Some BTS Fans Thought a Member Was ‘Excluded’ in Latest Song, so They Hired a Truck to Protest

On Friday, Aug. 21, fans of boy band BTS were blessed with the new single “Dynamite,” an upbeat, disco-vibing song which was sung entirely in English, a first for the group. Its music video racked up 101.1 million views in 24 hours, and, as of Wednesday, Aug. 26, different versions of the song occupied the top four spots on American iTunes charts.

Beating records is not surprising coming from the biggest boy band in the world but what has caught some off guard are negative reactions from certain fans who think one member wasn’t featured enough.

It all started when some fans noticed that member Jin did not have a solo layout in the “Dynamite” music video, unlike the six other members. They also thought that he didn’t appear on the video enough and that it was unacceptable to have to wait for over two minutes for a closeup of the singer.

Some fans’ dissatisfaction grew even more, when they noticed that Jin’s part was cut out from the “Dynamite” EDM Remix, which dropped on Monday, August 24. The hashtags #BigHitLetJinShine and #JinDeservesBetter then started trending on Twitter, calling out BTS’ label Big Hit and asking for changes to show more of Jin in the music video.

Some fans were so upset, they rented a truck to stay outside Big Hit Entertainment’s building for two days, as a “sign of protest.” They used money raised on social media, which some claim amounted to over 1 million won ($842), although this has not been verified.

The truck was spotted on the street outside the label’s building on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 25, with a giant flat-screen saying messages like “We want our request to be heard as fans of Kim Seokjin to give him opportunities to utilize his talents properly.” The truck also displays pictures of Jin, with text that explain his achievements as part of BTS.

If this all sounds a bit too much, you’re not alone. What is a valid protest to some fans was seen as inappropriate by others. Other members of ARMY, BTS’ fan group, said that there were better ways to deal with the situation and that the truck just served to humiliate Jin.

Some fans also pointed out that BTS themselves have explained in the past that line distribution in songs “depends on who best fits the style.”

Still, this is far from the most extreme thing K-pop fans have done to show admiration to their favourite idols.

Extremely obsessive fans, also known as sasaengs, have often interfered with their favourite idols’ personal lives by spamming their numbers with phone calls, taking the same flight as them during overseas travels, and even following them to their homes. Many idols have spoken up about these cases, including BTS member V, who said these experiences were “scary” and made them “uncomfortable.”

Find Miran on Instagram.