|___ What is up, ARA?! How has your day been? ___|
Today I wanted to talk about the Spotify playlist all BTS members had made back in February, right before the release of their repackaged album, You Never Walk Alone. All of the playlists were released between February 9-10, except for Taehyung's list being released on April 11th.
I was unaware of the existence of this, despite being on Spotify a lot in terms of listening to music. Once I did discover this, I simply ignored it as I was too busy catching up with their other songs, watching Bangtan Bomb videos, studying live performances of Baepsae and Blood, Sweat, and Tears for science purposes and...
you know how that is.
This week, however, I decided to give each playlist a try and get a general idea of the type of music each member likes or relate to.
[Apologies in advance if this has been done before or multiple times. I simply want to share my opinion and thoughts on the playlist and for other incoming ARMY's who may be interested in checking it out.]
*started this on November 3rd*
J-Hope's JAM
Now, I started with J-Hope's playlist first not just because he's my bias, but also because I started this little project at 12 AM on a Saturday and I needed something to keep me up and from falling asleep. As expected, J-Hope's list was fairly upbeat and had an overall good feel. It made me imagine going on a road trip, traveling across state, and stopping to order take out at a McDonald's with a close buddy/partner.
There were many bright songs that matched J-Hope's sunshine aura and hip hop influenced tracks as well for J-Dope. There were quite a few times J-Hoe would make an appearance, so keep an eye out for that.
Out of the entire list, the songs I liked the most were:
i - Kendrick Lamar
Fashion Killa - A$AP Rocky
Talk - DJ Snake
Dance On Me - Goldlink
Honorable Mentions goes to:
Sunday Candy - Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment
Knock Knock - Mac Miller
YOUTH - Troye Sivan
I'll Be Missing You [ft. 112] - Diddy
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Rap Monster's Heavy Rotation
I wasn't sure what to exactly expect from Namjoon. I was expecting a lot of rap songs to be featured by a lot of the artists he named back on Hip Hop Lover/Phile [great song, btw]. To my surprise there was quite a bit of slow chilled out songs on his list. The hip hop influences and rap songs were there but they felt underplayed to me. I was cleaning as I was listening to this list and I could easily imagine Namjoon bicycling around in Seoul listening to this playlist on his way to a café.
An odd thing I noticed here as well as on J-Hope's list is the weird inconsistent censorship. There are some songs on these lists where the songs are edited to censor certain words and profanities, while other songs end up saying the same thing unfiltered. I don't know if this was a personal choice or if the company got involved in that regard. It made me even wonder for a second if the songs were actually suppose to be edited that way.
Out of all the songs on the list, the ones I liked the most were:
Deja Vu - TWENTY88
Cleanin' Out My Closet - Eminem
CPU - Raury
Swim Good - Frank Ocean
One Mic - Nas
Honorable Mentions go to:
About You - Xxyyxx
143 - Musiq Soulchild
My Funny Valentine - Chet Baker
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Jin's GA CHI DEUL EUL LAE?
I felt like I knew what to expect with Jin. The second song on this list made my brain automatically scream "JIN" when I first heard it. Despite knowing what to expect, I was not prepared to find out how similar we are. I already know we're semi twins, but this was pushing it a bit too far. This whole list for the most part took me back to 2012 when I was going through a mild semi-"angsty" tweenage phase. [Tween: Someone who's not yet a teenager but isn't quite a child either. It's a pretty awkward phase, typically around the ages of 10-13.]
Just like with Namjoon, I was also cleaning up a little bit as I was listening to Jin's list. It's the shortest list out of all the members, clocking in at around 57 minutes and he's the only member who added songs from within the group. [I was high-key waiting for Awake to be on there, but was surprised it wasn't.]
One more thing I'd like to add, I kept getting a mental image of Jin rapping Nevermind in my head only replacing the song with Black and Yellow. I couldn't stop grinning like an idiot throughout the entire song once that image got burned in.
Out of all the songs on the list, the ones I liked the most were:
Lost - BTS [ofc, I would]
Weight In Gold - Gallant
Black and Yellow - Wiz Khalifa
Black Skinhead - Kanye West
It's Definitely You - V & Jin
Save Me - BTS
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Honorable Mentions go to:
Rap God - Eminem
Fix You - Coldplay
Kiss The Sky - Jason Derulo
*BONUS CATEGORY*
Songs that gave me pure nostalgia for my tween years:
Black and Yellow - Wiz Kalifa
Weight In Gold - Gallant
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Fix You - Coldplay
Kiss The Sky - Jason Derulo
Hold On, We're Going Home - Drake
Black Skinhead - Kanye West
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V's Join Me
.....
