BTS marks 9th anniversary with surprise track, emojis for fans

MANILA, Philippines — BTS celebrated their ninth anniversary by surprising fans with a new track dedicated to the fandom — ARMY.

The song is called "My You" sung solely by Jungkook. The track was co-produced with Hiss Noise. The song is a mix of English and Korean, with video featuring lyrics on different social media platforms. Jungkook began the countdown to the song by sharing a screenshot of a text message on Twitter.

The song was reportedly created to convey a sweet message specifically for the fans.

It also shared Jungkook's message for the band's fans, saying: "When I think of all of you, these feelings that stir inside me are so overwhelming that I have occasionally thought, ‘What if all of this disappears? Or what if this is all a dream?’ So I wrote this song based on those thoughts, and because I worried that the song’s vibe might become too depressing, I tried to fill the lyrics with pretty words. This song is solely for you, and I hope that it becomes a song that can give hope, light, and strength to both me, who wrote the song, and you, who listen to it. I’m always grateful to ARMY, and let’s make lots of even better memories in the future! My ARMY, I love you."

The supergroup announced a pre-recording for a music show, Mnet’s "M Countdown," scheduled on June 13. A special, highlighted section in the notice immediately drew everyone’s attention.

“We have increased the scope of the event and number of participants allowed in the show to accommodate more ARMY as this recording will be held on a special day for BTS and ARMY. We look forward to your enthusiastic participation,” the statement said.

The recording will be carried out with 4,000 ARMYs in attendance.

The group debuted on June 13, 2013, with seven members RM, Jin, SUGA, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook. 

According to a Twitter press statement sent to Philstar.com, BTS' new anthology album "Proof" was embraced by fans on Twitter all over the world when it dropped on June 10. Twitter saw an impressive 22 million tweets on the launch day, and the most Tweeted time was from midnight to 1 a.m. ET on June 10 when "Proof" was released with 3 million tweets in just one hour.

Fans from South Korea, US, and Indonesia were the loudest on Twitter, and conversations about the group's latest release came from all over the world, including countries like the Philippines, India, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, and Peru. #KpopTwitter was a flurry of activity as ARMY took a trip down memory lane, enjoying hit songs from past albums, while looking ahead to the title track "Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)."

Twitter launched custom emojis for fans to join in the festivities regardless of where they were. A grey-colored BTS symbol could be included by using hashtag #BTS, while #BTS_Proof would activate a special Proof emoji. Furthermore, #YetToCome and #TheMostBeautifulMoment would activate emojis too. Additionally, @TwitterMusic also changed its header to a BTS concept image, bio to #BTS_Proof and name to 'Twitter Music is listening to BTS "Proof"' to promote the new album.

YeonJeong Kim, Head of Global K-pop Partnerships at Twitter said, "Be it to celebrate new albums, or to cheer them on at important occasions, the #BTSARMY has always stayed close to the band on Twitter. Just weeks ahead of their comeback, BTS made a trip to Washington, D.C., paying President Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) a visit to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes, sending hashtags like #BTSatTheWhiteHouse to the top of Twitter trends worldwide. With our various features and activations, we will continue to connect BTS and the fans, helping them to celebrate moments no matter where they may be in the world." — Video from BTS via YouTube

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