FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2020, file photo, South Korean K-pop band BTS arrives for the 62nd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. BTS released a statement condemning racism against Asians and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. "We stand against racial discrimination," the biggest boyband in the world, tweeted to their 34 million followers in both English and Korean.
FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2020, file photo, South Korean K-pop group BTS salutes to their national flag during a ceremony marking the National Youth Day at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea. BTS released a statement condemning racism against Asians and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. "We stand against racial discrimination," the biggest boyband in the world, tweeted to their 34 million followers in both English and Korean.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — K-pop superstar group BTS has condemned racism against Asians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in a statement saying they've experienced it themselves.
"We stand against racial discrimination," BTS tweeted Tuesday in English and Korean. The band said their own painful encounters with racism included "expletives" and being "mocked for the way" they look.
The band said that although the discrimination they endured is "inconsequential" compared to "events that have occurred over the past few weeks," they felt the need to speak out. "What's happening right now cannot be disassociated from our identity as Asians," the band said.
Many Asian Americans believe the Atlanta shootings were racially motivated. Police say they are still trying to determine a motive.
BTS is one of the first South Korean bands to openly condemn anti-Asian racism. K-pop bands are known to be careful about maintaining personas created by their labels, which often muzzle stars on touchy subjects like race and mental health.
NEW YORK (AP) — Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker, Audra McDonald, Kevin Klein, Carla Gugino and Keanu Reeves have signed on to perform in a new virtual play series this spring while Broadway is closed.
MADRID (AP) — Spain's Princess Leonor de Borbón presided over her first public event without the presence of her father, King Felipe VI, on Wednesday at the 30th anniversary celebration of a language and cultural center.
While you're here, how about this:
BTS's 'My Time' Celebrates A Full Year On The World Songs Chart
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 31: K-Pop band, BTS is seen in Times Square on December 31, 2019 in New York ... [+] City. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
It's beginning to feel like every few weeks BTS see one of their biggest hits reach a special milestone on the World Digital Song Sales chart, the Billboard ranking they know best. This turn is no different, as one of their most popular recent releases celebrates hitting a mark that would be a career-defining moment for any other act, but which is nearly commonplace for the South Korean septet at this point.
BTS's track "My Time" hits 52 weeks on the World Digital Song Sales chart, or exactly a full year. This is, incredibly, not even the first of the band's singles to reach that mark in 2021.
"My Time" is BTS's fourteenth release to spend at least 52 weeks on the World Digital Song Sales chart, and it surely won't be their last. So far, all of the following tunes from the seven-member vocal band have racked up at least 52 stays somewhere on the list: "Dope," "Mic Drop" with Desiigner, "Fire," I Need U," "Blood Sweat & Tears," "Save Me," "DNA," "Boy With Luv" with Halsey, "Fake Love," "Not Today," "Spring Day," "Idol" with Nicki Minaj and, most recently, "Euphoria." A handful of these titles have passed triple-digit frames.
BTS's "My Time" was one of the most popular tracks from the band's recent album Map of the Soul: 7 , which has turned out to be one of the most successful of their career thus far. The cut eventually rose all the way to No. 1 on the World Digital Song Sales chart, becoming one of their 26 leaders. This frame, it steps up from No. 12 to No. 9, returning to the highest tier on the tally once again. The hit also reached the Hot 100, which is extremely rare for a non-single from a K-pop act, but that's how powerful BTS is.
Next up for BTS when looking at their tracks which will likely make it to a full year on the World Digital Song Sales chart is "Filter," which returns to the ranking this frame. The tune is just one more stay on the roster away from that anniversary, and even if it doesn't hold one for another spin and celebrate next time around, it surely will at some point in the not-too-distant future.
BTS Will Make History at the Grammys. Whether They Take Home an Award or Not, They've Already Won.
BTS will make history on Sunday as the first K-pop act to perform one of their own songs at the Grammys.
