7 INTERESTING BTS DYNAMITE FACTS

As a k-pop fan in the Netherlands, where k-pop is not one of the most popular genres per say, not many peers will agree with me when I tell them k-pop songs are ‘good’ or ‘worth a listen’. Or they will just wave it off with a ‘yeah, of course, it sounds okay, but it’s not really anything special’. Even though, especially with k-pop songs and in particular music videos, there are sometimes so many unique aspects worth mentioning or explaining. So that is what I will be doing today.

A bit over 3 years ago today the first k-pop song I heard (as far as I know) was Dynamite by BTS in an advertisement by Samsung for the Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition. You might like the song or not, you can be a fan of BTS or k-pop or not at all, but after these 7 interesting BTS’ Dynamite facts you had no clue about, I hope you will agree with me that this specific song is something special.

A brief history of the release of Dynamite

On August 18th 2020 the teaser for Dynamite dropped on the Big Hit Labels’ YouTube Channel (now HYBE LABELS). In the 28 second long teaser for the song and Music Video the 7 members of BTS are seen in a variety of outfits and sets, somewhat characteristic to the mainstream K-pop music videos.

After its release on August 21st this specific music video, unlike any other K-pop music video, would become the fastest YouTube video to reach 10 million views (20 minutes) and the most viewed YouTube video in the first 24 hours (101.1 million views), both documented in the Guinness Book of World Records.

For the seasoned K-pop or BTS fan this is nothing new yet, but let’s dive into all the aspects that made it possible for the music video to reach this kind of audience this quick.

1. Catchy and retro is not really BTS’ style

When describing Dynamite, two things immediately come to mind: it’s catchy and it has kind of a retro vibe. Catchy & retro are the main themes for this song and the music video, represented in happy and light lyrics, an energetic tune, smooth and active 70’s dance moves (more about those later), pastel colored outfits and overall aesthetic sets. Some would say: typical K-pop aspects. Although all these aspects were deliberately chosen for the song with its release amidst COVID-19 limitations and the corresponding desire for lighter (musical) themes, Dynamite and its lyrical theme, musical style or visual style are definitely not typical for BTS with hip hop as their base musical genre.

Also in terms of lyrics BTS is more known for actively contributing to their songwriting, dedicated towards telling meaningful stories that other people could not or would not tell as the band’s rapper SUGA once explained and is usually involved in the production process, all not the case for Dynamite. Consequently, this is besides an overall worldwide loved BTS song, Dynamite may also be one of the least loved songs by some fans that have been there from earlier on in their career, who were missing the sound and feeling they were used to with BTS.

However, the disco/pop genre song that Dynamite is, its catchy retro melody, light theme of joy and appreciation for the little things that make life valuable in the end may fit more to BTS than you would initially think. For a deeper explanation of why Dynamite could nevertheless become and be considered a success for BTS, let’s dive a bit deeper into the production process

2. Dynamite has more genres than just K-pop

More often than not K-pop is (unjustly) seen as a musical genre. However, it would be more befitting to say that K-pop is Korean-made pop music. Pop music, in full popular music, is generally (and currently) believed to cover the genres rock ‘n roll, folk, soul and jazz. However, as the term already indicates the specific genres to fall under the term ‘pop music’ depend on what is popular at the moment. So, if we leave behind the ‘K’ for a moment, Dynamite can be and is classified as a disco-pop song.

Furthermore, the song touches on and is mainly influenced by music from the 1970s and the genres funk, soul and bubblegum pop. The first 2 of these are characterized by being rhythmic and danceable with African American influences from the 50s and 60s, taking inspiration from genres like gospel, rhythm and blues. This shows in Dynamite through, for example, the use of snapping handclaps, echoing synths and celebratory horns. Bubblegum pop is mainly characterized by catchy tunes usually marketed towards adolescents. This shows in Dynamite through the key (C-sharp minor) and the tempo of 114 beats per minute.

All these aspects show a deep understanding and respect of the genres at the foundation of the song, executed with great attention to details in the production process, which are aspects befitting of BTS’ music.

3. Dynamite is one of the few songs BTS’ members did not actively contribute on

The second aspect of the production process of the song itself I want to highlight is the lyrics writing. As you may or may not know the song is fully English, not a language BTS members are known to be fluent in (with the exception of rapper RM). The song became one of the few songs of BTS in which the members did not actively contribute in songwriting or production written by David Stewart and Jessica Agombar. You may not know these names directly, but maybe you do recognize these songs: The Jonas Brothers’ “What A Man Gotta Do” or Ava Max’s “Million Dollar Baby”, created with the help of David Stewart as a writer.

The goal: create a song that could break the charts. According to Stewart and Agombar this could be reached through creating a song like other successful songs from earlier in 2020, like: Doja Cat’s “Say So”, Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar”, and Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me”. The song was created through Zoom meetings between the writers due to the ongoing pandemic.

The idea behind the lyrics: explosive, fireworks, party, fun, energetic, worldwide takeover. With this in mind the title ‘Dynamite’ is not that far fetched, with a theme of “energetic, fun, hopeful, positive and just like a huge ball of energy” as described by Agombar. The last part was reached through some lyrical additions by Jenna Andrews, know for example from Benee’s “Supalonely”, to make the song more PG friendly. How could a song with such writers and such energy not be successful?

