Map of the Soul: 7
Map of the Soul: 7 is the fourth Korean-language studio album by South Korean boy band BTS. The album was released on February 21, 2020, by Big Hit Entertainment. It is the follow-up to their 2019 extended play , with five of its songs appearing on the album. Map of the Soul: 7 has been described as a pop, R&B and hip-hop record with influences from rock, trap and EDM. Lyrically, it touches upon themes of reflection, introspection and self-acceptance.
Upon release, Map of the Soul: 7 received critical acclaim, with praise towards the cohesive production that incorporates various styles. The album debuted at number-one on the US Billboard 200 chart with 422,000 album-equivalent units earned in its first week. It became BTS' fourth consecutive chart-toper in the country. The album also debuted atop the charts in many other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom; topping the charts in all of the top-five music markets in the world, BTS became the first Asian group to do so. In under nine days of its release, the album sold more than 4.1 million copies in South Korea for the first time in Gaon Album Chart's history, making it the best-selling album in the country's history, breaking the Guinness World Record of its predecessor Map of the Soul: Persona.
The album was supported by two singles, both entering the US Billboard Hot 100: "Black Swan" debuted and peaked at number 57, while "On" reached number four, becoming the band's first top-five hit on the chart. To promote the album, the group announced their fourth world tour, the Map of the Soul Tour.
Background
Following the release of their sixth extended play , BTS took an "extended period of rest and relaxation" in the midst of their Love Yourself World Tour to "recharge and prepare to present themselves anew as musicians and creators" and to "enjoy the lives of young people in their 20s". Prior to Map of the Soul: 7Conception
Map of the Soul: 7 is a continuation of their previous EP Map of the Soul: Persona, which itself was based on Carl Jung's Jung's Map of the Soul. The album expands on the themes and concepts of human psychology - "persona", "shadow" and "ego" and traces back the band's journey and growth of 7 years since their debut. Consisting of twenty tracks with fifteen new tracks and five from their previous release, the record is their longest studio album till date. Talking about the creative process behind the album, Suga stated, "It took us a little longer, and this is our first full album in quite a while. But making an album isn't just making the music. We have the songs, there's the choreography and a lot of other elements that come with it, so it took some time." Described by BTS as "deeply personal", Map of the Soul: 7 is self-referential that sees the group looking deeper to share their individual stories through their music.Music and lyrics
Map of the Soul: 7 has been described as a pop, R&B, and hip-hop album that incorporates rock, trap and EDM influences in its beats and production. It explores a broad range of other musical styles and genres including emo rap, rap-rock, pop-rock, Latin pop, pop-rap, electropop, disco-funk, synth-pop and Afro pop. Instrumentation through the record is provided by guitar strings and drums. Sonically, the concept album is diverse with rap songs, slow-paced sentimental ballads, and prog-style music. Lyrically, the album touches upon themes of reflection, introspection and the band's path to self acceptance. In an interview with Zach Sang, Suga explained: "One message that penetrates the album as a whole is that you must face your inner shadow, but resist becoming submerged into its depths."Songs
The album's first solo track is "Interlude: Shadow" performed by Suga, that samples the intro track of BTS's first EP O!RUL8,2?. The emo rap track starts off with a medium paced beat in an arrangement of electric guitar. During the song's lyrics, Suga raps about the fear and insecurities that come with fame and success. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called it "a prime example of BTS at top strength: a pop moment that feels both intimately personal and exuberantly universal". "Black Swan" is an emo hip hop track which uses instrumentation from trap drum beats and doleful lo-fi-style guitar tunes. It also features cloud rap and contains a catchy hook. Set in an arrangement of sombre instrumentals, the lyrics confess the fear of losing passion for music. It was served as the first official single for the album. NME called it "a haunting, melancholy curveball" that deviates "from an immediate, radio-friendly choice", putting "artistry ahead of mass appeal". "Filter" is a Latin pop-esque song performed by Jimin, featuring his different sides as a person. "My Time" performed by Jungkook is a strobing R&B song about forgoing the teenage experiences because of his career. Billboard noted the use of "gritty" guitar riffs in the song, adding a mild rock effect to it. Co-written by Troye Sivan, "Louder Than Bombs" is a trap-inflected electropop ballad. It features metronomic beat and falsetto vocal harmonies led by bass.The album's lead single "ON" is a loud, lively hip-hop anthem that kicks off with an implosive drumroll in a marching band-style and incorporates choral harmonies and trap beats. The song's title references to BTS's 2013 single "N.O.". The lyrics "Can't hold me down/ ‘Cuz you know I’m a fighter" and "bring the pain on" emphasises the album's theme of fighting against darkness, accepting faults and moving forward. Variety describes it "an exhortation to their fans, but also homage to their own career." "UGH" is an onomatopaeic hip hop track, featuring the rappers of the band expressing their anger towards malicious haters in the backdrop of "distinctly" East Asian riffs, turbulent strings, gunshot effects, and plinking synths. The song was compared to the works of Outkast and Travis Scott.
