K-pop sensations BTS have released a new book. Here are seven career lessons.

By Charles Passy

The band’s rise to stardom story offers key points that could potentially help anyone

What can K-pop group BTS teach us about advancing our own careers?

At first glance, this may seem like a silly notion – at least if you’re not aspiring to a career as a member of a globe-trotting boy band. But as I learned while reading the recently released book, “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS,” the seven-member group’s rise to stardom offers invaluable lessons that can be applied to nearly anyone who make their way through work. world.

And let’s not forget that BTS had to do a lot to get where they are. After all, they’ve sold over 100 million albums to date, according to the ChartMasters website. They were the first K-pop group to have a No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. a first time.

So here are seven career lessons we can take from the book…

dare to be different

BTS didn’t invent the K-pop “idol” genre (or the boy-band genre, for that matter). In fact, when the group debuted in 2013, there had been other K-pop boy groups dating back at least 20 years. But BTS brought a different energy and vibe to the scene — in particular, daring to infuse hip-hop into the genre. As the book says, “If the world of idols is a fantasy genre, [BTS] brought the raw, raw, wild essence of the more dramatic hip-hop genre, without compromising their identity as idols.”

Adopt the new technology

When BTS debuted, K-pop groups relied heavily on South Korean television to promote themselves. But BTS realized there was a new — and arguably better — way to reach an audience. Namely, through a live streaming platform called V Live. As the book explains, “With the emergence of V Live, the generation in which [K-pop] idols were shrouding themselves in mystery behind the scenes, restricting their content and gradually distributing it to fans, had come to an end. BTS used the platform to bond with their “army,” as the group’s fans have been called.

And kiss the diss

A key moment in BTS’ early history is when Korean rapper B-Free insulted the group for being idols instead of real rappers. But in the book, the band says the diss ultimately proved helpful in giving them a firmer resolve to keep doing what they were doing, even if there was more hate along the way. others. As BTS member RM says in the book, “I looked up and studied the insults and hurts so much, and I became even more passionate.”

Practice, practice, practice

And you think you work hard! For BTS, the group’s early training regimen often involved grueling 12-hour (or longer) workdays. Sleeping and eating sometimes became a luxury as they practiced songs and worked out dance routines (in K-pop, precision of movement is key). BTS member J-hope puts it this way, “The alarm goes off at 10 a.m. and we grab some salad, bread, and chicken breast and go to the practice studio. Then we practice and we revise and keep yelling “Argh!” and start all over again and then it’s “Arrrgh!” again and all of a sudden it’s 10 p.m. Then we go back to the dorm and sleep. Ad nauseam.”

Learn what you don’t know

Some BTS members were great rappers and some were great dancers. But in the end, they all had to learn from each other so they could be on equal footing. “I felt like the first thing we needed to do was help other members find joy in dancing,” says j-hope, a key dancer in the group. Meanwhile, members RM and SUGA gave rap/hip-hop lessons to those who needed help.

Don’t pay too much attention to the numbers

Bands live and die by the numbers – their album sales, their touring revenue, etc. But BTS member Jung Kook says you can’t pay too much attention to the numbers while charting your course. As he says, “I had to keep improving, and I was working hard to keep releasing albums one by one…So I was like, ‘I guess I’m fine.’ I didn’t want to focus on the numbers, just keep doing what we’ve always done.”

Don’t Let a Dumpling Conflict Get in Your Way

If you work in a team, conflicts inevitably arise, but the key is to overcome them. Take “the dumpling incident,” as BTS refers to one of the weirdest scrapes in their decade-long history. It had to do with a disagreement between members V and Jimin about when to eat dumplings, with “V wanting to eat during choreography practice and Jimin after practice”, as the book recounts. (V had been busy filming a TV project on the side, so he tried to fit in with food whenever he could.) Eventually, the couple worked it out and learned the value of maintaining a good relationship. in difficult working circumstances.

-Charles Passy

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