Spotify - Namjoon Playlist

Namjoon - a playlist

The theme for this week is part four in our Bangtan members series and the playlist is focused on our leader, Kim Namjoon. Is there are particular song that makes you think of Namjoon? Or do you have a favourite from Mono? 

Share your thoughts with us on Twitter @BTSRadioUK

Mic Drop chosen by ARMY

Michayla - I wasn’t expecting Mic Drop to win as convincingly as it did in the poll but I adore this song for so many reasons that any excuse to write about it, is good for me. 

Mic Drop is a song to counteract the hate and it was written to show how far BTS have come, to laugh in the faces of those who doubted them. A collaboration with Steve Aoki, the beat is one you have to move to, the MV is hot, the choreography is iconic and the lyrics are so powerful. One of Namjoon’s lines in particular stands out for me:

‘Even if I die now, I’m damn happy’

I think this says everything anyone needs to know about how Namjoon felt about where BTS were and what they had achieved at the time they wrote it.

Cheryl - So Mic Drop won the Poll this week - I am not surprised.  It has such an energetic, positive, up beat vibe.

RM sounds so happy and sassy - “Baby watch your mouth, It come back around, Go look in the mirror same damn clothes, You know how I feel damn happy, Yeah I’m on the mountain, Yeah I’m on the bay, Everyday we’re vibin’, Mic Drop baam Haters gon’ hate, Players gon’ play, Live a life man good luck, Don’t apologise”

I believe he is telling those that doubted BTS that BTS have proved them wrong and have left them behind and that he is happy and successful and that he and BTS need no apologies!

Charlie - Mic Drop is a sleek hip-hop song where we really see Namjoon’s confidence as a flawless rapper shine. As soon as he comes in with his aggressive verse bragging about all the countries they visit and the time they spend on planes, the song’s status as the next step from the Cypher tracks is cemented. In Namjoon’s bridge, he repeats the “Haters gon’ hate, players gon’ play” phrase from his song Do You, but in a calmer way that suggests he’s more relaxed about the fact that haters exist and he doesn’t have to pay attention to them anymore. He owns this song (so do the other members, but still) and a confident, self-loving Namjoon is one I love to see.

Onomey - I was hoping that Army would vote for Mic Drop and they never let me down. This song was one of the first few songs I became addicted to and would have on repeat constantly because its a song full of attitude and cockiness which I find great as sometimes you just need to let the haters know that you're amazing and will continue to achieve success and there's nothing they can do about it.

RM, especially in the Remix music video, stands out because you find yourself watching the video thinking, where is RM? Then BOOM, he comes out of the ambulance full of swag which immediately grabs hold of your attention

Source: ibighit 

Not Today - Cheryl

This was one of their first songs that I heard and watched and I found their energy to be both fascinating and inspiring.

The intro beat had such a powerful sound to it and then Namjoon addresses all the underdogs of the world and tells them a day may come when we lose but it is not today, today we fight - powerful fighting talk which can be applied to so many different scenarios, whether at home, school or work.

Namjoon also mentions about being extra but still part of this world - extra plus ordinary is nothing at all - light shines through the darkness to create a new world. 

I wonder now looking back on the success that BTS are having, did they feel they were sitting on the outside of the music industry (extra but still part of this world) and that with their lyrics, personalities and how much of themselves they give to ARMY, do they realise that they have actually changed the world to be a brighter new world?

The words in the third verse are just so encouraging - if you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl. I feel these words have such forward motion in them and an empowerment to move even if it’s just “baby” steps.

Namjoon also mentions success doubling, tumbling in the charts, being too high like on a trampoline and will someone stop them - I feel this verse is assessing insecurities. One minute doing well, then failing, then rising and will someone take their success from them. Namjoon being so humble and relatable, most people who achieve some success wonder if or when they will fail and who will replace them.

The final verses are about not failing because they believe in each other, they believe in together and they have each other and ARMY by their sides and they believe in BTS.  ARMY and BTS together are a force like no other.

The bridge is about forgetting your fears, breaking through the glass ceiling that cages you. Until the day of victory don’t give up, don’t kneel but Fight!

The reason I chose to write about this song is because it is so relatable and inspiring for me. A lot of fears are from within and I feel that this song is trying to set me free from internal struggles as well as external ones.  It certainly makes me want to move forward, even if it’s with tiny steps.

Source: ibighit 

Tokyo - Michayla

I jumped at the opportunity to write about a song from Namjoon’s second mixtape, Mono. I cannot express how much I love this mixtape, every song is a work of art and it is one of those albums that I can listen to, all the way through and then when it loops, it feels like I am hearing it for the first time again.