"00:00 " is a sincere soft-pop ballad performed by the vocalists and features soothing falsettos, vocal harmonies and trap beat. Lyrically, it is about reminding everyone to stay happy no matter what they are going through and that everyday is a fresh start. "Friends" is a pop-rock song with a calypso beat and is performed by Jimin and V. The track portrays their close friendship through its playful lyrics. "Inner Child" sung by V, is a sweeping, soaring track full of celestial metaphors that talks about the challenging times he faced. Jin's "Moon" is an upbeat guitar-driven pop-rock track that charts the love for their fans. "Respect" is a pop-rap track featuring RM and Suga in which they examine the meaning of the word. "We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal" is a continuation of BTS's 2013 song "We Are Bulletproof : Part 2." The pensive electro-influenced piano ballad sums up the entire journey of "Bangtan Sonyeondan". The album closes with J-Hope's solo "Outro: Ego", featuring samples from their 2013 debut album 2 Cool 4 Skool. The song uses an afrobeat sound in its production. The lyrics see him reflecting on his career and the decisions and hardships he faced. The song ends on a note of declaration of self and ego.
Artwork and packaging
Map of the Soul: 7BTS released 4 album versions for Map of the Soul: 7 containing different concept photos. Version 1 saw the group clad in white, depicting the members as swans with a "desire for perfection". In a darker theme, Version 2 portrays them as fallen angels with jet-black wings, alluding to their single "Black Swan" and represents "unquenchable thirst". Version 3 finds them seated in a luxuriant Dionysian feast, holding golden chalices, conveying a "sense of calling and will." Version 4 stands out as a stark contrast to the previous darker themes and is done up in the manner of year-book photos. It focuses on the personalities of each individual member depicting their "true selves."
Release and promotion
On January 7, 2020, the group announced that the album would be called Map of the Soul:7, with pre-orders starting on January 9. A "comeback map" for the album was released on January 8 revealing a schedule split into four phases. The map included multiple dates, including the release dates for the album's two singles. On January 9, the group released the official "comeback trailer" for their album, titled "Interlude: Shadow", performed by member Suga. "Black Swan", announced as the album's first single, was released on January 17, 2020 and debuted at number 57 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 46 on the UK Official Singles Chart. The single additionally peaked at number seven on the Gaon Digital Chart and number two on the US Digital Song Sales chart. It was supported by two music videos. The first music video was in the form of an "art film" featuring an interpretive dance performance by Slovenian modern dance troupe MN Dance Company. A second official music video of BTS performing in an opulent theater was later released on YouTube on March 4, 2020 without any prior announcement. The group performed the song for the first time on The Late Late Show with James Corden on January 28. The band released a second comeback trailer featuring J-Hope's song "Outro: Ego" on February 2. From February 9 through February 12, the band released a collection of four different series of concept photos, "offering fans new insights into what to expect from the album", according to Papers Matt Moen. On February 17, the group revealed the tracklist, consisting of twenty tracks, of which the first five were from Map of the Soul: Persona. The album also included an alternative version of the lead single "ON" in collaboration with Australian singer Sia, as the twentieth track of the digital-only release. On February 20, the day before the album was released, BigHit released details about the songs. On February 21, a 30-second clip of the lead single "On" was released on TikTok, 12 hours ahead of the official release of the song. TikTok reportedly crashed momentarily due to a large amount of fans trying to access it and also inspired a dance challenge. The same day BTS held a "Comeback Special" on VLIVE broadcasting site from New York, a few hours ahead of the album's release.Ten months after release of Map of the Soul: Persona,Map of the Soul: 7 was released worldwide on February 21, 2020 by Big Hit Entertainment in conjunction with a dance-oriented music video titled "Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima" for the lead single "On". The video amassed 46.5 million videos within its first day of release, making it the fifth most-watched YouTube video in 24 hours. A second cinematic official music video for "On" was released on February 27. With 1.54 million concurrent viewers within minutes of its release, the video broke the record for the biggest YouTube premier of all time and became the fastest Korean video on YouTube to reach 10 million views. The music video garnered 43.8 million views on its first day, surpassing Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do", making it the seventh most-viewed video on YouTube in the first 24 hours. Commercially, "On" debuted at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 86,000 downloads and 18.3 million U.S. streams, marking BTS's biggest sales week for a song. The song is the group's highest charting single on the chart and their first top 5, following "Boy With Luv" featuring Halsey which peaked at number 8 and "Fake Love" which peaked at No. 10, making BTS the first Korean artist to have most Top Ten hits on the Hot 100. It also debuted atop Billboard Digital Songs Sales chart and the Gaon Digital Chart.
