[SBS Star] VIDEO: Eric Nam Beautifully Describes What He Thinks Made BTS Globally Successful
Lee Narin
입력 : 2019.09.19 14:50|수정 : 2019.09.19 14:50
K-pop artist Eric Nam shared how he thinks boy group BTS became so popular worldwide.
On September 9, Eric Nam featured on American podcast 'Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig'.
During the talk, the host Grace Helbig asked, "Do you have any artist or group that you are excited about now?
Eric Nam laughed and answered, "Well, I feel like the entire world is excited about BTS."
Then, Grace Helbig nodded and asked with eyes full of curiosity, "Yeah, definitely. What do you think it was that made their crossover into mainstream music?"Before Eric Nam gave his response, he first made it clear that this was just his personal opinion.
Then, Eric Nam responded, "When BTS started, they were these underdogs in the industry. I knew they were having a very difficult time, because K-pop is so competitive. There are hundreds of groups making debut every year and maybe 1% is going to stay around for a few years." He continued, "I remember that they were doing things non-traditionally in the sense like they were shooting a show in Los Angeles, and they were performing at these tiny venues there. I guess they were trying to figure out their sound, image and look were going to be."
He added, "I think what really took BTS was their fandom, ARMY though. They were really rooting for those underdogs. They were that perfect underdog story. But it worked, because they are amazing performers. They looked almost like America's best dance crew, but they could sing and rap amazingly well at the same time."After that, Eric Nam mentioned the time when he saw BTS' live performance for the very first time.
Eric Nam said, "I was at 'KCON LA' in 2014 where they were the opening act. 'KCON LA' had the most stacked lineup that year; there were all like big and heavy hitters from the industry. I watched them there and they stole the show. Their choreography, charisma and the way they did things made people go, 'Is that magic? What is going on?', and from there, there was this organic growth of international fans."
He went on, "I think a lot of people were like, 'These guys are so underappreciated, but they are so good.' Then, they just continued doing their thing, and managed to become the biggest act in the world."