How BTS Pushed Me to Embrace My Culture (Contest Finalist)
written by AM
BTS has always been proud to display their culture; after all, it’s a part of their identity, and they make sure to show it in their music. Since the start of their journey, their songs have consistently celebrated their culture, since it is a part of themselves and their music is an extension of their feelings and experiences as humans. When BTS shows how proud they are to be Korean in their artistry, it makes people want to learn more about Korean culture. Watching this display has inspired me to do the same for my culture. If BTS could be so unapologetically Korean, embrace their culture, and create beautiful things in the process, why couldn’t I try to do the same for mine?
Throughout their career, they have shown and celebrated their roots. Since I started to follow them back in late 2016, I was introduced to the love BTS has for their home. In their albums, they addressed many feelings and moments that made me feel understood. They introduced me to new points of view; however, as I further read their lyrics, I learned something I couldn’t have imagined. After all, it’s unexpected to learn about one’s own culture through outsiders. Even if our cultures and histories are different, they helped me learn how to love this part of my identity.
When “IDOL” was released in 2018, once again they showed their love for Korea and how it formed part of their identity. They acknowledged its beauty in writing a song with sounds that were uniquely Korean and mixed with other music styles from around the world. When they sing “I know what I am, I know what I want, I never gon’ change, I never gon’ trade, trade-off,” (Doolset Lyrics) I think of my home country and how, throughout the years, I have grown to appreciate it and accept it as a part of my identity. Among some of my peers, there is this sentiment of resentment towards our nationality, and sadly, I used to be swayed by these ideas. I didn’t see the beauty my country offered and focused on the negative sides only. These ideas dictated how I saw a part of my identity, making me miserable. Seeing BTS embrace Korea made me reflect on a part of me I tried to reject. I realized I couldn’t trade-off my Costa Rican identity, that instead of suppressing it I should nurture and love it. BTS wrote a love letter to their home country, and I wanted to do that too.
As I started to consider my past thoughts, I grew to further appreciate songs like “Ma City” that portrayed many of my feelings. They talk about their respective cities and how they love and feel proud of being raised there. RM raps “Even if I die, I can’t say [that I’d like to live anywhere else] You’re paying me millions of dollars to live somewhere else? ah no thanks, Ilsan– the place where I want to be buried even after I die” — a verse that now resonates with me (Doolset Lyrics). As I started to see my cultural identity in another light, I realized that I would live and die proudly being Costa Rican. RM later brings to attention how he feels at home in Ilsan; it is where he was “made” into who he is today. This helped me appreciate the little things Costa Rica offered to me and embrace them with adoration. Costa Rica will always be my first and last home. Suga’s part stood out to me the most; he raps “To be honest, there’s not much to brag about Daegu,” but then he counters that statement by saying that he is the pride of Daegu and that is to brag about. Even though I am young, I have started to fall in love with Costa Rica, and I have been filled with a raging desire to contribute in some meaningful way. I want to brag about the beauty of my country, and if there is nothing to brag about, I will try to be what my country can brag about.
Many people my age who are from Costa Rica express that they feel trapped on a little farm. They feel discouraged and cheated on. From the many conversations I have had with my peers, I have tried to understand where their frustrations come from. I once also felt like this. Now I want to motivate them to open themselves up to other possibilities. Just like Suga stated, if there is nothing to brag about, you should become what one would brag about. If nobody is doing something extraordinary, it shouldn’t discourage you from doing it, rather it should make you aim further.
This love I have found for Costa Rica still does not absolve me from acknowledging its faults. In his song “Seoul,” RM explores the complex relationship he has with the city. The chorus repeats “If love and hate are the same words, I love you, Seoul, If love and hate are the same words, I hate you, Seoul” (Doolset Lyrics). This encompasses many of my thoughts about my own experiences. I have never visited Seoul, but I can relate to his words by drawing similarities with what I have lived through in my country. Coming to accept my connection, I’ve redirected my anger to speak up about the shortcomings of Costa Rica to the people around me. One could say that I hate many things about Costa Rica, just as I love them. This helps me understand what I would try to help change in the future. The criticism that I make is from a wish to enact change for the better, rather than empty anger and frustration.
With their songs and music, BTS has not only celebrated Korea but given me a lesson on my own relationship with my own culture. Thanks to the messages in their lyrics, I have reflected upon my view of my country, making me look inwards towards the issues I previously had and am in the process of working on. Now I want to share and appreciate aspects of my experiences, perhaps not in a grandiose song, but in a more subtle way.
This essay was chosen as one of the finalists of the first BTS Essay contest hosted by The BTS Effect. Find out more here.
References
Doolset Bangtan. (2020, December 5). IDOL. Doolset Lyrics. https://doolsetbangtan.wordpress.com/2018/08/24/idol/
Doolset Bangtan. (2020, December 5). Ma City. Doolset Lyrics. https://doolsetbangtan.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/ma-city/
Doolset Bangtan. (2020, December 5). Seoul. Doolset Lyrics. https://doolsetbangtan.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/seoul/
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