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that's the thing tho. BTS were never a bling-bling boy band and never will be. there's something radical in how they've taken an archaic K-Pop model and elevated it to create high art. they've taken the west's expectation of them and subverted every stereotype in the book.
his interview made me think of how no matter whether we come from a white-colonized country or not- the west's approval and dominance over every aspect of our success holds us back. we are brilliant where we are, but their diluted ideas of brilliance is what we must satisfy.
I've never been to the USA or the UK and yet I know everything about them. All my aspirations look like the ppl who live there. it's a strange window-shopping experience except you're not allowed to enter the shop, like ever.
I know I’m going off on a tangent here but this reminds me how AR Rahman, probably one of the top musical geniuses in the world won an Oscar for one of his worst songs, all bec it starred in a movie made by a white man fetishising indian poverty. +
that very year he has composed the music for Delhi 6 and it still remains unchallenged in his own body of work as one of the finest piece of cinematic music ever made. but is there a space for that in a white award show? no. but does it make us not want these laurels? Also no.
BTS have had daesang sweeps, diplomatic awards, national honours and yet a Grammy is important to them bec fvck a Grammy is important. it makes their legacy unquestioned, both in America and in their home country. so fascinating yet tragic.
but it doesn’t matter how great BTS is, bec what they do was never something the west were looking to approve much less conceive. and that’s why dynamites Grammy nomination comes at a cost. it shows us how BTS have tilted the axis of the western world but it will never be enough
