BTS's New Song "Butter" Is A Record-Smashing Bop
BTS is back with their new single, “Butter”, an infectious dance-pop anthem that’s already breaking records. With flirtatious lyrics about being “smooth like Butter” and “hot like summer”, “Butter” is BTS’s second English language single – a follow up to their smash-hit “Dynamite”, which broke all kinds of records and nabbed the group their first Grammy nomination.
But “Butter” is coming for “Dynamite’s” crown. Its fun and frenetic music video has already broken the YouTube premiere record previously held by “Dynamite”, with an estimated 3.89 million concurrent viewers tuning in to watch. It also became the fastest music video in YouTube history to hit 10 million views, clocking that huge number in just 13 minutes following its premiere.
Views aren’t the only “Dynamite” achievement that BTS hopes “Butter” bests.
“Of course we are thinking of the Grammys,” RM said at a press conference that took place an hour after “Butter’s” premiere.
“‘Butter’ will be another try at the Grammy Award, and I hope we can have good results,” agreed Suga. When questioned about whether the group thought “Butter” might also reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 – as both “Dynamite” and Korean single “Life Goes On” did in 2020 – Suga said, with a wry smile, “I think we can make it. We will get number one.”
It’s a notorious fandom in-joke that whatever Suga wants, Suga gets. And “Butter” is off to a great start to achieve incredible things, but perhaps most importantly, it’s a certified bop. As V pointed out at the press conference, the song is designed to bring joy, and it definitely does that. RM and Jungkook both expressed that they hope “Butter” will become the song of the summer; even as we shiver our butts off heading into winter here in Australia, there’s no denying the good vibes to be found.
RM co-wrote the song (along with Rob Grimaldi, Stephen Kirk, Ron Perry, Jenna Andrews, Alex Bilowitz, and Sebastian Garcia), and said he was “honoured” to contribute. “Butter was selected among many, many songs...it was already very good. For some parts – the rap parts – it wasn’t fully compatible with our style.” He added that he spent time particularly focused on the rap verse to reflect the different styles of the three rappers of BTS: himself, J-Hope, and Suga.
As for the music video, Jimin said that the group spent a lot of time discussing the visuals and choreography in order to show their best side to fans, while J-Hope revealed the choreography was designed to reflect the “energetic and cute” emotions of the song.
“Kissing our hands, mischievous looks, brushing our hair back – those are the highlights of the choreo,” J-Hope said. V added that the moments in the music video where each member dances alone in an elevator actually featured freestyle moves they came up with on set, saying that was a personal highlight for him.
Another highlight for the members? The inclusion of their fans, ARMY, in both the song and music video, of course. The band is always quick to show their love for their dedicated fandom, and during RM’s line “got ARMY right behind us when we say so”, the other members spell out “ARMY” with their bodies.
“Jungkook and I made the A,” Jin said. “When we did the choreo, it didn’t look like an A...After several tries we came up with the perfect A.”
“Yes, we actually worked really hard on it,” Jungkook added.
Making the alphabet with their bodies isn’t the only thing BTS have been working hard on. In addition to “Butter”, the group have a new album in the works, although they’re yet to confirm when we can expect that. First, they have Festa – their anniversary celebration in June – which is tinged with bittersweetness as they experience yet another year without offline fan interaction.
“We’re happy and joyous to be reaching our 8th anniversary,” said V. “[But] there are pangs of regret that we’re not able to see ARMY in person … There are still so many performances we haven’t been able to show [to fans].”
Still, despite not being able to perform in front of energetic and adoring crowds, BTS always brings their A-game to the stage, which the world will be able to witness through the first “Butter” performance at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, airing on Monday in Australia.
As for the rest of the year – “I wish I could give you a lot of details, but unfortunately I can’t,” said RM, adding that BTS’s main focus now is on “having a great time with fans”. And with the release of “Butter”, they’re certainly doing that.
BTS's new single, "Butter" is out now.
Written by Jenna Guillaume, an entertainment journalist and author of YA rom-coms What I Like About Me and You Were Made For Me. Follow her at @jennaguillaume.
