Today is Friday, March 20, 2026, and I’m not procrastinating on this newsletter for the first time in recent memory. I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop running on 1 hour of sleep, 4 shots of espresso, and pure adrenaline from my favorite band releasing their first group project in four years. I can’t help but sway from side to side as the impeccably produced melodies of BTS’s 5th studio album, ARIRANG, blast in my noise-cancelling headphones. I’m barely suppressing the urge to ask everyone in my vicinity if they know BTS. The sun is shining, my skin is clear, and the Kings of K-Pop are back to reclaim their crown (though I would argue they never lost it).
For those of you unfamiliar with BTS, they are a seven-member South Korean boy group formed in 2012 by Big Hit Entertainment (now BIGHIT MUSIC). Initially conceptualized as a hip-hop group, they eventually debuted as an idol group on June 13, 2013, with their first EP, 2 Cool 4 Skool. While they started as underdogs—K-Pop music was dominated by the “Big 3” Korean entertainment companies at the time, and Big Hit was a small indie label with a budget to match—BTS eventually took the world by storm and has reached heights no other idol group has. In fact, they’ve achieved success beyond that of many of the biggest music acts across the globe, permanently cementing their place in the pop music pantheon. All of this while singing and speaking primarily in Korean and without the advantages of industry support that many of their Western contemporaries rely on.
One could say I was late to the party; I only discovered BTS in 2020. August 18, 2020, to be precise. I was scrolling through Twitter and came across a funny interview video of the members. I thought they seemed fun—and beautiful, let’s be real. I went on YouTube “just to learn their names” and, like millions before and after me, I was instantly hooked. Seventy-two hours later, I had watched all of their mainstream performances and interviews and listened to their entire discography. I didn’t know anything about K-Pop at the time, and I wasn’t used to seeing performers go all-out à la Beyoncé, Michael & Janet Jackson in this day and age. Not only were all seven members extremely skilled with an incredible discography and larger-than-life performances, but they were also kind, funny, and thoughtful. Less than a week after discovering BTS, I was officially an ARMY.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel cheated. WHERE the hell had these men been all my life? I mean, I was pretty much their target audience: a music-loving young woman around the members’ age with a penchant for fandom and a commitment to seeing my faves live in concert. During my college years, I regularly took the Metro-North train from New Haven to New York City to see Hozier, Maroon 5, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and more. I had avidly participated in all of the fandom mania typical of girls my age: I was a Jonatic, a Belieber, and a Directioner. A professional fangirl, if you will. Yet, I had missed opportunity after opportunity to see THE quintessential boy group perform mere hours away from my college campus. Was I living under a rock?
I lamented missing some of their earliest milestones: being the first K-Pop idols to win a Billboard Music Award, top the US and Global charts, and sell out stadium tours worldwide. I wished desperately to experience the highs and support them through the lows. But, I took solace in the words of BTS member SUGA: “Don’t feel regretful that you weren’t there since our debut. The day you first met us is the day we debuted for you.”
Fast forward nearly six years, and I’m more deeply in love with BTS than I’ve ever been. I’ve gained so much from being a professional fangirl: connection, inspiration, enjoyment, and acceptance. In December 2021, I flew across the country to stay in an Airbnb with three other women I’d only ever met online for their Permission to Dance concerts in LA. In 2023, I introduced one of my former coworkers to BTS. Today, she’s one of my best friends, and we still drive to Memphis for BTS concert movies (they never show in our small city). Last year in Chicago, I shared an Uber to the venue with a Swedish ARMY I’d just met for j-hope’s solo tour. Just last month, I exchanged numbers with someone at a conference about early childhood wellbeing because she was wearing a BTS shirt. Pre-BTS, Mina would never have been this bold.
I’ve also become a better person thanks to BTS’s influence. Their close bond and willingness to work through conflicts respectfully have made me a better, more understanding friend. Seeing them explore new challenges and share both their highs and their lows inspired me to be bolder and try new things even when it’s hard. I’ve seen the beauty in being a fangirl past the typical “acceptable” age for women to be devoted fans. Despite popular opinion, you’re never too old to love passionately.
