Yet again, BTS proved they’ve got that superstar glow.
Just after releasing their new single on Friday, BTS graced the Billboard Music Awards with a performance of “Butter.” Broadcasting live, BTS performed remotely from Korea. The group, comprised of Jung Kook, V, Jimin, j-hope, SUGA, Jin and RM, took viewers along to a backstage dressing room and onto a red carpet fitted for the BBMAs.
“Butter,” already primed to be an upcoming summer hit, is the K-pop group’s second English single, right behind last year’s earworm, “Dynamite.” It broke multiple records within the first couple hours of its release. Breaking their own record, “Butter” became the fastest YouTube video ever to reach 10 million views, hitting the mark in just 13 minutes. Within two hours, the song hit No. 1 on Apple Music. A day in, “Butter” logged the most single-day streams of any song ever on Spotify.
“If you hear the title ‘Butter,’ you know immediately that we tried to prepare a song that’s easy listening, instead of [something with] a really heavy or profound message,” said band member Jimin at a Friday press conference in Seoul. “This is a little embarrassing, but it’s something smooth like butter, that really melts into and grabs hold of you. It’s a very cute song, sort of a confession.”
Performing due diligence, BTS shouts out their fandom in the track. “Got Army behind us when we say so,” band member RM raps. Such truth is made clear the the BBMAs, where BTS has won Top Social Artist for the last four years in a row— one of two fan-voted awards. They are up again for the awards this year against its previous champion, Justin Bieber, who won the prize each year from 2011 to 2016.
BTS had already won three Billboard Music Awards coming into the broadcast, top duo/group, top song sales artist and top social artist.
BTS – butter performance on #BBMAs (1) pic.twitter.com/wUJi5JDoev
— 나나 🍙 (slow) (@bimbaptae) May 24, 2021