BTS at Wembley Stadium: Five must-hear songs before their London shows

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Jochan Embley31 May 2019

The biggest K-Pop event to ever take place in the UK is almost here.

This weekend, BTS will play two sold out shows at Wembley Stadium. Things went into a frenzy when they announced the first concert back in February, when thousands upon thousands of fans joined the online ticket queue. Twitter was awash with both jubilation from those who had managed to nab one, and utter despair from those who couldn’t. Less than 90 minutes after they went on sale, the group’s first ever UK stadium show had sold out.

BTS later announced a second gig at the venue — tickets flew for that one, too — and now, after months of anticipation, the time has almost come to welcome RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook to the capital.

Ahead of the shows, we’ve put together a list of five essential songs from the group’s back catalogue. Once you’ve listened to those, read about the five ways BTS changed the face of pop. Then get ready to dance – it's time to Make It Right.

BTS: The world's biggest boyband - In pictures

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Boy With Luv

The group’s most recent superhit is Boy With Luv, a shiny slice of saccharine pop-funk. Released in April and featuring vocals from the American artist Halsey, it was yet another record-breaker, becoming the most viewed YouTube video across 24 hours, racking up no less than 74 million hits. It’s irresistibly catchy — once you’ve heard those nonchalant “oh yeah, oh yeah” ad libs in the verse, they’ll swim around your head for days — and one of their most impressive efforts to date. A Japanese version will arrive in July.

Fake Love

If there was one song to make the world listen up and take notice of BTS as a genuine phenomenon, it was Fake Love. When it stormed into the top 10 of the American Billboard chart back in May 2018, it was the first K-Pop song to do since Psy’s Gangnam Style. It marked a shift in Western perceptions of the genre — no longer was it a global meme, but an undeniable force. The song itself, however, was something of a shift for the group, with a smouldering trap beat, darker lyrics and a much gloomier vibe than their earlier output.

Idol

Idol pretty much summed up what had made BTS so arrestingly different when they first burst onto the scene — despite the obvious Western influences in their music, the sounds and songs they performed were distinctly Korean. On this percussive stomp of a track, a number of traditional instruments from the country were incorporated, including the janggu drum and gakgung horn-bow, with dashes of South Africa’s party-starting gqom genre. An alternative version, in which Nicki Minaj drops in for a verse, was later released.

Waste It On Me

Produced by the EDM kingpin Steve Aoki, Waste It On Me was the first song time BTS ever released a song sung entirely in English. For one, it showed just how popular the group had become on this side of the world, but more interestingly, just how dextrous they were — especially when you consider the multitude of Japanese-language songs in their catalogue as well. The song itself is another earworm, with a warmly familiar, simply effective chorus.

DNA

DNA, released in 2017, was a confluence of the sounds and styles that had dominated the charts over the past few years. Folky acoustic guitar? Check. Glitchy electronic dubstep breakdown? Check. Whistled hook? Check. It was no surprise, then, when the song started to make ripples much farther afield than Korea. The video hit 100 million views on YouTube 24 days after it was released, which was a record back then, even if it would be viewed as an abject failure now. At live gigs, it remains a fan favourite.

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