Following the album release, the band performed "On" for the first time at the main concourse of Grand Central Station on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, for what has been called "one of the most high-production episodes" of the show. BTS also appeared on The Late Late Show With James Corden, NBC Today Show, MTV Fresh Out and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In South Korea, BTS held a global press conference in Seoul, on February 24, 2020 to promote the album. For the next two weeks, BTS made several appearances on South Korean music programs, including KBS Music Bank, Mnet's M Countdown and SBS Inkigayo to perform the singles "Black Swan" and "On".
Connect, BTS
In January 2020, BTS and Big Hit Entertainment launched "Connect, BTS", ahead of the release of Map of the Soul: 7. "Connect, BTS" is a global public art project involving 22 contemporary artists across five cities: London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul and New York. Galleries in these cities will host artistic events throughout January until the end of March. According to the "Connect, BTS" website, the project has been developed by international curators who "resonated with BTS' philosophy" and "aims to redefine the relationships between art and music, the material and immaterial, artists and their audiences, artists and artists, theory and practice." The project kicked off on January 14 at London's Serpentine Galleries with the launch of "Catharsis", a digital recreation of an ancient forest by Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen. Other works will include a "drawing in space" on New York's Brooklyn Bridge by British sculptor Antony Gormley using 11 kilometres of aluminium tubing. In Argentina, according to the BBC, Tomás Saraceno will "float" a human into the sky using a solar-powered balloon. In Seoul, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza will feature installations by British artist Ann Veronica Janssens and Korean artist Yiyun Kang which will be "re-imagining of BTS' signature dance movements" while a performance art program called "Rituals of Care" with 17 artists will be hosted in Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau.Tour
On January 21, 2020, BTS officially announced their fourth worldwide concert tour and second stadium tour titled Map of the Soul Tour to promote Map of the Soul: Persona and Map of the Soul: 7. The tour was set to begin on April 25, 2020 at the Levi's Stadium in the United States but after initial tour dates in Seoul were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Critical reception
Map of the Soul: 7 received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 82, based on twelve reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it a 7.6 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone called Map of the Soul: 7 BTS's "most smashing album yet, showing off their mastery of different pop styles", praising the broad and diverse sounds that flow cohesively through the album. Writing for Clash, Deb Aderinkomi also praised the album's sonic diversity, stating "Although the sound of the album is wide-ranging, it holds continuity through its lyrics and general sentiment." Sophia Simon-Bashall of The Line of Best Fit described the album as "an impressive, exciting and moving album with slick production" and concluded positively that the album is "a love letter to pain, to the shadows that live within us.It’s a reminder that where there is dark, there is light, and it always possible to find it." AllMusic's Neil Z.Yeung praised the album's concept and production, writing "they transform contemporary trends from the worlds of hip-hop, pop, and dance into a fittingly unique BTS experience." August Brown of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the album is "about being in a band, about the relationships that form and get tested in the crucible of insane fame" along with "the darkest, strangest and yet most relevant and ambitious music BTS has made yet." He commented that the record references to "their roots as a hip-hop act, but attuned to today's misty, hard-kicking sonics and bolstered by everything they've learned in the intervening years as pop stars".
Writing for NME, Rhian Daly deemed Map of the Soul: 7 "as an album full of big ideas, strong conviction and unguarded emotion." Reviewing for The Independent, Roisin O’Connor called the album "a gorgeous tapestry" where "recurring themes speak to a duality in which they weave myriad emotions". Stereogums Chris DeVille compared Map of the Soul: 7 to the Beatles's White Album writing,"7 is something like BTS’ very own White Album, a collection held together less by a cohesive sound than a familiar convergence of personalities." Corey van den Hoogenband of Exclaim! described it as an album "literally written for—and to—the members and fans" in which "the group made a conscious decision to experiment and give more of themselves focus on exactly what makes BTS special: its members." Billboards Tamar Herman summarized the album as "a bright sonic soundscape; a celebration of everything that BTS has become". Jochan Embley of Evening Standard wrote that the album is "an impeccably polished collection, written well and performed admirably."