....
...
..
.
I made a weird sandwich as I was listening to the list.
It was a peanut butter sandwich with Cheetos on top of the peanut butter.
It was an interesting taste, which is the closest analogy I can get to describing this list. And I mean that in the best way possible.
I related a lot to Taehyung's list in a way, mostly because it seems like when he really liked an artist he kept putting down a whole bunch of their songs. I do the same thing whenever I make my own playlists. I swear no matter how hard I try, I will always put one extra song from an artist I clearly like more compared to others on the list. I was pretty crappy at maintaining an obvious bias before I even knew what a bias meant.
Out of all of the songs on the list, the ones I liked the most were:
Undercover - Kehlani
Distraction - Kehlani
CRZY - Kehlani
I Wanna Be - Kehlani
Castle On The Hill - Ed Sheeran [I still think this should have been the big hit instead of Shape Of You, but what do I know about being hip with the kids? Also, I didn't realize until listening to it in the context of this being Taehyung's playlist that Ed Sheeran has 6 friends in this story, meaning they were a group of 7 friends. BTS is a group of 7.... So... I'm just gonna leave that to the expert ARMY theorists.. ]
Do U Dirty - Kehlani
Crash [ft Pell] - Skizzy Mars
Comb - Skizzy Mars
Honorable Mentions go to:
All of Kehlani on this list. [Seriously, that SweetSexySavage album was 쩔어 as hell!]
Alcoholics - Skizzy Mars
Recognize - Skizzy Mars [ft. JoJo]
I Will Be There - Agapornis
Creep - Karen Souza [I had never heard this version before. Most people are familiar with this song from Radiohead and I've only heard Panic! At The Disco cover it. It has a pretty cool jazz bar feel to it. I like it.]
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SUGA's Hip-Hop Replay
If an ARMY had randomly asked me which member I thought this list belonged to in the beginning of my challenge to listen to all personal playlists, I would have easily assumed it was Namjoon's. It's quite clear to me now that looks can be very much deceiving.
Yoongi's list was a nonstop rap trip and was probably the most lit for me to listen to.
I listened to this list similar to how I listened to Namjoon's and Jin's, but I listened to most of it in a dark room with very little lighting. All I could imagine as I heard the playlist was Yoongi in his studio, listening to this exact playlist from his computer with his headphones, leaning back into his chair in silence and taking it all in. For some reason, my brain filtered this imagery in black and white [yeah... I don't even know why either..]
Out of all the songs within this list, the ones I liked the most were:
The Way I Am - Eminem
Ali Bomaye - The Game
Bugatti - Ace Hood [This was quite funny for me to hear after having seen the boys gush over the idea of getting a Bugatti RC toy car in the Secret Agent Run Episode that morning]
Honorable Mentions go to:
Power - Kanye West
Losing Out - Black Milk- [ft. Royce Da 5'9]
My Moment - DJ Drama [ft. 2Chainz, Meek Mill, and Jeremih.]
Notorious Thugs - The Notorious B.I.G
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Jungkook: I am Listening to It Right Now
With all the talk about Jungkook being a huge Bieber fan, I half expected his list to be similar to Taehyung's, in which the list would be just half Justin Bieber songs. To my surprise, he only had Bieber on there twice.
The songs were very similar to the type of songs on Namjoon's list, being slow and chilled out, however this felt like it had a much youthful perspective given to it [which makes sense considering Jungkook was still a teenager international when this list was made].
I kept getting the images of Cherry blossoms and Jungkook practicing in the dance studio from the LYH reels, instead of J-Hope and Jimin, as I listened to this list.
While not something I would usually listen to, it is a great list to listen to if you're studying home alone and you need background music to keep you company or even just as a music playlist to put you at rest/to sleep.
Out of all the songs on this list, the ones I liked the most were:
DNA - Lia Marie Johnson [I swear every song that has had the title "DNA", I've always ended up liking it. First DNA - Little Mix, then DNA - Kendrick Lamar, then DNA- BTS, now this. How is this possible? What does it mean? ]
ILYSB - LANY
Beautiful Lies - Birdy
Dear No One - Tori Kelly
What Do You Mean - Justin Bieber [Here's our first Bieber spotting on the list. I also can no longer listen to certain parts of this song without thinking about this little fluff-ball here: //m.youtube.com/watch?v=KeA_D8n1gZE]
Dream Lantern - RADWIMPS [Not gonna lie, I was shook by the song. It was the first song, aside from Bieber's, that sounded like it had a pulse.... *I'm not hating, I just wasn't as into this list as the others personally*]
Nandemonaiya - RADWIMPS
Oasis - Jasmine Thompson
Honorable Mentions go to:
Ghost in the Wind - Birdy
Lullaby - Arco
Colors of the Wind - Tori Kelly [cover of Disney's "Pocahontas".]
