I Don’t Have Any Big Dreams: Positive Messages in Korean Rap

At first look, there are probably three things that you will tell me about the band BTS.

1. They are all Asian (Korean, to be specific)
2. They are singing in a different language
3. They are very young

And yes, I’m aware of all three of these facts, and yes, I still choose to listen to them. They ended up being one of my favorite bands of 2013, and are going to release a single and album this week, which is one reason why I’m talking about them.

But another reason is the fact that every time I listen to their first single, it strikes me again how odd the lyrics are – but how much I love them.

For reference, BTS is a K-pop band, K-pop being “that one song Gangnam Style.” BTS is also an initialism (not an acronym – thanks Hank Green), short for “Bangtan Boys’ which translates as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” which, in a weird way, makes sense, since these boys range in age from 16 to 21 years old – basically boy scouts age, when taken in the context of the entertainment sphere.

The song I’m referring to is called “No More Dream”, and with the backdrop of burning buildings and a crashed school bus in the music video, you’d think that BTS, a hip-hop/rap group, are boys singing about being lazy and not having dreams, which, to be fair, is a logical explanation. But thanks to both the internet and the smart execs at Loen Entertainment, the company that reps BTS, the lyrics which are sung/rapped in Korean can be magically transformed into English.

And they convey the exact opposite of what you’d think upon first glance. Oh sure, the first verse starts off well – in English they say “I wanna big house, big cars and big rings, but really I don’t have any big dreams - obviously lending their voice to the youth in Korea. But the boys go on to sing “Go your own way, even if you live for a day, do something, put weakness away” and the main chorus consists of them pointing at the screen, demanding to know “What’s your dream?” and “Is that it?” The last line of the song ends with one of the members stating “For all the youth without dreams,” making it clear who their audience is.

Part of me wants to believe that this is just a song. In truth, most hip-hop/rap groups that are popular in Korea sing about trivial things, and aren’t as explicit nor as raw as the hip-hop in America, because they represent different things. Popular rap (excluding the Korean rap subculture) is meant for consumption by the highly conservative Korean media, not for boundary pushing, which is one reason why I like BTS, since they obviously are taking on the hip hop persona but aren’t actually appropriating or disrespecting the hip hop culture grown and bred in America in order to entertain viewers (although it can be said that the fact that they are even singing hip hop without knowing and experiencing the history behind it is still representative of appropriation, but I’m not as strict with my definition). But because BTS isn’t a group that is meant to push boundaries and sing about things that Korean media would deem inappropriate – what ARE they going to sing about?

And to me, that’s the beauty of the song. I mean, they’re 19 years old for crying out loud. They represent the youth they talk about in their song, which makes them an authentic voice. They’ve also gone on to help write and produce their work in the future, which also contributes to the fact that their singing about what they know, not what a company told them to sing. And in particular, this song serves to criticize the culture they live in, asking their peers to have a dream, even if it’s something as small as studying in order to graduate high school and go to college, which are both things mentioned in the song.

Altogether, it’s kind of funny to me that this group, attempting to come off as hardcore hip-hop, chose to sing about positive messages such as inspiring dreams within kids who are apathetic to the world around them. But maybe that’s the inherent beauty of it – that rap is becoming a mode of social critique in South Korea, just as it’s often viewed in America. And however strange, it’s something that I really enjoy and appreciate, and hope to see more of in the future – both in Korea and here in the U.S.