‘Tokyo’ is the first track on the album and has a relaxing, haunting vibe to it. It starts with the noises of a city, then a piano comes in, so simple, yet it really sets the mood for the whole song. Namjoon’s voice is deep and slow, almost ‘speaking’ the lyrics like he was having a conversation with someone and telling a story.

There aren’t any official lyrics to ‘Tokyo’ because Namjoon said:

“Ah, I purposefully did not put in official lyrics. In the eagerness that many people would listen to it with their own language and expression. In the hope that it becomes fuller through individuals filling in the missing blanks!”

Therefore the translation is quite subjective and until official lyrics are released, we can only go by what we have. I don’t think this takes anything away from the song because many people may not even look up lyrics. I, personally, like to read the translation of lyrics because it gives me a better understanding of that song and it adds certain emotions as I listen to it. We can take the lyrics of ‘Tokyo’ as they are though, as sung by the man himself.

‘Wake up in Tokyo, feel like a torso

I know it’s time to go

I see Pinnochio wearing a poncho

That’s me some time ago

Do I miss myself?

Do I miss your face?

I don’t know (I don’t know)

I don’t know (I don’t know)’

The overwhelming feeling to this song is that Namjoon is lost, perhaps missing a prior version of himself or missing someone else. The reference to Pinnochio may refer to the fact he wasn’t a ‘real boy’ so could this be the person Namjoon once was? 

Most people know that Pinnochio was a puppet who longed to be real and he felt very lonely because he was different. Pinnochio is lulled into a false sense of security in the story and is the star attraction of a puppet show but is treated dreadfully afterwards, locked away. Namjoon has spoken often about being an Idol and the chaotic life but also the loneliness that comes with it. I expect that being an Idol must feel like being a puppet at times with everyone pulling strings and wanting you to do so much.

Is it his own face he is missing? The face of the person he was ‘some time ago’? 

The chorus is haunting ‘Ohh ohh, ohh ohh’ repeated several times and at the end of the song there is someone (Namjoon?) whistling to the tune to complete the song, which adds to the overall calm that is ‘Tokyo’.

As well as being calming, ‘Tokyo’ also has a sense of heaviness about it, almost a depressive feel. Namjoon is unsure as to what would change his situation, he is lost and almost in limbo. When he describes the fact that love and hate feel the same, I take this to mean that he isn’t capable of feeling one or the other so he perhaps isn’t feeling anything.

‘Life is a word that sometimes you cannot say

And ash is a thing that someday we all should be

When tomorrow comes

How different it’s gonna be

Why do love and hate sound the same to me?’

‘Tokyo’ is a beautiful song. It is a song that you could close your eyes and listen to and feel so much, which of course is the opposite to how I feel Namjoon was feeling in the song. As always it makes you question yourself and really think about your life. 

Where have your choices led you? Are you happy? Do you miss the person you were? Do you know what it would take to change things? Are you lonely?

We all know that Namjoon is a deep thinker and I love that he speaks through his lyrics. The songs always seem so personal and Tokyo is no different.

Source: BTS_twt 

Uhgood - Marsha

I remember listening to this song for the first time; I cried. I hadn't even looked up the lyrics but I knew for sure that this was something I resonated with.

Namjoon just has a way to get inside your head in the best way possible. The whole Mono playlist was an open book of emotions and the quality of the music alongside the lyrics were simply superb.

"To be out of place, it hurts so much

If you don't experience it, it cannot be known

My ideal and what is reality

They're so far, far away

But I still want to cross that two bridges

To reach myself

To the real me, yeah yeah

To the real me, yeah"

Here it shows he is struggling with who he is and who he should be without really knowing which either one is meant to be. 

I feel that we have all struggled with this at some point in our lives and is a process we all go through.

I believe Namjoon is telling us it's ok to not know who you are just yet, but you've got to keep going and keep fighting because one day you will know who you are and learn to love yourself.

This is just a bloody good song!

Source: BTS_twt 

Change - Charlie

‘Change’ was a collaboration between Namjoon and the American rapper - Wale, which was released on March 29th, 2017 on the BANGTANTV YouTube channel. I am glad that it was finally put on Spotify a year or so later, because I had this song on a constant loop for a good few months since it came out.

The song was described by Namjoon as a “prayer for change”, and is a song that beautifully unites multiple countries in shared concerns about how their countries are run, because Namjoon said it was written after he noted that America and Korea both had certain issues. The song is a criticism of both countries’ governments and the complacency of people who don’t do anything to make a difference.

“If hope is a taste, what is yours?

What you eat all day? (What you eat all day?)

