Bangtan Boys

Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS and Bulletproof Boy Souts, is a seven member South Korean hip-hop boy group. They debuted on June 12th, 2013, and are under the company Big Hit Entertainment. Their debut single, "No More Dream", was incredibly popular and gained the group much attention. At the 2013 MelOn Music Awards, the group won the New Artist of the Year award. They have also been nominated numerous times at various other award functions in 2013 as Best Rookie Group/Artist.

Members

Rap Monster, whose real name is Kim Namjoon, was born on September 12th, 1994 and is the leader of BTS. He is also one of the four rappers of the group. Before becoming an idol, Namjoon was a part of the underground K-Hip Hop scene and went by the stage name "Runch Randa". He has collaborated with Block B's Zico before; one of their well known predebut songs being "F*ck Cockroachez". Namjoon studied in New Zealand when he was younger and has taught himself English to the point where he is almost completely fluent. He has written and composed many songs of his own and contributed to composing and writing lyrics for both of BTS' mini albums.

Jin, whose real name is Kim Seokjin, was born on December 4th, 1992 and is the visual of BTS as well as one of the vocalists. It is rumored that before he debuted, Seokjin was an endorsement model. He was, and still is, very good friends with Jin Hyosang of Topp Dogg, who was a former member of BTS before they debuted. Seokjin also knows a little bit of Mandarin Chinese.

J-Hope, whose real name is Jung Hoseok, was born on February 18th, 1994. He is one of the four rappers as well as one of the members in charge of dancing. Hoseok received his stage name from his producers. He is the hopeful member of the group, so they took the first letter of his surname and added "hope" to it. He is a former trainee from JYP along with B.A.P.'s Yoo Youngjae, and he used to be an underground dancer. Before he debuted, Hoseok starred in Jo Kwon of 2AM's music video for "Animal". He was also a backup dancer in Jo Kwon's music video for his song, "I'm Da One". He too has helped compose and write some of BTS' songs.

Suga, whose real name is Min Yoongi, was born on March 9th, 1993 and is a rapper in BTS. Yoongi used to be an underground rapper before he got into Big Hit Entertainment. He ended up winning second place in the final auditions for the company. Yoongi received his stage name from the company because, according to them, he has a sweet smile like sugar. He has contributed to the writing and composing of BTS' songs and is said to have wrote the lyrics for the song "I Like It", from their first mini-album, in under forty minutes. Yoongi himself has said that he is terrible when it comes to speaking English.

Park Jimin was born on October 13th, 1995 and is a vocalist and dancer in BTS. Unlike the rest of the members who trained for more than a year, Jimin debuted after only training for one. Jimin is one of the most talkative members of the group, and is also extremely self-conscious. When BTS first debuted, he was noted as the member who lifts his shirt up and flashes his abs in the "No More Dream" music video.

V, whose real name is Kim Taehyung, was born on December 30th, 1995 and is a vocalist. Taehyung was kept a secret during BTS' predebut times and was only revealed as a seventh member when their teaser images were released. He was scouted by a rookie group development personnel when he was simply walking and looking around Big Hit's academy building. He had no intention to be a singer and his parents were against it as well. He only auditioned after the person who had scouted him contacted his parents and discussed it with them. He trained three years before debuting and was in Jo Kwon's music video for "I'm Da One".

Jeon Jungkook was born on September 1st, 1997 and is the maknae of BTS. He is one of the members in charge of rapping, as well as dancing and vocals. Because he has so many roles in the group, he is also often referred to as the "Golden Maknae". When he was in 7th grade, Jungkook learned b-boying in a club and proceeded to audition for the South Korean television show, Superstar K2. He was casted by Big Hit's staff, but was told he had no emotion while he danced. In the summer of 2012, Jungkook traveled to Los Angeles to train at the famous dance academy called Movement Lifesyle to learn more about dancing and has been quoted saying, "I think I learned how to properly show emotion in dancing."

Pre-debut

Bangtan Boys were originally set to debut in 2010, but due to many of the original members leaving, it was postponed. Rap Monster is the only member from the original line-up of the group. Before their debut, they released two cover songs. Rap Monster, Jin and Suga covered the song "Swimming Pools (Drank)" by Kendrick Lamar and turned it into "School of Tears", which is a song about society today and its negative and backwards ways. Jimin, Jungkook and J-Hope covered the song "Young, Wild and Free" by Wiz Khalifa and made it into "Graduation Song". Since V was kept a secret until debut, he didn't participate in either of these songs.

2013: 2 Cool 4 Skool, O! R U L8 2?

BTS' debut mini-album 2 Cool 4 Skool was released on June 12th, 2013 and they had their debut stage on the music show M! Countdown! on June 13th. They promoted their first single, "No More Dream" for the rest of the month before releasing and promoting their second single, "We Are Bulletproof Pt. II".

The group made their first comeback on September 11th, 2013 with the song "N.O" and their second mini-album, O!RUL8,2?. They promoted this song until November before ending the promotions with their follow-up songs, "Satoori Rap" and "Attack of Bangtan" (Also called "The Rise of Bangtan").