BTS vs Dave

By David Tizzard

This week I purchased one of the newly-released BTS dolls for my niece. The joy it brought her was both palpable and contagious: 30,000 won well spent.

We've also sat down and learned their song Boy with Luv on the piano together.

At 10 years-old she's at the age where she simply can't get enough of the 7 boyband members. Any glimpse of them on TV advertising a product sees her shriek in excitement. It's marvelous to see.

The group's record-breaking achievements are to be applauded. They have taken the Billboard Charts by storm, sold out Wembley Stadium twice, wowed millions around the world with their slick choreography and polished performances, and even encouraged the MTV Music Awards to create a whole new K-pop category.

That last fact is certainly worth taking note of and ― despite the cries of racism and xenophobia rising up from the internet about this nascent K-pop category ― I personally think it's something of which South Korea as a country should be very proud.

It has been a long and winding road for K-pop. But since 1992 and the arrival of Seo Taeji, the country, the performers, and the huge entertainment companies, have nurtured a product that is now loved, in part, all over the world.

The various manifestations and evolutions, the government funding, the sweat and toil, the dedication of the fans and general public has begun to become genuinely recognized on the world stage.

Moreover, I am quite sure that many of the people involved in K-pop over the last 25 years would have been extremely proud to see MTV devote a whole category to the genre and thus provide greater publicity and exposure to other groups here.

One that perhaps doesn't need the exposure ― but possibly deserves more awards ― is BLACKPINK.

The quartet recently wowed Coachella with their performances. And this week the four member girl group became the first K-pop group to have a video reach 900 million views. No mean feat considering the competition.

Their Thai member Lisa (a welcome and timely reminder of the possibilities of Asian cooperation) is also the K-pop star with the most Instagram followers, clocking in at 22.3 million followers.

This was not enough to convince the newly-crowned King of Malaysia when was asked in an interview this week to choose between BTS and BLACKPINK, however.

He chose the former, much to the delight of millions.

But what a question to ask a king!

BTS ride the crest of the wave at the moment, but they stand on the shoulders of proverbial giants.

I wonder if that last fact has in some way numbed a percentage of the domestic audience to the charms of the group. After all, the fans here have already lived through G.O.D., Super Junior, SHINee, TVXQ, Big Bang (yes, they were huge at the time), and many many more.

Teaching hallyu and Korean popular culture I have noticed that despite my niece's love, the group's popularity does not always stretch to university students or those in their early twenties. There is a certain demographic that the chaps seem to appeal to, kings included of course.

Furthermore, many of my international students come here as devoted ARMY members yet are often surprised to find their passion is not shared by all their Korean classmates.

For a lot of the world, however, this is the first real time they've been able to have K-pop on demand. And with the technological advances and online platforms, fans can now watch BTS movies, play BTS games, see their airport tweets, and watch their videos 24/7.

And so, with such access to information, I would like to suggest that the continued comparisons that journalists make between the BTS and the Beatles are not really appropriate from a 'musical' perspective.

There are far more relevant and contemporary acts to which BTS could be compared and thus generate more interest in music, art, creativity and social issues ― rather than simple numbers.

That's what it's all about anyway, right?

One modern British artist that I think bears resemblance to BTS (specifically their early hip-hop incarnation rather than recent pop transformation) is called Dave. A fantastic name for a performing artist, I'm sure you'll agree.

Dave is a 21 year-old British artist who sings, raps, plays piano and produces.

He has a host of number ones under his belt and his 2019 debut album Psychodrama has received critical praise from many. He has collaborated with Ed Sheeran, has a Netflix series coming out in the Autumn, and has been nominated for this year's Mercury Prize which selects the country's best album.

Apropos of nothing, the Mercury Prize has been sponsored for the past three years by none other than Hyundai.

He was also one of the stars of this year's Glastonbury festival ― most notably when he asked a random fan from the crowd to come up and sing with him. The young lad that jumped up had possibly had a few too many disco biscuits but performed admirably and the video quickly became an internet sensation with millions of views.

Dave's latest album is very British ― very London actually ― but more importantly it deals with a whole host of social issues. It's more of a commentary on life and tackles race, mental health, the imprisonment of his brother, and physical abuse in a very frank yet thought-provoking manner.

One particular track grabbed my attention as I drove through the mountains of Gangwondo listening to the album. To be fair, the song had already taken much of the musical world by storm 4 months ago but age means I'm sometimes a little bit behind the cool kids.

The 11 minute track “Lesley” (yep, eleven minutes) is a fascinating piece of art. And hearing it for the first time I had no idea where it was going. I shan't spoil it for anyone that is interested and will only say get on YouTube and check it out.

I heard it in the context of the entire album and was quite honestly blown away. The internet is now already filled with reaction videos of others watching and listening to it, too.

My point here, however, is not just to single out Dave as an artist. Nor is it to say that one artist is better than another.

The point is to say that if journalists and reporters are going to make comparisons between artists and groups, they could be made with more of an eye on the contemporary world.

Moreover, it could be done in such a way so as to introduce people to new sounds rather than simply entrench them in their existing ones.

BTS vs the Beatles is boring and as an argument for many a non-starter. So how about BTS' music and Dave's music?

I wonder what the King of Malaysia thinks.

David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr

) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University.