Accolades
Commercial performance
According to Dreamus, the distributor for Map of the Soul: 7, stock preorders for the album surpassed 3.42 million copies over the first six days of the pre-order period, surpassing the group's own record set with ' 2.68 million pre-orders. On February 6, Forbes reported that the album has reportedly surpassed 4 million pre-orders worldwide. By February 18, album pre-orders had crossed 4.02 million.Map of the Soul: 7 debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with 422,000 album-equivalent units, including 347,000 pure album sales, becoming BTS's fourth number-one album in the country and the highest first-week figures of BTS's albums in the US to date. It also marked the biggest first week sales for an album in 2020 and maintained the record until The Weeknd's After Hours was released on March 20. The album outsold the next six highest-ranking albums on the Billboard 200 combined. The album's lead single, "On" debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 with 86,000 downloads and 18.3 million U.S. streams, marking BTS' biggest sales week for a song. The song is the group's highest charting single on the chart and their first top five, following "Boy With Luv" featuring Halsey which peaked at number eight and "Fake Love" which peaked at No. 10, making BTS the Korean artist with the most top-ten hits on the Hot 100. In Canada, the album debuted at number one with 23,000 album-equivalent units, becoming the group's third chart-topping album following ' and .
In South Korea, the album debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart, giving BTS their thirteenth number one. The album sold over 2.65 million copies in its first six hours and a record-breaking 3.37 million copies in its first week, achieving the highest first week sales in Hanteo Chart history and surpassing their previous record of 2.13 million copies with Map of the Soul: Persona; it outsold the next nineteen best-selling albums of 2020 combined. In under nine days of the album's release, Map of the Soul: 7 sold 4.1 million copies, marking the highest sales achieved by an album in a month and over a single year in the Gaon Album Chart's history, surpassing the monthly and annual sales of Map of the Soul: Persona and making it the best-selling album in the history of South Korea. It is also the first Korean album to sell more than 4 million copies since Gaon Chart's inception. In April, it became the first album certified as "Quadruple Million" by Gaon since the body implemented certifications in 2018; BTS are the only artist to achieve this. Following the release of Map of the Soul: 7, BTS became the best-selling artist in South Korea of all time, having sold 20.32 million albums cumulatively.
In Japan, the album became the group's fifth number one, selling more than 370,000 copies in its release week. It was certified Platinum by Recording Industry Association of Japan in February 2020, denoting 250,000 shipments. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted atop the Official Albums Chart giving the group their second consecutive number one. It moved around 36,000 units, with 32,000 being from pure sales. The album is certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for selling over 60,000 copies in the country. The album debuted atop the German albums chart, making BTS the first Asian group to top the chart. It debuted at number one on the Irish Albums Chart, making BTS the Korean artist to score a number one in that country. The album debuted at number one on Australia's ARIA Albums Chart becoming BTS' fifth top ten entry, and their second consecutive number one following Map of the Soul: Persona. In France, the album debuted at number one on the SNEP Albums Chart, moving 23,502 equivalent units, making the group's first number one in that country. With Map of the Soul: 7, BTS became the first Asian group to top the album charts in the top five music markets in the world—the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and France.
Track listing
Adapted from Big Hit's website and the liner notes of the physical album.Notes:
- "On" is stylized in all caps.
