At the end of February, 2020, BTS released MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 and announced that they’d be going on a massive world tour starting that spring to support it. Dates and locations were announced and when tickets went on sale, they sold out in record time. ARMYs around the world posted videos and screenshots after successfully making it through the stressful ticket-buying experience. Just weeks later, that elation would turn into disappointment as COVID-19 swept across the globe, causing the tour (and pretty much everything) to be canceled. Over the next six months, BTS would pivot and remake all their plans—instead of album promotions and touring, they would focus on connecting with ARMY through LIVEs, VLOGs, and online performances. And then, in August, they took their comfort mission one step further, by trying something they’d never done before—releasing a song entirely in English. Little did they know, this song they recorded as a gift to distract ARMY from the devastation of the Pandemic would launch their already impressive fame into the stratosphere. “Dynamite”, meant to be a random one-off, ended up changing the entire trajectory of their next few years, and truly—their entire career.

In late 2020, BTS held a global press conference to discuss the release of their next album. It had been three months since the release of their smash hit single “Dynamite”, and nine months since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. They weren’t supposed to be releasing an album at that time—if you remember our discussions from previous weeks, they were actually supposed to be on tour, supporting their last album, MAP OF THE SOUL: 7. The pandemic caused them to have to shift gears and replan. After “Dynamite”’s release and surprise success, it seemed natural to keep the momentum going with more music. During the press conference, Jimin mentioned that they hadn’t pre-planned anything for this album, so it had to come together very organically and with a lot of teamwork. They adapted, even though they were supposed to be doing something completely different. And that is one of the reasons why they chose to name the new album BE.