hyeon Kim, literary critic Hyeong-cheol Shin, the Chair of Korean Music Awards’ Selection Committee Chang-nam Kim, Billboard columnist Jeff Benjamin, popera tenor and voting member of the Grammy Awards Hyung-joo Lim.