Blood, Butter and Boys in Love: BTS’s Top 20 Songs – Ranked! | BTS

20. No More Dreams (2013)

Early in their career, BTS was marketed as a cross between a Korean idol group and a glam rap group: “Our life is hip-hop,” band member Suga said early on. No More Dream is actually a tougher sound than you might expect: the growls, backing vocals, and double bass sample that drives the intro are great.

19. Microcosmos (2019)

Clearly written with sparkling squares and thousands of (lucratively branded) lightsticks in mind, Mikrokosmos delivers a brand of electronic pop that’s both melodic and epic in beauty. Whether you choose to believe the claim that its title actively encouraged fans to delve into ancient Greek philosophy is up to you.

18. Save Me (2016)

Clearly, part of BTS’ appeal rests on the striking masculine vulnerability they display. Save Me is an example of this. The music is upbeat, bearing influences of tropical house, electropop, and – in the rhythmic track of the chorus at least – dubstep. But the singing deals with a breathy desperation: “I’m trapped in myself and I’m dead.”

17. Microphone Drop (2017)

BTS has already been a hit in Korea and Japan, where a remix of “Mic Drop” by EDM DJ Steve Aoki gave BTS their first top 30 hit in the US and cracked the charts in the UK. However, the original may be the best: trap-infused pop, with a clear hint of Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” around its hook.

16. Ran (2015)

Not to be confused with 2022’s Run BTS, Run is an accurate example of the band’s gradual shift towards a more straightforward, pop-oriented style. There’s still rap here, but what really sticks with you is the melancholy of the melody and the joyful boom of the house-fueled chorus.

15. Idol (2018)

In response to these persistent haters – “I do what I do,” she crossly advises, “so you just mind your own business” – Idol interestingly blends a variety of South African houses com. gqom And traditional Korean Bansori (narrative song), heavy on structure gayageum (zither) and Django (drum). Nicki Minaj is featured on the remix, which is evidence of BTS’ growing popularity in the United States.

14. Burn (Fire) (2016)

Another career milestone, Burning Up (Fire) was BTS’s first — but not last — track to top Billboard’s World Digital Sales chart. It’s a mix of surprisingly harsh electronics drawn from the world of stadium dubstep, stop-and-start dynamics, sarcasm, subdued Beastie Boys-style rapping, and a hook that settles into your brain from the first listen.

13. Dope (2015)

Banned in Korea for its apparently vulgar lyrics — which probably tells you more about Korean censorship than the lyrics themselves — Dope praises BTS’s work ethic, and denounces those who suggest the band are mere puppets: “The media and the adults say we have no will… They’re the enemy.”

12. Boys with Fun (2015)

Boyz With Fun flew in the face of BTS’s pivot toward an honest brand of pop, applying their rap vocals to a silly, preposterously fun slice of disco that gets the party started, with a hook line that recalls Funkadelic’s oft-sampled 1975 anthem Get Off Your Ass and Jam.

11. Boy With Luv (with Halsey) (2019)

BTS’ sixth album, Map of the Soul: Persona, is allegedly based on psychoanalyst Murray Stein’s book Jung’s Map of the Soul: An Introduction, although it’s fair to say you wouldn’t know that from the first single. Embellished with a guest vocal from Halsey, Boy With Luv was BTS at their lightest: perfectly jagged bubblegum pop.

10. Boy in Love (2014)

You can, if you wish, see Boy in Luv as a sort of K-pop homage to the mid-’80s productions created by Rick Rubin for Def Jam. The massive percussion and distorted rock guitar definitely has a hint of Run-DMC’s Raising Hell or the Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill, albeit accompanied by a massive pop chorus.

9. Butterfly (2015)

By the time of the release of their fourth mini-album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Part 2, BTS had outgrown their original hip-hop-inspired scope. “Butterfly” is a feather-soft, breathlessly delivered ballad, with an unexpected lyrical nod to Haruki Murakami. The Prologue Mix, released in 2016, tones things down even further until the entire song sounds like sobs.

8. Black Swan (2020)

The first single from Map of the Soul: 7 struck a strangely dark and weary tone. Over a weak hip-hop beat and A.’s voice com. gayageumthe lyrics strongly suggest that BTS has had enough of fame: “The heart no longer beats when the music starts playing.”

7. DNA (2017)

Two months after its release in South Korea and Japan, BTS’s DNA made their first television appearance in the United States when they performed the song at the American Music Awards and stole the show. The surprisingly complex choreography may have attracted attention, but DNA’s effervescent pop clearly had a role to play.

6. Dynamite (2020)

The first ever U.S. single by a South Korean band, “Dynamite,” was clearly intended to correct the Covid pandemic. Like another lockdown-era song, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, it sounded like a party in full swing, offering finely tuned 21st-century pop over disco trance.

5. Fake Love (2018)

BTS’ classic angst-filled song, big on scale for maximum impact: echoing stadium rock guitar, massive trap beats, epic synths, and a screaming hook. Interestingly, some fans interpreted the song’s lyrics, most notably the line about “trying to erase myself and make me your puppet,” as being directed at the limitations of the K-pop industry.

4. Butter (2021)

Amid BTS’s penchant for high-quality albums, Butter was, according to band member Jimin, designed with nothing loftier in mind than to be “easy to listen to.” She achieves her goal with ’80s-inspired funk: there’s a touch of classic Jam and Lewis productions on the synths, and a touch of Daft Punk to her sound.

3. I Need You (2015)

This was the song that turned BTS into K-pop’s biggest stars, still rooted in hip-hop but with more pastel colors than their previous releases. The backing carries a suggestion of synthesized pipes and a hint of the jukebox, a sweetness that belies the lyrical power: “I can’t stand it! I don’t care!”

2. Blood Sweat and Tears (2016)

The perfect example of BTS’s ability to absorb volatile musical influences into their sound — in this case, the pounding moombah beats — without sacrificing their identity. It may fit the trends of 2016, but Blood Sweat and Tears still sounds somewhat different, equidistant from the rest of the pop music of that era.

1. Spring Day (2017)

“Spring Day” remains the honest BTS song to end all honest BTS songs nearly a decade after its release. Spring Day was initially inspired by the 2014 Sewol ferry tragedy, in which 304 people died, 250 of whom were high school students; The video comes full of visual references to the disaster. But you don’t need to know the background to feel the emotional impact of the song. The verses sound more like passionate spoken word than hip-hop bravado, and the melody is tear-jerking, which means that no matter how great the music is — booming drums, EDM synths, a big chorus — it always feels underwhelming.