The seven-member band's smash hit "Dynamite" is nominated for "Best Pop Duo/Group Performance" and is up against the likes of Taylor Swift's "Exile," Justin Bieber's "Intentions," and Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's "Rain on Me."
This is the group's second shot at a Grammy after they were nominated for "Best Recording Package" for the artwork of their best-selling album "Love Yourself: Tear" during the 61st Grammys in 2019.
BTS getting recognition for their achievements is also viewed as a sign that the Recording Academy is attempting to keep up with the times and be more inclusive where genres like K-pop are concerned.
When asked about their feelings regarding the nomination, member Jimin said that it was "really hard to express in words. Even now, we can't still believe that we were nominated, and we'll be able to perform at the Grammys. So, we're thankful. We're honored."
According to a Forbes report, BTS was this week named the "top recording artist in the world" in the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's (IFPI) annual report. The group sold around 8.7 million records last year.
The global success has propelled their label, BigHit Entertainment, to a $7.5 billion IPO valuation, and their global success has not only made them a source of national pride but has also helped contribute a whopping $4.65 billion to South Korea's GDP.
New The Witcher Season 2 BTS photos could reveal our first look at the Wild Hunt | Shacknews
Fans are speculating that new photos from behind-the-scenes of Netflix' The Witcher Season 2 could give us our first look at the Wild Hunt.
The Wild Hunt is an iconic part in The Witcher series, playing a large part in not only Ciri’s backstory, but also in the plot of CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. As such, new photos which appear to showcase the Wild Hunt in all of its glory have many fans speculating about how the war party will appear in Season 2 of Netflix’s fantasy adventure series.
The photos were shared on the r/NetflixWitcher Twitter today and include a few different shots of several armored individuals on horseback. The armor featured in the images appears to be similar designs to that of the Wild Hunt which appeared in CD Projekt Red’s best-selling RPG, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Of course, the appearance of the Wild Hunt has yet to be confirmed for Season 2 of Netflix’s The Witcher series, and as such, these photos could represent some other threat we’ve yet to be introduced to in the show. Despite that, though, many are speculating that we’ll learn more about Ciri’s bouts with the Wild Hunt, something that is referenced heavily throughout The Witcher 3, and explored throughout the books.
Because the show is following closer to the narrative shared in the original books, it stands to reason that the Wild Hunt will play a vital part in the story as we dig deeper into the lore of Geralt and Ciri’s world. With Ciri already playing such a large role in the first season of The Witcher show, Season 2 could be where we get our first taste of the Wild Hunt and all that it entails.
If these photos are indeed the Wild Hunt, then fans should have a lot to look forward to when The Witcher Season 2 arrives sometime in the future. Unfortunately, no finalized release date has been given yet, so we’ll have to wait for official confirmation before getting too excited.
Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and has been exploring the world of video games for as long as he can remember. He enjoys everything from large-scale RPGs to small, bite-size indie gems and everything in between.
Not to change the topic here:
BTS at the Grammys: Their historic nomination, 'Dynamite' success
It's been nearly eight years since BTS took to the stage for their debut performance . At Sunday's Grammy Awards , the seven men from South Korea will have more firsts. They are up for best pop duo/group performance for "Dynamite," their chart-topping English-language hit. It marks the group's first nomination as well as the first for a K-pop group. They're on tap to perform and it'll be the first time they'll do so armed with one of their own songs (they had a cameo at the 2020 Grammys, but more on that later).
Making history and breaking records is nothing new for RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook.
They're the first K-pop group to debut at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 . They hold the Guinness World Records for most-viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours ("Dynamite" hit 101 million views). They've beat their own record for the best-selling South Korean album of all time.
Along the way, they've gained a legion of fiercely loyal fans called ARMY (full disclosure: I am one of them).
"We're really excited, it still feels surreal," Jimin told USA TODAY via an interpreter. "We're still figuring out what to make of it. But we do know this is a great honor and we're deeply thankful. We're trying our best to deliver a great performance to return all the support we received from our fans."
