BTS - HOW THE K-POP BAND BECAME A GLOBAL JUGGERNAUT? - TIME Magazine - 2022

A special edition 2022 of TIME Magazine, dedicated to BTS, that I most likely got at some airport, while flying for one of my business trips...

The edition was worldwide sold out and reprinted again (I do have the original edition).

I consider this magazine an all you need to know about BTS guide: exactly what I was looking for! At the tender age of +40 years old, I didn't want to find myself into the trap of platonically falling in love for a new boy band, however their success has become so big, that it's impossible to even try to ignore them. As soon as I saw the magazine, I told myself: this is my chance. It's now or never!

The magazine brings you along the career path of these handsome guys. Then, a pair of pages per singer, you find a description of each one of them: all the essentials that a good fan should know, at the barely minimum. That's when I found out that their supporters call themselves The Army and that, differently from my dear beloved F4, these guys got to an exponential success also within an enormous number of western fans, that might not know Korean, but read the songs' translations and know enough to say they're inspired by their songs: their words speak to them, no matter the origin, the cultural background, the social environment. And you know what? It's time, man. It's time for Asia to be seen, heard and recognized. An overview on the K-pop follows (oh, K-pop stays for Korean pop, of course). Some fans' interviews show the geographical extension and age variety of their supporters' basis. We find the cooperation with international artists, and a BTS-cabulary and nice pics complete the edition.

They're not my musical genre, I can' remember their names, but they're that Asian phenomenon I had been waiting for. I wanted the whole word to know about F4, back at the time, and somehow also my F4 contributed building the basis for the Asian pop's raise that is taking over now. In fact, we do not have only the BTS on the international scene, but also the Blackpink! Do we want to call them a modern Asian version of the Pink Ladies, straight from Grease?! They're 4 attractive girls, each with their own personality, a sort of K-SpiceGirls but sweetened. All of them, BTS and Blackpink are performing at major events worldwide and are receiving international awards. I am excited for them and for my dear Asia!

Just a fun fact, to close. BTS always remind me of one of my experiences in Asia. When I was a student at Shanghai University, a Korean classmate, a cool guy (one of those that sits in the last seats of the class and yet do pretty well at school), handsome (really handsome), stylish (nice outfits and amazing deep green hair) timidly asked me out... and I refused!!! What a shame. I was in a distant relationship with a guy that even ended up by leaving me JUST few days later, abandoning me in river of tears... and making me forgetting about the fascinating student that I was not going to meet anymore as the school program had also terminated! Can you believe it?! Oh well. It was not destiny, but WTH. :D

Hooray for the BTS!!!