Personnel
- Paul Addleman – direction assistance
- Adora – digital editing, chorus, recording engineer
- Arcades – production
- Bianca Arriaga – drums
- Del Atkins – bass
- Emma Atkins – drums
- Bad Milk – production
- Chris Badroos – horn
- Duane Benjamin – orchestra conduction
- Dedrick Bonner – choir direction, choir
- Haley Breland – horn
- Tym Brown – choir
- Daniel Caesar – chorus
- Rastine Calhoun – horn
- Christopher Calles – horn
- Clayton Cameron – drums
- Hector Castillo – mix engineer
- Cherene Cexil – choir
- Siobhan Chapman – drums
- Matthew Chin – horn
- Justin Cole – drums
- Kayla Collins – choir
- Meloney Collins – choir direction assistance
- Jason de Leon – drums
- DJ Friz – scratch
- DJ Riggins – mix engineer
- El Capitxn – digital editing, synthesizer
- Matthew Espinoza – horn
- Ken Fisher – associate direction
- Melanie Joy Fontana – chorus
- James Ford – horn
- Jessie Lauryn Foutz – chorus
- Frants – bass, recording engineer, digital editing, gang vocals, guitar
- Kia Dawn Fulton – choir
- Ghstloop – keyboard, synthesizer, digital editing, gang vocals
- Fred Gibson – production, drums, keyboard, synthesizer, programming
- Max Lynedoch Graham – guitar, keyboard, percussions, vocoder, programming, gang vocals
- Diana Greenwood – drum
- Summer Greer – choir
- Halsey – chorus
- Enniss Harris – horn
- Spencer Hart – horn
- Hiss noise – production, keyboard, synthesizer, guitar, recording engineer, digital editing, gang vocals
- Icecream Drum – drums programming
- Carlos Imperatori – mix engineer
- Bram Inscore – instruments
- J-Hope – rap, chorus, gang vocals, vocals and rap arrangement, recording engineer
- Jimin – vocals, chorus, gang vocals
- Jin – vocals, gang vocals
- Jaycen Joshua – mix engineer
- Jung Woo-young – digital editing, recording engineer
- Jungkook – vocals, chorus, gang vocals
- Alexander Magnus Karlsson – chorus
- Wendell Kelly – horn
- Brenden Kersey-Wilson – horn
- Kim Ji-yeon – recording engineer
- Moiro Konchellah – choir
- Sam Kredich – horn
- Ryan Lawrie – chorus, gang vocals
- Lee Tae-wook – guitar
- Adien Lewis – gang vocals
- Ken Lewis – mix engineer
- Ludwig Lindell – chorus
- Evan Mackey – horn
- Jesus Martinez – horn
- Chadaé McAlister – choir
- Marcus McCoan – production, keyboard, percussions, chorus, programming
- Collin McCrary – horn
- John McEwan – gang vocals
- Kevin McKeown – direction
- Ellis Miah – gang vocals
- Claudius Mittendorfer – mix engineer
- Kit Naughton – gang vocals
- Erm Navarro – horn
- Nobody – bass
- Cazzi Opeia – chorus, gang vocals
- Marie Ortinau – gang vocals
- Katie Osborn – horn
- Jon Pappenbrook – horn
- Park Eun-jung – recording engineer
- Park Jin-se – recording engineer
- Pdogg – production, keyboard, synthesizer, vocal arrangement, rap arrangement, recording engineer, digital editing, gang vocals, additional production
- Marcus Perez – horn
- Phil X – guitar, recording engineer
- Samuel Pounds – choir
- Nathaniel Rathbun – programming, keyboard
- Erik Reichers – recording engineer
- James F. Reynolds – mix engineer, gang vocals
- Jacob Richards – mix engineer
- Owen Roberts – keyboard, percussions, programming
- RM – rap, rap arrangement, recording engineer, chorus, gang vocals, vocal arrangement
- Ken Sarah – drums
- Michel "Lindgren" Schultz – recording engineer
- Max Seaberg – mix engineer
- Walter Simonsen – drums
- Martin Sjolie – chorus
- Sleep Deez – keyboard, synthesizer
- Jayrah Gibson - vocalists <
- Slow Rabbit – gang vocals, keyboard, synthesizer, vocal arrangement, recording engineer, digital editing
- Candace Nicole Sosa – chorus
- Michael Stranieri – horn
- Suga – rap, keyboard, gang vocals
- Supreme Boi – gang vocals, rap arrangement, recording engineer, digital editing, keyboard, synthesizer, drums programming, vocal arrangement
- Phil Tan – mix engineer
- Will Tanner – gang vocals
- Matt Thomson – guitar, keyboard, percussions, vocoder, programming
- V – vocals, gang vocals
- Nat Valente – gang vocals
- Alexei Viktorovitch – chorus
- Joshua Von Bergmann – drums
- Tom Wiklund – instruments and programming, chorus
- Alex Williams – recording engineer
- Amber Wright – choir
- Ed Wynn – horn
- Yang Ga – mix engineer
- Young – guitar
- Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – chorus, recording engineer
- Zakiya Young – choir
- Etta Zelmani – chorus
- Bill Zimmerman – mix engineer
Charts