In 2018, during an interview with Jimmy Fallon , BTS was asked what they wanted next in their career and Suga said, "Go to the Grammys." The rest of the boys laughed lightheartedly when Suga answered. It wasn't the first time he had expressed this wish.
A few months later, BTS flew out to attend the 2019 Grammys as presenters , where they walked the red carpet and promised they "would be back."
In 2020, they made an appearance on stage during Lil Nas X's performance of "Old Town Road." In a behind-the-scenes video from the event , the members reiterated how much they would love the opportunity to one day perform their own song.
"(A) performance is what we wanted more, even more than a nomination or winning," RM said. "We are a performance team, so a performance with our own song was one of our final dreams for this whole journey, so we are flattered and excited at the same time."
BTS Score Two Of The 10 Biggest Albums In The World In 2020
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 21: Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook of K-Pop band BTS are seen ... [+] during an interview at the 'Today' Show on February 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
The IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) has spent the past several days rolling out its lists of the biggest names and most successful music releases in the world last year, and today (March 10), the music industry organization shared the 10 biggest albums of 2020, and a single name dominates in more ways than one.
The South Korean vocal band's first release of 2020, the immensely popular Map of the Soul: 7 , opens at No. 1. The set hit the highest spot on charts in dozens of countries and didn't just reset sales records in their home nation, but smashed them. Within just a few weeks, the effort became the bestselling title of all time in the Asian territory, and it may not be bested for some time...or at least until they deliver something else fans can't wait to get their hands on.
Coming in second place is The Weeknd's After Hours , which was bolstered by a number of hit singles, none more popular than "Blinding Lights," which was named the biggest song in the world in 2020 just yesterday (March 9).
Somewhat surprisingly, Billie Eilish appears in third place with a title she released in mid-2019. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was one of the biggest sets of that year, and also apparently of 2020, as fans kept streaming and buying the teen's first full-length.
Back at No. 4 is BTS, who fill two rungs inside the top five. The septet's third project of the year, Be , manages to make the list despite the fact it was released less than two months before 2020 ended. The title was aided by several singles, including "Dynamite," which was also named one of the biggest songs of the year. In a career filled with successful tracks, none have performed better for the group than the disco-pop smash.
Rounding out the top five is Harry Styles' Fine Line , his sophomore full-length which was warmly received by critics and fans alike.
The lower half of the tally is populated by Post Malone's Hollywood's Bleeding (No. 6), Kenshi Yonezu's Stray Sheep (No. 7), Justin Bieber's Changes (No. 8), Taylor Swift's surprise set Folklore (No. 9) and Dua Lipa's second complete album Future Nostalgia (No. 10).
In tokenising BTS, the Grammys were not only crude but cruel – it needs the K-pop kings more than
BTS's 'Map Of The Soul: Persona' Hits 100 Weeks On The World Albums Chart
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 26: BTS arrives at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center ... [+] on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
Not much is happening on this week's World Albums chart, as BTS's Be holds steady at No. 1 for its seventeenth frame and no new releases debut on the list, but one title does reach a very special milestone that only a handful of efforts have ever even approached.
Incredibly, Map of the Soul: Persona is BTS's fourth full-length to reach 100 weeks on the World Albums chart, and the other three have long since passed that mark. The South Korean boy band's title with the most turns spent on the list remains Love Yourself: Tear , which advances to 136 weeks on the tally this period. Just one stint behind that release comes Love Yourself: Answer , which has earned 135 weeks on the list.
Love Yourself: Her , the only other title in that trio of full-lengths, has thus far spent 119 weeks somewhere on the World Albums chart.
At the moment, BTS doesn't have another title approaching triple-digit weeks on the World Albums chart. Their release that seems closest to that mark is You Never Walk Alone , which is comfortable at 80 frames, and that sum isn't likely to improve by much anytime soon. While they may not enjoy this specific type of success again for a while, the septet is sure to make it to this milestone again at some point, as they almost always lay claim to half of the spots on the tally every week.
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