BTS Explains Why Don’t Need to Get Respect From the General Public in America
BTS is one of the biggest artists in the world at the moment, and they have been achieving all sorts of impressive feats in the past few years. The group has even been compared to The Beatles in terms of success.
However, despite everything they have accomplished, it seems BTS continues to not get the respect that artists at their level usually get. Yet, the group is staying positive. They even explain why it is not that important for everyone in the U.S. to like them.
BTS often struggles to get mainstream recognition in the U.S.
BTS has been getting international recognition since 2017. The group has been breaking YouTube records, topping Billboard charts, and selling out stadiums around the world. However, many of their songs have struggled to get radio plays and, despite how well they do in the U.S., American award shows don’t always recognize their work.
Additionally, many news outlets have been criticized for the way they portray BTS. For example, Time Magazine was slammed by fans for saying the Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC “paved the way” for BTS’s success, seemingly undermining BTS’s accomplishments. Other outlets have come under fire for not doing proper research on BTS and using insensitive language to describe the group.
Fans think BTS and K-pop artists deserve more respect from people
Many K-pop fans have long complained about the genre not getting enough respect from the general public in Western countries. In a Reddit thread, fans discussed that, when artists like BTS promote in the U.S., it seems a lot of news outlets simply want to take advantage of K-pop’s fans’ dedication instead of actually giving K-pop the recognition it deserves.
“I don’t think people in the US will ever look at K-pop as more as weird Korean boy/girl groups,” one fan wrote. “They’ll never achieve respect, they’re all spectacle. That’s all. There is no legitimacy to [their award show] nominations, they’re mere popularity votes pandering to rabid fans so as to get ad revenue for attracting rabid fans to TV broadcasts. [It’s] not based on respect. It makes me nauseous.”
Another person agreed, saying, “I’m hoping groups can be seen as respectable artists in America. I know BTS is getting more popular in America, but they are still being treated as a trendy foreign act rather than artists.”
BTS explains why it’s not important for them to get respect from the American public
While fans sometimes worry about the way BTS is treated by the general public, it doesn’t seem the members themselves care too much about it.
Speaking to Esquire, Jin says, “How can we win everyone’s respect? I think it’s enough to get respect from people who support us. It’s similar everywhere else in the world. You can’t like everyone, and I think it’s enough to be respected by people who really love you.”
“You can’t always be comfortable, and I think it’s all part of life,” Suga adds. “Honestly, we are not used to getting a ton of respect from when we first started out. But I think that gradually changes, whether it be in the States or other parts of the world, as we do more and more.”