Of course, there are valid critiques of celebrity-obsessed culture that I can’t ignore. Companies invest millions in creating parasocial relationships between fans and celebrities to build dedicated fan bases willing to spend all they have and then some. The prices for concerts and fan merchandise have skyrocketed. The powers that be have manufactured celebrity scandals in attempts to distract the masses from more pertinent issues. We’ve seen love and respect for celebrities spiral into obsession, stalking, and possessiveness with tragic endings for all involved. We also regularly see people use “stanning” one celebrity as an excuse to send vitriol to other celebrities and their fans, especially on social media. ARMY itself has a reputation for being fiercely protective of BTS almost to a fault.
Rarely, however, do we see coverage of how special and beneficial being a member of a fan community can be. BTS ARMY has donated millions of dollars to charity over the years, both as part of BTS’s official campaigns with UNICEF and through fan-driven initiatives. Scroll any online forum, and you’ll find countless tales from ARMY who have found lifelong friendships, followed their career dreams, and sought help for their mental health issues after being inspired by BTS. BTS and ARMY have overcome industry challenges together, and that resilience often spills over into the fans’ personal lives.
When BTS announced their hiatus in June 2022 to focus on solo projects and complete their mandatory military service, many people wondered what would become of the group and their fans. Would they fade into obscurity like most other boy bands of yore? Would the fans ditch them for the next shiny new thing?
That uncertainty is exactly what makes ARIRANG so special. BTS is charting a new path not just for South Korean idol groups, but for any creative collective seeking to maintain longevity as a team while still preserving the members’ individual artistic identities. ARIRANG would not be possible without the members’ solo endeavors, and the solo endeavors wouldn’t have been possible without the foundation the members built as a group. ARIRANG is more than an album; it’s a declaration that BTS is here to stay. This newsletter is getting a bit long, but don’t worry — I’ll expand on this in next week’s post: a track-by-track breakdown of ARIRANG.
No doubt, the enlistment era was difficult for the members, who were removed from their daily lives as global stars and forced into mandatory conscription for 18-24 months just as they’d reached what many thought was their peak as a group. Military enlistment is difficult for everyone, but one can only imagine how much harder it is for successful men in their late 20s and early 30s who already have well-cemented ideas, rather than young men fresh out of secondary school. In addition to serving in the military, the members also took a chance on solo careers and had to learn to create and perform music without the other members as a safety net.
Although I’ll never be able to relate to the specifics of their situation, watching the members navigate such a difficult and uncertain time with grace and vulnerability gave me strength as I navigated my own personal challenges. Watching them boldly try new things as soloists inspired me to pursue some of my own dreams, including delving into writing, making career changes, and releasing relationships and labels I’d outgrown but had held onto out of fear. While I won’t give all of the credit for my growth to BTS—therapy, antidepressants, and my sheer power of will are also major factors—I will say that seeing them move through fear made it easier for me to move forward when I’d usually be paralyzed by anxiety.
Fandom, passion, and whimsy aren’t just for kids. Being a fan can change you for the better, encouraging you to dream higher than ever before. Being an ARMY has expanded my imagination, and I’d argue that it’s especially important to have someone inspire you to keep moving forward as you get older in a society where people over 30 (such a small age! Not even half a life!) are seen as #washed.
Jung Kook, BTS’s youngest member and main vocalist, has “Rather be dead than cool” from Nirvana’s “Stay Away” tattooed on his right arm. He’s often said, “I’d rather die than live without passion. Living without passion is like being dead.” For me? I’d rather die than temper my love and passion for books, movies, and music. I’m in this fangirl sh*t for life!
I’ll see y’all next week! Until then, check out BTS’s new album ARIRANG featuring the lead single SWIM and watch their live comeback performance, only on Netflix.
Yours in ARMYdom,
Mina