On this day, ARIRANG and its title track Swim are gaining strong momentum across global music platforms. According to Oricon on the 25th, “ARIRANG” swept Oricon’s major charts, simultaneously ranking No. 1 on the “Weekly Combined Album Ranking,” “Weekly Album Ranking,” and “Weekly Digital Album Ranking” for the week dated March 30.
BTS also occupied positions No. 1 through No. 5 on the “Global Top 100” chart on Apple Music, according to a report on the 24th. Leading the chart was the title track “Swim” at No. 1, followed by “Body to Body” at No. 2. In total, 12 tracks from the album entered the Top 20.
“Swim” has even held the No. 1 spot on the “Daily Top Songs Global” chart on the global streaming platform Spotify for three consecutive days since its release.
These achievements demonstrate the success of “Swim” and the new album “ARIRANG.” However, despite these unprecedented accomplishments, there has been considerable debate surrounding the album’s concept and the fact that the title track is entirely in English.
Professor Son Mu-hyeon (Department of Applied Music, Hanyang Women’s University) expressed regret, stating, “Despite being a long-awaited release, it feels as though the music was crafted more as a marketing tool, which makes the disappointment even greater". Professor Son further compared it, saying, “It feels like being served a full steak dinner with just a tiny bit of kimchi placed on top. I suspect this attempt was more of a decision made for marketing purposes".
This has also been a source of doubt and disappointment for many listeners, who feel that “ARIRANG” still lacks the influence of кσяєαn culture—particularly in terms of language in “Swim”—despite being introduced as a “return to their кσяєαn roots.” The debate intensified further when ARMYs discovered that the decision to make the song entirely in English was not BTS’s original intention.
Specifically, an exclusive interview published by Vulture on the 25th revealed: “In one meeting, Suga and RM express a desire to add more кσяєαn lyrics, particularly in the rap verses. “Authenticity matters,” RM says. But Big Hit Music vice-president Nicole Kim pushes back, suggesting they need to try if they want the album to go global."
Vulture also described in its article: “The members are worried about having enough time to get the pronunciations right. “No matter how hard we try, what sucks will suck,” Jimin says. Even RM — who acknowledges on the album track “Aliens” that he’s the group’s most fluent English speaker — questions whether his lyrics sounds awkward because he’s not a native speaker during a session with songwriter A.Chic."
Furthermore, an internal source from Dispatch stated: "The A&R team suggested that they should use English lyrics to target the global market. However, the members did not waver in their conviction, saying, "We need to put more кσяєαn lyrics in the rap, at least"". The idols expressed concern about reducing кσяєαn lyrics, emphasizing that rap parts in particular should remain in their native language.
However, the discussion did not end in rejection, and as seen in the final result, English still makes up half and even the entirety of Swim lyris. These reports have angered fans, who claim that the company and Nicole Kim did not respect the group’s ideas and “forced” them to release an album with more English content solely to “target the global market.”
Note that Nicole Kim had worked with BTS for about eight years as their A&R Director and Creative Director before returning to BigHit Music as Vice President, so it cannot be ruled out that the A&R team’s direction was significantly influenced by her. Although many of BTS’s past high-profile collaborations with international artists were credited to Nicole Kim, her plan this time has not been well received by fans and has even faced a wave of intense criticism.
On the other hand, fans have also begun paying attention to several moments in the upcoming trailer for BTS: The Return, in which the members express concerns about what Bang Si-hyuk (Bang PD) and BigHit Music aimed to pursue with the “ARIRANG” album. RM was heard saying, “‘How far do you want to go, how far do you want to change?’ It’s scary to have a plate" while Jimin added, “I don’t want to hear people say ‘Bangtan went’.’ BTS is different (I want to hear the word).”
As these behind-the-scenes stories came to light, social media was flooded with strong, angry reactions from fans:
- the A&R team is gonna have to see me outside.. wdym they tried to force bts into making a full English album knowing bts didn’t want to do that. im just glad bts specifically the rapline said no because that’s just weird like let them do whatever they want tf
- this better not be true or else i’m crashing out cuz wdym mean the label wanted arirang to be all in English to break into the market, and the members had to fιgнт to keep the album the way it is??? do they not know the meaning of ARIRANG????
- I’m so done and feel annoyed with this Nicole whoever she is. She’s underestimating the power and global impact of BTS. At the end of the day, BTS proved soмєтнing powerful, you don’t need to change who you are to reach the world, the world will come to you when you’re real.
- They started out singing in korean, staying connected to their roots..that’s what made them bts. Why erase the part that defines them?
- She shouldn't involve herself like that. I get it, it's part of her job, but she's overdoing it with the global status. Cuz BTS will make it global regardless, she needs to calm her az down a little and let them cook freely.
- like i need nicole kim to stop thinking she knows better than the boys. tf with english album being able to go global than sticking to their native lang, did she erase memory of LGO topping #1.
- bts became popular with korean lyrics. what does she know about being global? a lot of armys became armys because of the meaning their songs portray. it isn't about being viral.
- NICOLE is interested in numbers. BTS is not about numbers. She will slowly Erode BTS values.
