Using their net worth for good: All of BTS’s philanthropic activities
There are plenty of reasons to love the South Korean boy band BTS. In recent times, K-pop grew in popularity and BTS has been at the forefront of that growth. Let the numbers speak for them: according to Billboard, the Korean album Love Yourself: Tear was the first album sung primarily in a foreign language that acquired the first position on the list in almost 12 years.
As a matter of fact, their latest single – their first English song – “Dynamite” opened up to a roaring reception. The song made such a splashing debut that it made history by becoming the 43rd song ever to take the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the first week of its release. It spent three consecutive weeks on the Billboard chart as the no. 1 song.
The interesting thing about BTS is that the band is going viral for all the right reasons. Their dedicated fan base – referred to as the BTS ARMY – love the BTS band members not just for their guileless charms, but also for the message they spread through their music.
BTS wants you to take care of yourself
BTS songs often look beyond the usual tropes of relationships, break-ups, and the like. Through their lyrics, they’ve often talked about issues like bullying, elitism, mental health . . . you get the drift. In fact, band members RM & Suga have, time and again, talked extensively about mental health in interviews.
Suga has been very clear about his efforts to combat the stigma that exists around mental health, “We feel that people who have the platform to talk about those things really should talk more, because they say depression is something where you go to the hospital and you’re diagnosed, but you can’t really know until the doctor talks to you.” He even implored other celebrities to use their network & reach responsibly.
“So I think for not just us but other celebrities, if they talk about it openly — if they talk about depression for example like it’s the common cold, then it becomes more and more accepted if it’s a common disorder like the cold. More and more, I think artists or celebrities who have a voice should talk about these problems and bring it up to the surface,” Suga was quoted as saying.
BTS cares about the BLM movement
Back in June, when George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, the country went into a protest mode, which sparked a fire that hasn’t been drowned out. The Black Lives Matter movement grew stronger, and it was made possible through the donations of those who knew their money had to go in the right place. Of course, BTS was one of the donors.
The seven members of the boy band, namely Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, & Jungkook, along with the company that launched their band, Big Hit Entertainment, made a donation of one million dollars in June, during the height of protests. This prompted their fans to match the donation, too.
In a recent interview, they explained their rationale behind the donation, and it comes from their own lived experience. In the words of Jin, “When we’re abroad or in other situations, we’ve also been subjected to prejudice. We feel that prejudice should not be tolerated; it really has no place.”
Keeping it simple
RM explained that they thought about this as a way of speaking out against prejudice & violence. They figured this was the best way to support the cause as well as make a strong statement. They maintained this was a donation arising out of purely altruistic reasons, no politics involved.
Suga added, “Ours are initiatives that any person who wishes to live in a just world would want to pursue. We aren’t trying to send out some grandiose message . . . It’s about us being against racism and violence. Most people would be against these things.”
