The K-pop masters, BTS have taken over the world of music without any compromises โ no novelty hits, no crossover songs in English, no celebrity duets. They have taken the sound of Seoul, and they’ve managed to make the world fall in love with them on their terms.
BTS made 2019 their year with the album, Map of the Soul: Persona, topped the Billboard 200 upon its March release, and their single “Boy With Luv” became the band’s highest-charting song. They also performed on SNL, launched the massive Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour, and were named among Time’s 100 Most Influential People. And now, they are here to take over 2020 as well!
.@BTS_twt debuts two songs on this week’s #Hot100:
“Boy With Luv” w/ @halsey (No. 8)
“Make It Right” (No. 95)โ Billboard Charts (@billboardcharts) April 22, 2019
The Big Announcement
BTS announced the release of a new album on January 7, kicking off 2020 with a bang! The group’s army of dedicated fans went crazy from the excitement on social media platforms.
[๊ณต์ง] #BTS MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 ๋ฐ๋งค ์๋ด (+ENG/JPN/CHN)https://t.co/gvynYozghW
โ BTS_official (@bts_bighit) January 7, 2020
Roll Out Plans for Map of the Soul: 7
Big Hit Entertainment rolled out the MOTS7 album in four phases. The first single was released on January 10, along with an accompanying Art Film performed by MN Dance Company. The comeback map highlighted cities, including London, Berlin, Seoul, New York City, and Buenos Aires tied to the comeback trailers. This global project titled ‘Connect, BTS’ connected 5 cities and 22 artists. The sole purpose of this project was to define a relationship between art and music with the help of artists who contribute their unique philosophy and imagination to their projects.
#BTS #๋ฐฉํ์๋ ๋จ MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 COMEBACK MAP#MAP_OF_THE_SOUL_7 pic.twitter.com/YRBGLGI9bN
โ BigHit Entertainment (@BigHitEnt) January 8, 2020
Comeback Trailer: SHADOW (January 10)
Comeback Trailer: EGO (February 3)
A drama series about the group’s rise to the top and insights about their journey is slated to be released in the second half of 2020. Band members won’t be starring in it as themselves, though. Actors will play younger versions of all the band members, and the drama series will show how they came together.
Concept Photos
Starting from February 10 to February 13, BTS released four versions of concept photos to tease ARMY with glimpses as to what was expected from the Map of the Soul: 7 album.
MOTS: 7 Concept Photo Version 1: The first set spoke about the band’s desire for perfection.
MOTS: 7 Concept Photo Version 2: This set was about their unquenchable thirst.
MOTS: 7 Concept Photo Version 3: It reflected BTS reach their sense of calling.
MOTS: 7 Concept Photo Version 4: This final version showed off the band’s true selves.
Presales
According to Washington Post, the pre-orders for this album began from January 9, and they surpassed 4 million presales worldwide. They beat their previous presale record of 3.7 million copies of the album, Map of the Soul: Persona.
‘MAP OF THE SOUL: 7’ has topped 4 million pre-orders worldwide. (WashingtonPost reports)
โ BTS Charts โท (@btschartdata) February 7, 2020
Map of the Soul: 7
The latest album from BTS is a kind of self-referential homage. All the members, rappers RM, Suga and J-Hope; and vocalists Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook get to shine in this album, individually and together. It is the seventh full-length album for the K-pop band, BTS, which features guest appearances from Halsey and Sia.
Tracklist
The Map of the Soul: 7 tracklist, which features 20 songs, 15 out of which are brand new tracks. The title song of the album was revealed in the tracklist itself. It is titled ‘ON.’ The audio of the record was released on February 21. You will get to see the official music video of the song on February 28, culminating the Map of the Soul: 7 timelines.
Map of the Soul: 7 – Collectible CD Packages
Each of the four-CD variants has the same base content โ the CD album, a photo book, a lyric book, a mini notebook, a postcard, a sticker, coloring paper, and a poster. There are slight differences in each depending on which of the four-CD packages customer purchases. To add on to the collectability of the CD packages, each contains one of 32 randomized photo cards.
Album Review
According to the Rolling Stone, Map of the Soul: 7 is their most smashing album yet. It shows off their mastery of different pop styles ranging from rap bangers to slow dance ballads, prog-style philosophizing to post-Swedish electro-disco.
Based on early chart data, it’s racing to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the summit of the Official UK Albums Chart. BTS topped the Billboard 200 with its last three charting albums: Map of the Soul: Persona (in April 2019), Love Yourself: Answer (September 2018), and Love Yourself: Tear (June 2018).
Promotions After Release
BTS has been quite busy since the album release on February 21. They appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday (February 24) and joined James Corden for ‘Carpool Karaoke’ on The Late Late Show Tuesday (February 25).
The K-pop superstars staged a takeover of Fallon’s late-night show, with interviews, games, and a memorable performance of ‘ON’ at NYC’s Grand Central Station.
James Corden packs his SUV with the members of BTS!
Map of the Soul Tour
To celebrate the music and their success, BTS will kick off the BTS’ Map of the Soul Tour on April 11, 2020, at Olympic Stadium, Seoul. From there, they will carry on with their music to the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. The tour will conclude at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, on September 2, 2020.
BTS MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR ์ผ์ ์๋ด#BTS #๋ฐฉํ์๋ ๋จ #MapOfTheSoulTour pic.twitter.com/qrqOUD9HAl
โ BigHit Entertainment (@BigHitEnt) January 22, 2020
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