Korean boy band BTS made history at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) by winning the Social Artist Award. They're the first K-pop group to get nominated and to win an award.
Following their victory, BTS producer Pdogg talked about the boy band's music and the key to their success.
"I think the fact that they are writing about themselves (is the key)," he told Korean media JoongAng Ilbo and Korea JoongAng Daily. "The lyrics from the song 'No More Dream' may sound childish, but that is what the members really went through. The song "Move" is about moving out of the place where they lived for three years."
Pdogg was discovered by Big Hit Entertainment founder Bang Si-hyuk at an internet cafe.
He said that when he met BTS for the first time, "I felt that their identities as musicians were already somewhat complete. When I am working with them, it feels more like doing a collaboration with them than a lecture."
Pdogg also talked about how does he work with BTS.
"We just gather together and watch movies or listen to music," he said. "We watched the movie '8 Mile,' which is about a rap battle between different hip-hop clubs in Detroit. We chatted about how the lyrics were made, the hip-hop fashion and even the lifestyle depicted in the movie. We listen to some of the tunes in the movie and sometimes I give them assignments."
In coming up with a song, Pdogg said "we work on the beat that matches the theme of the lyrics. If the beat is not good, the whole song will be a failure, so we make some adjustments along the way."
Pdogg said in the distribution of roles among BTS members, "Rap Monster and Suga are capable of doing a lot of parts."
"J-Hope and Jungkook can make beats and other members also write songs. What I do is make tracks and combine the lyrics and chorus that the members wrote. About 90 percent of the lyrics are written by the members of the group," he added.
He narrated that Rap Monster wrote the lyrics and melody of "Spring Day" in two days and when it was combined with parts from a foreign songwriter, "the song got even better."
BTS returned to South Korea and will hold a press conference about their win at the BBMAs.