Theme Of Mitsuha - RADWIMPS
Mannequin - Yuna [I had to actually hear this song twice. Even though I appreciate and like it a lot more now than when I first heard it, that's not how I categorized this opinion list. I'm mostly purely judging based on first impressions and first listens, so unfortunately it couldn't make the cut on songs I actually liked on this list because of that.]
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Jimin's JOAH? JOAH!
Last, but definitely not least, we have Christian Chi-.. I mean, Jimin's playlist.
I was cleaning as I was listening to this list
[I'm starting to notice a pattern here...].
I was also making tea at the same time, cause why not. Right before I even got to the third song on this list I was already making weird late night snacks to have to keep me energized. One of the many bizarre late snacks I had, was a single slice of bread wrapped around a hot dog with ketchup and peanut butter on the side of the hot dog with macaroni and cheese on top of it all. I won't say what else I had because I can already tell I'm being judged unmercifully right now.
I'm sure quite a lot of Jimin stans would have a field day with this playlist, especially playing it next to a loop of Jimin's own official "imagine": //youtu.be/XrTNLkqGrlc
In terms of what I imagined during the list, it surprisingly wasn't much. All I could really think of during it was the end of the Serendipity "music video" only instead of Jimin sitting in a white room saying "let me love you", he walks off up to you [or the camera] smirks and asks "Your place or mine?"
-..........-
I swear I'm not *that* much of a perv! That's literally what I imagined as soon as the list started and proceeded onwards.
The overall list was quite...sensual.
It made complete sense for Mr. Body Rolls over here and the only thing that surprised me was Kehlani showing up and Justin Bieber.
Now it's all a matter of who liked Bieber first.... Jimin or Jungkook?
Place your bets below!
Out of all the songs off the list, the ones I liked the most were:
Stayin' Out All Night - Wiz Khalifa
Lot to Learn - Luke Christopher
Alive - Kehlani [ft. Coucheron]
You Should Be Here - Kehlani
Coffee - Miguel
Lost - Frank Ocean
Never Be The Same - Ty Dolla $ign [ft Jay Rock]
Honorable Mentions go to:
Private Show - T.I [*gets war flashbacks of Expensive Girl* ]
I Need Some Sleep - Eels [I had already heard this song off of Jungkook's playlist, but the reason I gave it an honorable mention here is because it grew on me and technically I liked the order of which this song came after than in Jungkook's list. ...미안해.]
Fa La La - Justin Bieber [a cappella]
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That was quite a journey and self challenge I held for myself. In all honesty, I do recommend checking out all the playlists here. You can listen to it in whatever order you want or feel comfortable with. Not only is there a chance you might get exposed to a new artist you may have never heard before or fall in love with a song you didn't even know existed, it's also another way to feel connected with BTS.
Music can say a lot about a person.
This may not always be true in some cases, as some people don't always relate to songs and only like it for the "beat" and various other reasons. However, majority of the time, people relate to either the artist, the message of the song, or the general aesthetic of how it sounds. It is something to keep in mind as you listen to these lists.
Personally, after hearing all 7 playlists, the ones I felt more in tune with the most were J-Hope's, V's, and Suga's playlists. Jimin remains pretty neutral to me. Meanwhile, Namjoon and Jungkook are last for me.
I didn't exactly hate or dislike any of the lists, as they all shined in their own ways and had their moments.
However, I'm more likely to listen to a song with a more upbeat feel than a slow chilled out song on a regular basis.
That's just my personal taste.
Same thing happens with BTS.
While I appreciate and like/love the slow chilled out songs [ex: Rain, Butterfly, 2!3!, House of Cards.. To name a few], 7 times out of 10, I would listen to more upbeat songs like 21st Century Girl, Mic Drop, Dope and/or Ma City over them.
Hopefully you learned a little bit of something out of all of this and enjoyed yourself. All credits go to BTS and BigHit for creating these playlists as well as allowing ARMY to keep connecting with them in different ways. Whether you already knew about these playlists or not or already heard it or not, it's always best to revisit once in a while. I know I definitely will again in a few months from now. Maybe even a year after they came out?
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Have a great week! ️