Do you know BTS?

BTS, the 7 member K-pop boy band with catchy songs, deep lyrics, knife-like choreography, stunning visuals, and genuine personalities, is taking over the world and I’m here for it!

I stumbled upon BTS in January 2018 and though I am staunchly in my 40s, I fell swift and I fell hard and I have zero regrets. Though I came to them later than their earliest fans, I have more than made up for lost time by spending almost every single free second burning through data on anything remotely related to BTS.

Thanks to me falling on that grenade for you, I can now provide this unofficial (and possibly meandering) guide to BTS. What can I say? It’s for science.

Oh, and you’re welcome.

May your thirst and unending quest for BTS be quenched. (Although, really. Is that possible? No. The answer is no.)

This page is a work in progress because I have just started this series and am not remotely close to being done. But if you are patient and just a little bit naughty, I will update as soon as I finish each post.

Thanks for reading!

Here we are thus far

1) Intro to BTS – Wherein I give a quick overview about the group, their music, and their content.

2) Your Guide to Being a Middle-Aged BTS Fan – Have you ever been told, “You’re too old to like BTS“? Or asked yourself, “Am I too old to like BTS?” Do you wonder if you’re the only middle-aged BTS fan on Earth who loves BTS? I have created a handy manual addressing some of your totally legitimate questions about being an older BTS fan.

3) How K-pop Band BTS Gave Me Permission to Be a Woman Who Wants – I’m super proud of my article for Mochi Magazine that was published in February 2020. To be honest, I felt naked after submitting it; I even had several anxiety attacks as I wrote it. The response from women and older BTS fans has been comforting and sad. Comforting because I am glad I am not alone; sad because so many of us feel this way.

4) I Was A SAHM, Then The K-Pop Boy Band BTS Gave Me A Career – Published in July 2020 at Romper, I was again, super worried about the piece. “Two years ago, a shiny K-pop boy band with scathing hip-hop bangers and vulnerable pop songs helped me save myself. On the brink of 40, I was married with four children, living the suburban bilingual homeschooling stay-at-home dream I thought I wanted. And yet, I was ready to burn it all down and walk away from the people I love most in the world. Then along came BTS.”

5) My 10 Best BTS Songs – What series about a band would be complete without a ranking of their best songs? This is not that list. I have a certain musical bent and that bent is sad and mad and needs a hug. But maybe you’re the same?

6) Why I, a 40 Year Old Asian American Woman, Love BTS – Where I marry my love for BTS and the Asian American issues of representation, sexual desirability, and identity into a piece for Overachiever Magazine.

7) Why I Love BTS – If you’ve ever tried to explain why you love someone, you’ll know that it’s woefully inadequate to try because they are more than the sum of these things. Anyhow, every fan has their story of how BTS came into their lives at just the right time. Here’s mine.

8) Why BTS Winning a Billboard Music Award Matters – I cannot tell you how much BTS winning the 2019 Billboard Music’s Top Group Award means to me as a 40 year old Asian American woman. I wept in my minivan. Representation matters. It matters so much.

9) The Grammys Snub BTS: ARMY’s Reaction Smacks of White Privilege – The 2020 Grammy Nominations came out and snubbed BTS despite using their fanbase for clicks and clout. While ARMY’s reaction is justified, many of the shocked and angry responses also reeked of white privilege. This article explains why.

10) 100+ Things Only BTS Stans Know – Wherein I attempt to list 100+ things only a die-hard BTS fan would know. Do you know them all?

ALL My BTS and K-POP Posts:

Worried that I might have forgotten to update this page with my latest BTS and K-pop articles? That’s fair. But because I anticipated this, I have handily listed them for you here: