BTS

South Korea, 2013–now

South Korean group formed in 2013, the act that made K-pop a global mainstream. Starting as a hip-hop group writing about the pressures on young people, they grew into stadium-filling pop without giving up the rap line's authorship of their own songs.

MusicRoots documents 4 artists who influenced BTS and 0 artists BTS influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced BTS?

• Seo Taiji — Seo Taiji is the blueprint BTS were built on - a hip-hop group speaking for the young against the system. They remade 'Come Back Home' for his 25th anniversary, where he told them: this is your generation now.
• Epik High — RM has said BTS would not exist without Epik High - the group that proved Korean hip-hop could be literate, personal and successful.
• Eminem — Eminem's wordplay and lyrical density were a direct model for BTS's rap line; RM names him among the rappers who shaped him, and the three rappers went to Eminem's Seoul show in 2012, a year before debuting.
• 2Pac — Tupac is among the American rappers BTS's rap line cite - the model of hip-hop as a voice for social pain rather than boasting.