It has been a while since I’ve invested my time into the Korean-pop (K-pop) genre. I used to be an eager fan of K-pop, downloading and listening to almost every released album the minute it was out. It was the sense of connection I felt with the songs sung by singers who were in the same generation as I was that first intrigued me to the genre.

A noteworthy characteristic of the current South Korean music industry is that it is greatly influenced and directed by the selected few companies, such as SM and YG entertainments, who have recently been leading the trend of debuting young boy and girl-groups to the music scene. 

Unfortunately, many of the songs categorized in the genre are extremely in common, almost indistinguishable from one another. As I grew older, the sense of constancy drifted me further apart from mainstream K-pop as I directed my attention to a more diverse collection of music. 

Nonetheless, the newly released album of the boy-band, BTS, gives a fresh look into the evolving genre of K-pop, which not only focuses on coordinated dances, but also on the musical quality of the artists.

Their album, titled “The Most Beautiful Moment In Life, Pt. 2,” is the second part of their full album. The band, which debuted in 2013, is considered one of the more experienced ones in the industry that pours out an incredible number of groups every year. While the band has a solid fanbase for the members’ appearances and their dance performances, their new album reveals the group’s tremendous potential as a true artist, not just as a K-pop “idol,” a term that refers to the young members in the group. 

The band, which focuses on songs that offer a collaboration of rap and pop music, is truly unique for the messages behind their songs. The band has expressed their emotions about the youth and the modern generation, singing about their passion and motivation to move forward in life.

“RUN,” their second song in the album, is the song that clearly epitomizes the band’s identity–describing the youth as beings who continue to run, the band itself strives to offer a fresh air into the genre of K-pop.

“Butterfly” is another song in the album that follows the same trend, with its halcyon tone producing a sense of dream-like quality. The mystical atmosphere of the songs that surround the album offer a new voice into the electronic and repetitive music that permeate the modern industry.