So, BTS just “dropped” their MV and remix of their song Mic Drop. I did not stay up for Black Friday sales. Instead, I joined the Twitterverse of ARMYs and waited for the release of the Mic Drop Remix (with Steve Aoki and Desiigner). Here are my first impressions and unfiltered thoughts. Be warned. My unfiltered thoughts are kind of stream of consciousness reactions.

I loved the song before, and I still love it, so…yay!

I have to be honest. I was excited to see the MV, but I was worried this remix was going to focus too much on the bass beat and lose the tight vocals on the chorus. I am very pleasantly surprised!

Dang. RM is all guylinered and looking sultry:

When RM came out with his kind of crimpy hair and those intense eyes, he definitely captured my attention. This look has the vibe of some of the early days of BTS, but with a little less youthful dark and wild and a whole lot more mature intensity.

I bet V and Suga in their bandanas and headbands could be used in place of a defibrillator:

Many people can pull off hats, but it takes someone special to rock a headband. V and Suga have that ability, and once again make hearts flutter with their variety of headbands in this MV. Not since Olivia Newton John in her iconic video “Physical” have I seen anyone who is just meant for a headband. And, in this case, there are two people just meant for this kind of headwear. On a side note, I was way older than I care to admit before I learned the song “Physical” was not about doing Jazzercise…

Umm… Is that English?

I must admit that I watched the MV only twice and then rushed off to give my unfiltered thoughts. As I listened, though, I was unsettled a couple of times because where I usually go “Na Na Na Nee, La, La, La, La,” I heard English lyrics. I am going to have to go back and listen again. I have mixed feelings about this. I am a firm believer in the idea (despite being asked by gobs of American interviewers over the last week if they were going to release songs in English), that the music can stand on its own. Music transcends language barriers and I do not think there is any need to make songs in English. On the other hand, maybe throwing in a little more English will help expand their reach. If that means they come back to the United States more often, then I can get behind it. Still, I actually prefer the flow of the Korean, so I definitely have mixed feelings.

I wonder if they did this in one take or if they had to set fire to multiple cars…

The backdrop for this MV has a lot of fire and some junk cars. It is always fun to see what kind of setting they will choose for their MVs. I was kind of a fan of the towering pile of laundry in Spring Day (probably because I have a similar one in my laundry room). I also loved the ninja back-up dancers in Not Today. I have often thought my life would be complete if I could just have an entourage of ninja back-up dancers to follow me around.

Will this make its way up the charts?

I am always extremely impressed with the social media savviness of ARMYs around the world. There are often posts explaining how to increase the chances for a song to make it to the top of the chart. Apparently streaming the video from the official YouTube channel and streaming the music is the best way to do this. There are very specific things they suggest too, like clearing your browser history and streaming it again and again and again. When I finished watching the MV the second time, it was at like 300,000 views. That was within the first few minutes of its release!

Ooh! Jimin is showing of his shoulders (again)

If you watch a lot of BTS MVs or videos of performances, you will often see Jimin getting into the music and giving his fans a glimpse of his shoulders. I don’t have anything more to say about that, but from a pure art appreciation stance: Thank you, Jimin.

What’s Next?

BTS is gaining international popularity. Even a co-worker said to me the other day, “Hey, I saw one of those Korean boy bands the other night on the AMAs. I can see why you like them.” So, if they are gaining the attention of “Bob Down the Hall,” then you can be sure they are on fire! Now, there is currently some controversy about MAMA awards and how some votes were considered illegal, so they recalibrated and suddenly BTS lost their lead to EXO. It may be very difficult for BTS to make up the difference at this point, but ARMYs have surprised me before! Regardless, though, I think the true measure of success (other than Bob noticing them), is to continually rise up the charts. So, if you are an ARMY or you just really like the music of BTS, then go stream, stream, stream!

Thanks for joining me for another edition of “First Impressions and Unfiltered Thoughts.” Please comment with YOUR first impressions and thoughts (unfiltered or filtered).

Until Next Time…

Kdrama Jen (Maybe I am Kpop Jen today)

Dramas with a Side of Kimchi