4. Dynamite is filled with Michael Jackson dance moves

If all that wasn’t enough, the King of Pop also had to be dragged into the conversation. K-pop in general is highly influenced by Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson in previous years has been named as the most popular foreign artist in South Korea, but his influences are magnified by the wide variety of songs and dance moves (as dance is one of the leading aspects of K-pop) in K-pop inspired by Michael Jackson and (dance) covers of Michael Jackson performed by K-pop idols.

If you want some examples of K-pop songs inspired by Michael Jackson, give a listen to: “난 알아요 (I Know)“ by Seo Tae-ji and Boys, Taemin’s “Danger”, Jay Park’s “So Good” or Crush and Zion.T’s “Hey Baby”. Additionally not only K-pop idols are influenced by Michael Jackson, but also a lot of the songwriters behind popular songs from the past 20+ as that just is the influence that Michael Jackson had and still has in the (K-)pop-world.

Back to Dynamite and its Michael Jackson inspired dance moves. All dance moves as seen in the music video and live performances for Dynamite are based on or inspired by Michael Jackson moves, some moves can even be traced back to Michael Jackson Music Videos or performances one on one. When considering the popularity of Dynamite, you can’t ignore that Michael Jackson contributed to this, subconsciously by many viewers (at first glance) or not.

5. Dynamite was the most heavily promoted BTS song so far

You can also not omit the promotion schedule for Dynamite, as it was the most heavily promoted BTS song so far.

On July 26th a ‘fully english song’ by BTS was announced through V-Live, a platform where artists could have live sessions with fans, which is now incorporated in the platform Weverse.
On July 31st a Spotify pre-save link for the song was shared.
On August 2nd the title “Dynamite” was announced.
And on August 3rd the 7-inch & cassette could be pre-ordered, both sold out within an hour.
On August 4th the promotion schedule for after the actual release of the song was unveiled, including: two music videos, three interviews with American networks and a performance at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards.

Mind you, what I’m saying here is that all these announcements happened before the actual release of the song on August 21st. They were accompanied with official notices by the company, Instagram posts, Youtube updates and whatnot.

6. Dynamite broke more records than any other BTS song

We have talked about the production and release of Dynamite so far, but the song kept on standing out after its release by breaking record after record and achieving numbers never seen before with any other K-pop song or artist. Let’s start at the beginning: half an hour before its release a countdown for the music video started on the page of Big Hit Labels. During its release 3 million viewers were present, making Dynamite the biggest music video premiere on YouTube. This record was previously held by Blackpink with their song How You Like That (1.66 million premiere views).

In the days, weeks and even months after its release the song kept breaking a variety of ‘fastest to reach x-million’ views, streams, sales and more in categories such as: music groups (general) and K-pop artists. The song was present in national and international charts for weeks, like: the Billboard Hot 100 and several countries’ Top 40 and Top 100 charts. The song became Spotify’s biggest song debut of 2020, outperforming Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan”. The music video reached 1 billion views on YouTube after almost 8 months on April 12th 2021, being the fastest (but not first) song by BTS to reach 1 billion views. Other BTS songs that reached this kind of audience are “Boy With Love” & “DNA”.

7. Dynamite was nominated for a Grammy

This last point is probably quite well-known among K-pop and BTS fans, but cannot miss when explaining what makes this song so special. Dynamite was nominated in the category Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Spoiler alert: they did not win, which some fans are still sour about. Then why is this so groundbreaking? Dynamite was the first K-pop act to be recognized by the Recording Academy and receive a nomination. Now, 3 years after their initial nomination, BTS remains the only K-pop artist to ever receive a Grammy nomination, something that causes major disbelief with K-pop fans as several K-pop songs have ranked high on international charts in the past years and trended on TikTok. And sales numbers have also supported the likelihood of nomination. Let me name drop some high charting 2023 songs: Fifty Fifty’s “Cupid”, Jisoo’s “Flower”, IVE’s “I Am”, Seventeen’s “Super (손오공)”, Le Serrafim’s “Unforgiven”, Aespa’s “Spicy”, (G)I-dle’s “Queencard”, NewJeans’”Super Shy”, AKMU’s “Love Lee” and to lastly name 2 of BTS members’ solo activities Jung Kook’s “Standing Next to You” and JIMIN’s Like Crazy.

Let’s recap

I am not claiming BTS’ Dynamite is the best song in K-pop or BTS’ most signifying song. However, it is quite a unique K-pop song in its genre, lyrics, production and reception as well as what it has meant for the global acceptance of K-pop songs and artists. As a K-pop enthusiast I hope this wider acceptance will continue to spread and I can in a few years tell my Dutch peers about a K-pop song I think is ‘good’, ‘worth a listen’ or ‘special’ and they will not wave me off or even understand where I’m coming from.

Do you know any (K-pop) song or artist that is, could or should be considered as unique as BTS’ Dynamite, let me know in a comment. As a firm believer that music transcends language I am quite curious about your point of view. If you are curious about the songs named in this blog, I have put them in a Spotify playlist, which you can find below. If you are curious about more blogs or other content, you can follow me on my social channels, which are linked at the bottom of this page.

7 Interesting BTS’ Dynamite facts you had no clue about

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