Review of BTS’s ‘Boy In Luv’

Five months after their last album ‘O, R U L8, 2?’ and the promotional single ‘N.O’ was released, BTS are back with the new album ‘Skool Luv Affair’ and a new single: ‘Boy In Luv’! 

Song

I’m very pleased with this song. I’ve absolutely loved every song they’ve promoted and this is no exception. I’m sensing that this will be another one in the line of BTS songs that I play so much that I’m aaaaalmost sick of it.

But it truly is a great song, and it’s very true to their style. They have since their debut 8 months ago been very much the same, which I like. They’ve been young and cool, hip hop, and very in-your-face. And while they did infuse some more rock sounds into this song, it’s still very much their style.

I haven’t listened to the rest of this album yet, but if it’s anything like this, I’ll most certainly enjoy it.

Lyrics

These lyrics are very straightforward and about the exact same thing as what the video portrays: They’re in love with a girl and trying to get her to like them back, but being kind of really awkward with it. There is some of their standard cockiness expressed in the lyrics as well, but isn’t it  classic for a teenage boy liking a girl to put on a bit of attitude? There’s also a bit of frustration expressed in the song, which makes a lot of sense.

I love how they kind of put the blame on her for them liking her, it makes loads of sense.

This is probably the cutest line in the entire song. A young boy asking his father for advice about asking out girls is truly very adorable. Especially coming from ‘tough guys’ like BTS.

Always frustrating when the other person can’t just figure it out for themselves, isn’t it? (And, once again, I’m sorry that some of these lyric-shots are hard to read, I can’t make them bigger without also making them very blurry. So if you can’t read them, click them)

I really think that them not knowing how to ask a girl out is really cute. And it’s a very age-appropriate theme, like all of their songs.

I’m sure we all recognize this scenario of a boy not knowing how to express his feelings so instead he acts like a jerk. Even though I’m a girl and this isn’t how we’re stereotypically supposed to do it, I pull this stunt almost every time I like someone.

I love the frustration, just because it feels so familiar! Me being about the same age as these members and them singing about stuff I can really relate to is a big plus for them.

This part has nothing to do with the rest of the lyrics, and therefore makes no real sense. But I like that yet another kpop star used ‘Hakuna matata’ in one of their songs.

Oh, the familiarity… Which one of us hasn’t done this one?

Yeah, what the hell?! How can some people suddenly seem so great… It makes no sense. I feel you, BTS.

This is the line that gets repeated (twice, is it?) in the chorus so it’s the one we hear the most. This expresses that cocky vibe that I mentioned before, but to me this really sounds like they’re trying to uphold an act, and I’m not buying it.

Yet again with the cocky. I’m still not buying it.

I really do find it so endearing that BTS who normally seem so damn cocky and confident express these innocent and confused feelings. If you listen to the song and watch the video without knowing what the lyrics mean it seems like they’re really confident and cool, which adds even more to my facade-theory. Actually it’s so obvious that it isn’t even a theory, I’m completely sure.

Wanting and being prepared to do whatever that person tells you can be a slightly bad aspect of being madly in love, but this video doesn’t touch on that, so neither shall I.

Video

As I said, these lyrics and video match each other very well. It’s basically just them crushing on her, being awkward and liking her, confessing, and then them all having a very sparkling celebratory party. It’s simple, and easy to understand. Nothing wrong with it whatsoever. Given that it was such a straightforward and fairly simple video, I don’t have a whole lot to touch on, but there are some things worth mentioning.

Is Jin sitting inside a locker? Because it sure looks like it.

Is he rapping some kind of confession or summoning all his buddies together? Either way, I’m sure you could just text or something. But this is cooler, I guess.

Best scene in the entire video, right here. Jimin is at the urinal when Jungkook comes and joins him. Jimin literally looks down at… you know… and then looks up and greets Jungkook with the weirdest super happy smile ever. What just happened?! Are you guys sexually harassing the maknae? Either way, awesome scene!

I know some people really didn’t like how they treated the girl in the video, but I think it’s just a very simple and clear representation of how young guys in love can be, they act like jerks because they don’t know how to show how they feel. And I feel like that was very clear, so I’m not sure why people are getting so upset.

I love how they act all tough throwing chairs around when they’re really just making room for a friend to give a girl a rose. It’s adorable.

