BTS IS BACK! I’m so excited. If you have read any of my other reviews of BTS’s music, you will know that I think BTS is incredibly talented and has not produced a bad song. As such, BTS Map of the Soul: Persona has had me shaking like a chihuahua since it was announced. Logically, this means that the K-Pop Hero is going to be giving it a moment in the spotlight with a post and a reaction video
I did order all four copies of the album from Music Plaza in LA. This is a link to the exact one I’ve ordered. I got all 4 copies for $69.99 plus shipping. This link will get you 5% off.
You can also pick it up from eBay using this link here for 19.99 plus shipping. Plus, with eBay, you can save a little bit of money by using the E-Bates extension on your browser, as it will save you 2% on all album purchases, which definitely adds up.
What is E-Bates?
E-Bates is a cashback site that gives you money for purchases you may have already made. They even have an extension for multiple browsers so when you go to a website that uses Ebates, it will automatically pop up the cashback button to make sure you are saving money. I use this all the time, and I got over 80$ back from them for purchases I was going to make anyway. That’s about 3 more albums I can buy!
If you’ve never used EBates before, you can use this link to get $10 when making a qualified purchase of $25 when using EBates. You will also get whatever percent cashback is being offered from the site you are purchasing from. Sephora, typically has 4% cashback, through here. Sokoglam typically has 3%. These percentages Many other major retailers are on there as well.
Can I get it on Amazon?
Yes! You can pick up a copy using this link here for 21 dollars (not as good of a deal), with free shipping if you have Amazon Prime.
If you don’t have Amazon Prime, you can get a 30-day free trial using this link here. I will not lie, the free 2-day shipping, plus all of the free music and videos are totally worth it. I also now use it for books for my Kindle Paper White too, and it is honestly a life saver. They have a program called Kindle Unlimited where you can check out 10 books at a time, read them, and put them back in the Kindle library. The program cost $7.99 a month, and you get the first 30 days for free with this link.
How do I read this post?
I recommend that you put the album on in the background, and read through it while listening to the track that I am talking about. It will help you understand what parts of the music I’m referring to when I talk about different instruments and different vocal parts. This is what I recommend for all of my song reviews.
BTS Map of the Soul: Persona Track By Track:
Intro: Persona
First track of the album, and RM is already coming in hard with his solo. I like how it feels a bit more like BTS in this track is going back to the 90’s. The track has a modern yet retro feel all at the same time. This is great. I love the record scratching. I love RM’s sing rhymes. As is expected for a typical KPop Hero post, I cannot talk about this track without mentioning how much I love the guitar and bass guitar line. They’re smooth, simple and clean. They really help move the song forward.
Overall, this track is an excellent opening to the mini-album. It’s strong, it’s bold. More than that, I’m completely in love with the simplicity of the background music to really let RMs vocals pull through. This is a fantastic track.
작은 것들을 위한 시 (Boy With Luv) feat. Halsey
I already went and reacted to the music video, you can watch it below:
Now that my first watching is out of the way, I’ve gone and listened to the song a lot more and wanted to dissect my thoughts more. First thing I’m going to mention, I love the baseline of the track. It is strong, simple and really helps the track move forward. What I find interesting about this track is how they pulled Halsey into singing Korean lyrics. I think it’s great and helps bridge the gap between the two cultures.
On top of that, I really feel like Suga modified his rapping style in this track in comparison to what we normally hear him do. It follows a different rhythmic pattern from what we normally hear him do. It’s interesting, and I really like it. Overall, this track is really cute, and the way that the boys play off of Halsey is adorable. Does this beat other BTS tracks for me? No. Is it already stuck in my head? Yes.
소우주 (Mikrokosmos)
Okay, from the start I’m loving the electronic positive sound of this track. This track talks about how they want to shine through the dark night, like a star, and I completely love it. Tracks like this are the epitome of what BTS is and the message that they give to their fans. We’re there for each other, shining like star light. Honestly, it’s great.
I love how the group uses dynamics throughout the track to propel the song forward. It makes the track go by quickly. On top of that, I love all of the harmonies that the boys add to the track, even in the moments where they are all singing in unison. When they are all singing in unison, it gives you the feel like they are all banding together. Big fan of this track.
Make It Right
Okay, The EDM horns at the beginning of the song are completely different from anything I’ve heard. It’s so interesting. I like the groove that they add to the song. The transition into the first verse is clean. V’s vocals at the beginning are so clean and calm sounding. Once Jungkook and Jimin start singing in the track, the EDM horns contrast nicely with their falsetto vocals.
Yet again, I’m a fan of this track! I love how clean and well produced it is. Even more interesting is that Ed Sheeran of all people has a writing credit on this song! Which you can hear throughout the instrumentation, as it feels like him, especially in the rap verses. They remind me of Take It Back from Sheeran’s second album. I’m digging all of this so far guys! Good job.
HOME
Okay, as soon as this song comes on, I love how we dropped into a full on R&B/Hip hop track!This is so different from any other track that is on this album so far. I love the percussion on this track, as well as the slick piano chords. This track has an amazing groove to it from start to finish, and I love every little piece of it.
Out of all of the tracks I’ve heard thus far on this mini-album, this one has the most interesting melody line. It really plays with rhythm and I think it pushes the singers a little bit more than they are used to. The song has vocal slides which we don’t hear BTS do very often, and it’s really nice to hear. Good job again, guys! I’m loving what I’m hearing.
Jamais Vu
So, this song and the last song both feature foreign languages besides Korean and English! The last song they sang “Mi Casa” in the chorus, and this track means “never seen” in French. So, this song I really want to focus on the lyrics, as I feel like they are really digging into a deeper concept here. This whole song contrasts with the previous ones because it focuses more on the inner self, and how we all need to heal internally. They sing about needing to be saved.
This track right here is what really digs into what I think we will be hearing more of in the next part of this series. Persona is a psychological concept that talks about how we show ourselves to others, and how that differs from what is going on inside. Despite everything that one sees on the outside, they are still hurting inside. This is a really good song, and I love how it contrasts with other songs on the album.
Dionysus
Okay, we are going hardcore, 90’s style rap on this track. I love the rhymes that they are ripping in this song. More importantly, I love the minor chord, tight harmonies throughout the chorus! They are amazing. It sounds so interesting and different, which is something that BTS excels at. They just love to play with music in a way other artist may be afraid to do.
I’m not going to lie, this song sounds completely different from what I anticipated from a song named after the Greek God of Wine and Parties. I was 100% not anticipating a full rock, almost heavy metal track from BTS. I must say, I love what they did with it! It’s awesome, and I feel like they haven’t done something like this in ages, if ever. Good job for knowing how to mix it up, boys.
K-Points: 99/5
The beginning of the Map of the Soul series has a completely different feel from the Love Yourself series. With Love Yourself, I could 100% see from the beginning what direction they were going to take this in. This one, I can’t. This could go in a number of directions. What I do think will happen is that the next part will explore a bit more of the inner turmoil that we got a taste of in “Jamais Vu” and “Make It Right”. All of this being said, I loved everything that I was hearing on this mini-album, and can’t wait to see what comes next.
So should you get yourself a copy of this album? Honestly, I don’t think you can ever go wrong with any BTS album. These guys know how to produce good music, and always have. A BTS album is always good to add to a collection. Should you stream it? This is a no-brainer. OF COURSE! it is excellent from start to finish. I loved every single song.
What song on the mini-album is your favorite, K-Nuggets? Let me know in the comments below!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
