I'm seeing a lot of people put way too much blame on Nicole Kim, and since I brought up frustrations about the English / relatable lyrics conversations here I want to clarify itās not meant as a dig at her specifically.
The subtitles in different languages and English cc vs English, plus that one article about it, makes this conversation very confusing. From what I gather upon rewatching, Tae raised concerns about lyrics only mattering to the members, not the listener, whereafter Nicole said something along the lines of "to be fair, songs like ON and black swan weren't very relatable either" (between the lines: but they still resonated with people) and Tae goes "right". Then Hobi talked about making Swim more accessible and inclusive, since it could be a single or centerpiece of the album.
Earlier, Nicole did argue for English lyrics being important in appealing to a global audience when the rappers wanted more korean for authenticity. But people are acting like she's the sole "villain" here. When they would've obviously had way more voices than hers to take into account in their decisions.
My frustration remains with how obviously the conflicting pressures (from themselves, the company, investors, the fans, everyone) to make the album a huge global hit affected them. Which again, is completely understandable. Just unfortunate.
The main feeling the documentary left me with isā¦.something reminiscent of the melancholic mellowness of Swim. I think.
If that was the whole point, Nguyen succeeded.
Iām not looking to focus too much on negativity, because I am very much enjoying the music and comeback activities, and I do not share the overall disappointment some feel. But there are a lot of mixed feelings. And the documentary cemented that.
Their constant conflict between just wanting to be normal guys who happen to sing for a living is such a classic thing you hear from celebrities. No one wants the pressure of always living up to everyoneās expectations, the constant public scrutiny, the loss of personal life freedom, the uncertainty of what happens if you donāt keep topping your last achievement.
I donāt know if it was the combination of jumping into the album making process almost straight out of military (which Iād imagine made them feel even closer to ājust being some guysā and further away from their artist/idol identities), and the hyper awareness of all the different kinds of audiences ready to pick this album apart, but it feels like the pressure did stifle their creativity a bit. All the different voices around them, outside and within the team they work with, constantly made them doubt themselves.
I guess Swim really is the perfect title track for what they felt during these past 10 months. What was it Namjoon said? Not dying, but almost? Just trying to keep your head above water.
I hope they have let some of that go now, even though many of their fears have come true in how the album has been received. Itās not all sunshine and rainbows, and some criticism is valid. But many, many fans love it. And they are reaching some new people as well.
At the end of the day, theyād get a lot of mixed reactions no matter what they did. And they were clearly prepared for that.
What frustrates me is mostly the feeling that they stayed too ambivalent between embracing the concept vs feeling like theyāre not worthy of it. And I think that could be why the album feels emptier than it could have been. I think they do better, especially as a full group, when they have something clear to build around and embrace that fully and the arirang vagueness makes that harder, even if thatās part of the point.
The constant āinternational audiences would receive it like this, but Koreans would say this and thisā seemed to really weigh on them. I understand that itās impossible to not think like that, and that theyāre stuck in a tough position where theyāve had such immense successes, but now almost have to reach yet another peak to not ruin their own legacy.
At the same time, I canāt help but wish they didnāt give in to outside pressures too much, particularly on the English and more ārelatableā lyrics. It would be one thing if it was them who really wanted to try more rapping in English, but it wasnāt. They didnāt stand their ground enough on that in my opinion. The lyrics are the main thing that makes it feel disconnected, because as joon said, even he is not a native. Itās not about āwanting them to stay in the kpop boxā like some would say, just that there is a barrier between them and lyrics in a language they didnāt grow up around or use day to day. For the members who arenāt even fluent, it feels like the wrong priority to have them practice pronunciation so much just to sing words that donāt mean as much to them as Korean ones would. And with hiphop in particular, itās hard to not hold them to a higher standard than other kpop groups.
And then ON and Black Swan being brought up as ānot relatableāā¦.as if thatās not one of their absolute artistic peaks, feels like dumbing them and the audience theyāre trying to reach down. Do they really care to be embraced by people who would be put off by a song in Korean, or who wouldnāt take the time to translate lyrics, anyway? Or is it more the company who caresā¦
It sort of feels like theyāre surrendering to the idea that artistic depth is dead in pop. And that makes me a little bit sad, especially after Jimin and raplineās solo work.
And Iām saying all this while I do think the album is a solid comeback. And I do think it blends their solo eras and earlier years as BTS, plus some new experimentation, together well. I do love listening to many of the songs, and I genuinely think itās better production wise than a lot of their earlier work.
I donāt know. While I dislike blind fanaticism, I also feel a bit uncomfortable being all āok, but hereās what they couldāve done betterā, when this too is part of why the pressure is so heavy. But I think fans sharing honest opinions in a nuanced and respectful way is good. Thereās a big difference between that and spiteful hate.
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