And if your love is a game

Are we losin', losin'? Oh

World is gonna change”

The music starts with a classic sounding jingle of piano music and chimes, but becomes more electronic sounding towards the calm and slow chorus, a repetition of the hopeful “World is gonna change” that makes me want to yell along and sway. As I mentioned that I used to be very addicted to this song, the part 3 and a half minutes on where the song seems to stop but then starts up again for Namjoon and Wale’s final verses was my favourite part. I never really wanted this smooth song nor its cool music video to stop. (It was also sweet to hear a more mature side of Namjoon who discusses what his future children will think of the world.)

The song is entirely in English, meaning that Namjoon’s gorgeous, husky American accent shines through in his verses. He discusses the education system and people who start fights on Twitter. His flow and how smoothly he raps in another language makes the song so appealing to me, as well as the fact that I could understand its message upon first listen due to the language. Whether in BTS’ native language or a different language, they can deliver a worthy message.

“All we got is mad teachers and some visible classes

Divided spaces, and forever-lastin' stresses

Everybody’s mad

Kill people with fingers on Twitter

More than a gun, more than a knife

The tip of your tongue just glitter”

I cannot gloss over Wale’s verse, which delivers powerful words about police brutality. It is a difficult topic, and RM and Wale’s decision to turn it into something they can use their platform to discuss, is very admirable. 

“I'ma keep the piece until I see some more peace

I'ma keep it G, forever keep it low-key

Take a trip to South Korea with some DC OGs

Chiefin' OG, I'm chiefin' OG

Hated by alt-rights and racist police

Say, woop woop, man, 12 comin' “

The music video to this song is beautiful. It is predominantly in black and white, but with little splashes of colour for details such as an office worker’s bright blue jacket and green lights on Wale. Images of workers, politicians and schoolchildren circulate around the camera, and later on in the video they reappear trapped in chains. The symbolism and simplicity of the video astound me every time.  

Source: BTS_twt 

Fire – Eve

Fire is one of those earworm songs that is catchy as hell and manages to sit in your subconscious, looping la la la la, bow wow wow round and round in your head.

This song is a celebration of youth, pointing out the traditionally thought of bad aspects of being young and make it known do what you want/need to do. Tell the people comparing you to stop and tell them to leave you be.

The song in itself is a fun upbeat dance song with so many ruff beats and electronic effects mixed in to make it a dance floor essential.

‘Hey, burn it up

Like you’re gonna set everything on fire

Hey, turn it up

Until the dawn is gone

It's ok to just live because we're still young

Who do you think you are to say otherwise

Stop comparing, I'm only human

(So what~)’

RM's verse, that he shares with J-Hope is the highlight of Fire for me. The beat drops back and strips down perfect for RM's gravely rap to kick in. He can flip and change the mood with one word and then take it right back.

Source: 1theK 

Reflection - Onomey

We all know how talented RM is in a number of areas which is what makes him a great leader for others to reply on when they find themselves in trouble. It was good to learn about the things that RM struggles with and how he likes to deal with it and to know that he has a way of trying to find solutions to when he doesn't feel like smiling.

'To be honest, quite often

I really hate myself

When I hate myself, I go to Dduksum

I just stand there with the familiar darkness

With the people that are smiling 

And beer, which makes me smile'.

Reflection is such a relaxing song instrumentally, it makes me calm down when I am having anxiety attacks or just feeling down, despite the lyrics being how RM looks at himself negatively sometimes.

This song is an eye opener for people who only believe certain types of people suffer from life or their mental health and that no matter how famous you are, everyone has their insecurities which make people second guess themselves so it isn't right to judge because you never know who is just putting on a front so nobody will find out about what worries them.

'People look happier than the day

Everyone else knows where they're supposed to be

But only I walk without purpose

But still, blending in with them is more comfortable'.

I think this song shows the cleverness RM produces as a songwriter by having only verses. The instrumental chorus makes people listen to the repetitive melody whilst being allowed the space within the song to reflect on what RM says in the verses. Some people may not think too much of the song because it doesn't have many lyrics to it but when you're able to focus and break down the song piece by piece, you realise that it is a touch of genius that RM should be proud of. 

The ending of the song is almost like RM is presenting a basis of a mantra in hopes of that the 'I wish' part will eventually turn into 'I know' if he keeps repeating it enough.

I wish I could love myself

I wish I could love myself

I wish I could love myself

I wish I could love myself

I wish I could love myself

I wish I could love myself

I wish I could love myself

I wish I could love myself

Source: ibighit 

To reflect on the full Namjoon playlist on Spotify clink on the following link: Namjoon - A Playlist