Which leads to this scene. I think it’s a cute albeit cheesy scene, and I love how the music slows down to match the cuteness going on.

It’s slightly weird how there are several dudes giving her this rose though. At first it was Jungkook but now it’s Jin.

And now it’s Jimin. I mean, I get that this is a video like all other kpop videos, where all the members are in love with the same person, but did they all three have to be in this particular scene? And if yes, then why couldn’t the other four members join? That’s just unfair.

Just had to mention this, I can’t have been the only one that thought that this scene was a little random? I mean, I get that they’re having a cool celebration party because he (they) got the girl, but why is Suga on the hoop? That really can’t be good for it.

Dance

The dance is a very masculine and the-cocky-kind-of-sexy type of dance, there are lots of stances with the legs far apart and a lot of arm-slapping. I like it a lot, as I always do their dances. Their dances, like their overall style and music, are consistent.

This is probably the smoothest crotch grab I’ve ever seen, since I didn’t even see it the first time I watched the video. Dang, that’s smooth.

I love this random move where J-Hope uses Jimin’s arms as a steering wheel, it’s very cute.

I also love the end pose. It’s very simple, but very cool at the same time, somehow.

While I am very pleased with the way they balanced dancing versus the storyline and solo shots in this video, I’m a little sad that we didn’t get to see more of the actual choreography, and mostly just the same moves repeated in the chorus. The choreography as a whole is really cool, and you guys should most definitely check it out!

(It refuses to embed itself, sorry about that)

Another minor complaint I have is that all their other dances had one very distinct cool move that you’d remember. In ‘No More Dream’ it was when Jungkook lifts Jimin and Jimin runs on the others’ backs, in ‘We Are Bulletproof’ it was the hat throwing thingy, and in ‘N.O’ it was ninja Jimin coming out to save the day! While this dance was awesome, it lacked that one awesome move that you’d really remember.

Outfits and Styling

The clothes in this video aren’t that special, but comments shall be made!

There are only two real prominent sets of outfits in this video (because the third only appeared for like two seconds and was impossible to get a decent shot of. But that one was pretty cool) and this is the one you mostly see them wearing during the dance shots. It’s very simple: black pants, white tops and something black around their necks. Very very simple, and therefore not much to comment on.

This is the other set of outfits that you see some dancing shots in and it’s also what they’re wearing in the school scenes. Simple, black and white.

Now let’s move on to hair! This is definitely, by far, the best hairstyle and look in this video. I never thought Rap Monster was much of a looker, I just thought he was really cool, but now I’ve been proven wrong. His last hairstyle was bad, this one is great, and now he’s gorgeous.

I’m not sure if this hairstyle just really doesn’t work on him or if I really just don’t think Suga’s good-looking… Either way, I didn’t find him attractive at all in this video, so something’s certainly off. I’m not sure if this ‘sensitive’ concept really works for him, he was so much better in their first videos.

Another great look. V overall was much more memorable to me in this video than he’s ever been before, and I think a lot of that has to do with this awesome red hair.

J-Hope’s hair is fine. It’s not great nor anything special, but it’s not that bad.

And I feel the exact same way about Jimin’s look. It’s not that bad, but it certainly isn’t great.

Jungkook looked great in this video, albeit really young. His hair looked more redish in some sense than what it does here, but it’s definitely a good style for him.

And while we’re speaking of looking great… Jin looked out-of-this-world gorgeous here. Like, damn. Hair is great, everything is great.

One final comment: The thing that really struck me when BTS first debuted last year was that it seemed like everything was very Jungkook-biased. And I get why they put so much attention on him, he’s one of the best dancers, he’s a very good-looking maknae and he’s a capable member of both the rap- and vocal-lines. So, I get it. But it did seem kind of unfair. There were some members that really didn’t stick out at all in the beginning while some, like Jungkook and Rap Monster, got much more attention. This is the first video where I feel like all members were memorable and got my attention. It’s a very good development.

I also really like that the members participate in the writing and producing of their own music, it’s really great.

That’s the end to my review of BTS’s ‘Boy In Luv’, and I hope you enjoyed it! If you did (or didn’t) then leave me a comment below and tell me your opinion on this song and video!

If you have thoughts, requests or suggestions for Friday’s list of the week, Sunday’s random post or next Tuesday’s review then leave me a comment or email me at topofthekpops@gmail.com!

– Admin A