Ahead of the release of BTS’s (Bangtan Sonyeondan) comeback album ‘ARIRANG,’ the term “Rock” has become a hot topic among international fans.
This stems from major international online retailers like Accord and the Australian retail chain JB Hi-Fi classifying ‘ARIRANG’ as “Rock/Pop,” which was spotted by fans.
Once screenshots of this classification rapidly spread across social media, global ARMY (BTS’s fandom) went into a frenzy. Comments flooded X (formerly Twitter) timelines, such as “Rock?! This must be for me!” and “Pop punk and rocker Bangtan is coming…” The nickname ‘Rocktan Sonyeondan,’ which fans have used whenever BTS performs rock-influenced music, resurfaced, with many reacting by saying, “Finally, that era is coming.”
Fans’ imaginations are running wild. “I want to see Rock Jin again,” “Suga playing guitar and Jimin hitting high notes would be a dream stage,” and some fans even imagined Jungkook playing electric guitar and instantly transitioning to the drums. Expectations are pouring in, saying, “Rock Jin came out in ‘Happy’ and ‘Echo,’ so he will be in ‘Arirang’ too,” and some fans are summoning BTS’s past intense rock soundtracks, saying, “Dionysus is greeting us.”
However, other fans interpreted this from a different perspective, saying, “Pop artists are often grouped as Rock/Pop on various platforms,” cautioning against over-interpretation. Many fans also asked, “Is this information reliable?” questioning the source.
HYBE has not officially commented on the genre. However, Suga stated in a GQ interview that “It contains various genres. It will be quite different from the BTS music you’ve heard so far,” and other members like RM have made similar remarks, so the anticipation for “Rock” music is not easily subsiding.
‘ARIRANG’ is BTS’s fifth full-length album and their first full-group comeback in about four years since ‘Proof’ released in 2022. It will be released on March 20th and consists of a total of 14 tracks. The comeback live performance at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul will be broadcast live worldwide on Netflix on March 21st, and a world tour of 82+ shows in 34 cities will begin on April 9th.
